, 1859-11-30
The Late Gale In Central Illinois

fDO 1Ae HiO1uIH&tOp j
The high wind which preEailed here on FRI
day evening rose to quite violent and destruc-
tive hurricane at Pontiac aad in that vicinity. 4
friend from this city was in Pontiac in the
height Of the storm, having come down thither
from Dwight On the evening train. He says the
blow came On between 50 aad 500 p. ", aud
was very violent, blowing from the west with
great fury for fifteen minutes or So The house
he was in ut the time rocked aud tremb'ed in
the tempest. and it required all his strength to
hold fast door which faced the wind. The air
was full Of flying boards, houghs Of trees, and
other dtSris driving before the gale. As it be-
came dark very shortly afser, be had notthe op-
portuuity to scs the great deal Of the effects Of
The storm in the town. he SAW. however, the
fine Court House in half-ruiued condition, the
tower, chimneys and roof being shared of down
to the brick wall, and some damage done inside
BY the FILLING rubbish. Estimates Of the damage
ranged all the way from two thousand up to tive
thousand dollnrs. The loss must necessarily be
considerable The whole cast Of the building
was, we believe, about fifteen thousand dollars.
Mr.. Strevelfs store was uuroofed. and its
windows blown in. Our friend also learned
that .wo dwellings which be did not see were
blow, completely TO pieces One Of them WAS
a good two-storE frame. owned by a carpenter,
who had neat shop adjoining it, the whole be-
ing jus. new. House and shop were tot.l
wreck, and a young lady living in the house was
injured very badly, mud indeed fatally, rs was
supposed. The other houne which was entirely
destroyed was widow woman's, and was un-
derstood to be about the whole property of the
unfortunate owner, who had just finished pay
the names of either Of these sufferers
Quite number Of houses were pushed off
their foundations, and some Of them turned
quite around, also several barns unroofed, de-,
&c. One case was reported where wing Of
house was torn to pieces. having several wo-
men md children i ut the time, who, however,
escaped uuhurt. The main building was blown
OF its foundation, but not much injured.
a dispatch came from 0dell to Pontiac just
after the storm, calling ior couple Of doctora
to come mp with their surgical instruments II
was understood that three houses were blown
down at oiell, that Frenchman had his leg
broken IN two places, and that another man was
badly hurt 1t was also said that two houses
were demolished at Dwight, and that some per.
sons we're hurt there. Some Of these reports
may prove to be exsggerations.
The telegraph operator ut the Western Depot
says in note on Saturday morning:
have not the particulars, but six or eight
houses were blown down at Pontiac, besides
unroofug the Court House and several other
buildings; one woman badly hurt. Two houses
blown doWn At 0detl one mai badly hurt"
lfs'n shs Psos:a Tsaa:e4:tt, :s1h-l
The amount Of damage to the n 5. Presby-
terian church BY the gale Of Friday i. estima-
ted at some f300 or $500. 4 subscription pa
per has been started for the relief OF the society
and We trust that our citizens will Iberally re-
spond. The damage TO Tom Mason's house on
Jefferson street, By the falling Of the tower
roof Of the Catholic church upon il, was more
Than va we're a*are Of, when 70 wrote our &c
count Of Saturday. The mass FELL On one cor
ont a portion Of the gable nd of the house.
The veranda VAS torn to pieces, and the hort
Jard fence broken down,