Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1860-06-02
The Hurricane in Ohio-Immense
Destruction of Property.

The Cincinnati papers are filed with the
particulars of the damage done by the great
storm of Monday, the 2lst ult. The Gdrete
says:
at extended from Louisville to Marietta,
following 10 its general direction the course
OF the Ohio river. Its breadth we have no
accurate means of determining.
GAS it passed Cincinnati. it must have been
at least forty miles in BREADTH having reached
Independence Ky , on the south, and Preble
county, Ohio, on the north. The velocity
with which this tornado travelled may be
estimated from the fact that it was only
about two hours in going from Louisville to
Portsmouth, distance by an uir line Of l60
miles. When it is borne in mind that this
| tornado pursued the sinuosities Of the river,
| it will be seen that its speed must have been
immensely beyond that of the fastest locomo.
tive ever run. This tornado in common with
| all which have been observed, possessed q
| rotary motion upon its own axis"
All along the line the storm houses have
been unroofed, forest trees prostrated, gar
dens demolished, churches lost their spires,
or portion Of their roofs, and individuals
injured. Very few lives have been lost
The Cincinnati Commercial describes the
scene OF the school house which was unroofed,
the school.house having 700 children in it:
Miss Rachel Medkirk, who taught the
infant class in the west room Of tho upper
story, meantime comprehended the danger,
and with rare presence Of mind and heroic
courage, fled to the school room door, closed
| it, and placed her back against it to keep the
| frightened children from plunging in headlong
confusion down stairs. But while the brave
girl sprang to her duty she was struck upon
! the head and face by falling bricks, but she
stood at her post while the blood streamed
from her wounds, until the roof had taken its
flight and her room was q terrible scene Of
confusion and devastation. 1t being impos.
sible to calm the frenzied children, Miss
Medbirk now fed down stairs, presenting
herself pteous spectacle to Mr.. Sands, the
Principal, who till now was ignorant Of the
destruction above, and demanding his assis-
tance, sped back to her charge. Mr.. Sands
was keeping the children in order down stairs,
but FASTENED up, and upon presenting himself
in the room, the little ones clasped him by
the legs and body, and clung to him with the
energy OF despariDg terror. shrekiDg to save
them. Such q scene could not be portrayed
by human language. A cloud Of thick dust
was whirling in the room the tornado howled
dismally overhead bricks and the debris oil
the devastated building were flying about
like tennis balls, and the poor children kept
up an agonizing chorus Of shrieks, so that it
was impossible to determine the extent oil
their misery. BY persuasion and earnest
exertion of authority, Mr.. Sands and Miss
Medkirk restored their charge to some degree
of composure, when he repaired to the ad
joining rooms to render like assistaace.-
Here we're also scenes of wild disorder and
dismay, but the teachers-Miss Josephine
Medkirk, Miss Jackson and Mr.. Gross
discharged their trust faithfully, and were
soon enabled to restore degree Of confidence
to the terror-stricken pupils.
Before the storm had settled, the facts
magnifed thousand fold, reached the ears
Of hundreds of parents, who sped franticall,
to the school house. expecting to find thei
offspring buried in heap Of ruins. Th'
wild frenzy Of mothers was described to Vi
by Mr.. Sands as something fearful. Som'
would snatch up anybody's children, seal
their features as if they would devour thu
little ones, drop them, if they did not recog
nize their own, and rush through the mass o
yearning hearts crying, "my chill, my child,
or calling it fondy by name. Throngs o
them thrust themselves up the school-hous
stairs. and would not hear remonstrances o
assurances.