M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-06-14

Mr.. WIS loss is over 500, 900. Mr.
Walrod, his wife and child, wer'
} killed, and his sister in.law and chile
we're dying when we left. Mr.. ant
Mrs. Gregoire, living upon the same
farm, were killed. Three. Germans
and two Irish, names unknown, were
also killed. The village proper o.
DE Witt escaped. In Orange Town
ship, west of De Witt, Isaac Smith
was killed.
Many of the incidents connected
with the tornado at Camancbe almost
surpass human belief, and will hardly
he credited by those who have not
seen the ruins. A chimney upon Mr..
Anthony's house, weighing about two
Ituns, was broken off at its junction
with the roof, lifted into the air and
hurled down into the front yard, bury
ing itself into the ground depth Of
three feet without breaking or crack.
ing single brick. We noticed an
oak tree, on the river bank, by meas.
urement, twenty eight inches in diam
eter at the base, which was torn ont OF
the ground and stripped Of al. its
branches, leaving only the base trunk,
! from which the bark was nearly all
peeled of. A light pine shingle was
driven from the outside through the
clap boards, lath and plaster, anG
projects two inches from the inside
wall of a dwelliEg-house. No other
known force could have accomplished
this.
Mr.. Butcher, of Camanche, told
US, and the fact was testified to by
others, that he saw the storm coming
and closed his doors and windows
He tlen braced himself against the
back door, but the tornado wrenched
it from its hinges like q plaything,
and carried him upon the door through
the house and out into the garden
He escaped with only slight injuries.
A piano was taken out Of house in
the center of the town and carried
some distance to the river bank with
out breaking it.
The effects upon some OF the houses
near Camanche, which were in the
outer edge OF the tornado, were very
curious. Upon some roofs, the shin
giles were stripped off in tanciful
shapes, a bare spot upon one roof ex-
acty resembling the figure s. Some
roofs were entirely unshingled, and in
some cases every clapboard was torn
of.
A common trowel, such as is used
by masons, was driven through pine
knot in the middle OF a barn, project.
ing full two inches. In one spot was
found a large pile of book covers,
every leaf from which was gone, and
the covers wrinkled and twisted into
a thousand shapes. Leaves were
stripped Of their tissue, leaving the
fibre8 clean and bare, as if botanst
had neatly picked it off. Tree trunks
were twisted several times round un.
til they were broken off. The Millard
House, a three.story structure, front
ing north, was lifted up from its toun-
dation, aud iurned completely round,
So that the front door faced the south.
1t then collapsed, and seemed to fall
outwardly, as if in a vacuum, and,
strange to relate, out Of seventeen
persons in the house, only two were
killed. One house upon the bank
was lifted from its foundation and
whirled in tho river, crushing as it
fell and drowning three persons, the
inmates.
The sides of some houses were lit-
orally perforated with boards, splint.
cred timbers and sharp stakes. In
some parts of Camanche, where hous.
es stood thickly clustered together,
there is not a vestige Of one left
Another tract Of about forty acres is
covered with splinters Of about two
feet in length. The lower stories Of
some houses were blown out entirely,
leaving the upper story upon the
ground. Other buildings slid from
their foundations and we're carried
along lorseveral feet. Chickens, hens
and turkies were stripped OF their
feathers, and left as bare as if ready
for market, and on the prairies. prai,
RE chickens and small birds were
found in the same condition, and in
some cases nothing but the bones
left, the flesh being stripped from
them.
The ferry. boat which piled between
Camanche and Albany was complete
ly wrecked. Her engines looked as
il some giant had seized them at top
and bottom, and folded them into a
hard knot, so twisted and tangled
were they. Two Germans, who were
riding in a buggy, just ont OF Ca
manche, were blown completely into
the city, and their team carried in
another direction. They were picked
up dead. Another man, an entire
stranger in Camanche, was picked up
in tho etraot with food in hio month