Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1860-06-30

dying and dead.
The power and force of this "demon Of
the elements" must have been immense-
We reached the path of its fury less than
an hour after it went bowling on. We
found hundred men standing around
mute and aghast-the sufferers had been
borne away but there were other eviden
ccs of its fearful mission. Houses gone,
utterly gone, and nothing but blackened
and smearcd foundations told where they
had been trees, one and two feet in diam.
cter, and even larger uprooted and hurled
many rods, robbed of branches and foli-
age carcasscs of horses, cattle and swine
strewed the farmers barnyard.
And yet the track Of the whirling demon
was not more than twenty rods in width
we speak of the central force which work.
ed the destruction outside of that there
: was a mighty wind, but no such traces of
power were left.
: As heretofore stated, the town Of Ca
manchc, Illinois, was entirely Destroyed
The editor Of the Chicago Press, who sub.
sequcntly visited the place, says:
f While there, the sight that met the eye
was perfectly horrible to look upon, and no
pen is adequate to the task of conveying
! the most faint idea of the disastrous effects
of the tornado as it passed over that place.
4 Horses and cattle are lying in every di-
rectioD, killed from the effects of the storm,
E The buildings look as though they had all
b been torn in small fragments, scattered
!. over the whole country, and feathers from
C the bed clothes line the ground, and then
k all had been ovcrswcpt with rushing wa
: ters.
i We went into Que building where fifteen
It bodies, some mangled in the most fright
d full manner, and only wrapped up in a
c sheet, and put into Il rough box, ready for
burial DIR Howell informs us that, from
: Sunday evening to Monday noon, he had
Y visited nincty.one wounded and set twenty.
= three broken limbs We saw twcntyeight
1t dead bodies, ant there were cighty-two
is that required strict medical attendance,
c and as many that are more or less hurt,
= yet are able 10 be around In addition to
J, this number twcnty-eight wcrc swept from
II raft III the river that was passing at the
time, and ten are yet missing from the
:, town, that are supposed to be buried in the
o ruins, or are blown into the river and
If drowned.
n With the exception OF half dozen
i houses on the north side of the town, eDtry
4. SINGLE 6~lll,ng is either torn down, un-
&c rooted, or otherwise damaged A worse
d sight no human eye ever beheld and the
le heart grows sick at seeing such dcstruc
'r ton of life and property. The town is en-
d tirely ruined, and we do not sec how it
le can ever be rebuilt There are whole
blocks Of lots that are vacant, entirely,
Il with nothing but the cellar to indicate tha t
t. house ever stood there Out Of the con-
lc tents of three dry goods stores not one
> cents worth of the goods have ever been
n found.
It The tornado struck the town a little
C past seven O'Clock, and in less than ten
e minutes the whole was in ruins. After it
:, had passed, the town was all afoat with
e water; all that could, began to run from
r place to place screaming at the top of their
&c voices, calling for friends and childrcn.-
1, In every pile of rubbish, and from every
o demolished house, the groans of the dying
+. and wounded were heard, and as the sound
came from every part of the town, no one
l. knew where to go first, The darkness oc,
}. casioned by the black clouds, the air being
/, filled with rubbish of every conceivable
l. character, and the near approach of night
rendered the scene still more appalling
n and such wall of lamentation, sorrow
Is and woe never went up from any place in
l. the history Of tornadocs, as did from the
r. ruins and destroyed city, Nothing could
If be found to bind up the wounds of the suf.
IS tering, no medicines were to be got, and
ts the walls of the mother over her dead
Is children, the anguish of wife over the
o lifclcss remains of . husband, the father
5, over the slaughtered children, hunting in
rs vain for his wifc-all these are scenes that
1t cannot possibly be descsibed.
d In one family all that was left were three
l. little girls, the father and mother and two
d children having been instantly killed, -
d We saw where fence board had been
y forced clear through the side of house,
y end ways, and hundreds of shingles had
d forced themselves clear through the clap,
Fl boards of house We visited the grave