Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-07-27
Terrific Tornado.

DKsTRuCTIoN OF THE BRfD0R At HAvRI De
GRACE.
A correspondento ftne PhiladelpAia INQUIRER
gives some interesting particulars Of the de-
struction Of the railroad bridge at Havre de
Grace. He says:
Although but q few minutes elapsed between
the ad vent Of the storm and tner eeSeP ctfonaof
the bridge, that time was Sufficient 70 carryen-
trely out OF sight very large portion OF the
timber constituting the spans Of he Brio :,
This was sweptrapidly down the river towSTd
the bay, ana tug-boats were engage all nfebt
thought, however, that q considerah1e pollior,,
OF the timber will find its way to the Atlantic
Ocean unless picked up by vessels in Chesa-
During the height of the tornado the citizens
here heard what they supposed to be heavy
rumbling clap of thunder, being peculiar in Its
lem the ss.S Be oa
: not until after the tornado had spent its fury,
and The smoke OF battle. - liz Wsfe, cleared
thunder was the crashing o. tIe tim bers Of the
bridge as they were being carried down into
The entire loss is estimated at aSout sl.OoO.-
90 but it is thought that the entire bridge can
be reconstructed in about six months, although
II Is over ten months since the work Of span.
ming the piers was commenced 80 vtr,}s.r. II
Although the wood and iron work is a mass
Of ruins, the stone piers and buttresses at either
end OF the bridge remain intact; not q stone has
been removed, the reports in a Contemporary to
~. rffr
There were three men on the bridge at the
time 1t was destroyed, but fortunately they all
escaped with their lives. One Of them states
that he felt q peculiar unduIating motion Of
the bridge, but did not dream 1t would be car
ried away, when Suddenly bolt was heard to
snap. and the entire structure was quickly
precipitated into the water. ~ I'd b.. sfslr-j =
The wind seemed to suddenly twist the
bridge TO pieces, as though 1t might be a rope
OF straw being twisted asunder between the
hands Of an individual. While going down
no indi ldv,ol
thought they had "gone up," and had every
reason TO think so. The bridge consisted of
seven spans of two hundred and fifty feet in
length on the east side draw span Of one
hundred and ninety two feet, and five spans of
two hundred and fifty feet, on the west side.
These spans Were OF the Howe truss pattern,
and composed entirely oftimber. 81 .rE
The arches consisted of four ribs of timber
laid together, eight inches by nine inches In
thickness, and making the arches thirty seven
and half inches in depth. These arches were
so arranged that they butted against each
other on the tops of the piers. There is a depth
OF water from five to forty feet around the
pier: 1t Is thought that about one half OF the
lumber carried away by the tornado will be
used again in the reconstruction of the bridge.
The engineers and men engaged on the
bridge were at work all last night among the
ruins, and the process OF reconstruction will be
at once proceeded with. The freaks of the tor
nado were singular. 1t is thought that it nrst
struck the bridge at the end Of the drawbridge,
and swept over toward the eastern end. and
span west of the drawbridge, and carried
everything with it as far as the western but
tress or main pier. AIN.
One large stone, three feet in length, ON pier
seven, was lifted from Its position by the carry
ing away Of the spans, but although for a mo-
nent IN mid-air, 1t was only turned over on its
side. r.
On shore the wind seemed to pick out special
objects on which to expend its wrath. One
vigorous tree, near the western extremity of
the bridge, was uprooted, while an old rotten
one close by, which il was thought might fall
at any time, maintains its perpendic ular still
A strongly built barn on the eastern shore
near Perryville, was completely unroofed,
while some adjoining sheds of fragile construc-
ton were untouched. 49,
At Port Deposit few miles up the river
number OF houses We're unroofed, and guam
tity of garden shrubbery, de, was DESTROYED
A large number of houses had window panes
broken. ahd some other slight damage was
done. - : -
The bridge was so near completion that it
was expected to run the first train OF cars
across II about the middle Of September.