The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-01-21
THE TORNADO.
The Devastation mt Cave City-Eiftv Houses
Scattered TO the Winds-Terriblc SuHorinRs-
Burial Of the Dead.


The Louisville Journal of January 10 says:-
None but those who knew the place before
and have seen IL since the disaster which oc-
Cured at o'clock on Monday morning at Cave
City, can have an adequate conception of the
wonderful doings and terrible results of the tor
nado The scene beggars description, defes the
exaggeratDg propensities of reporters. and can
never be fully comprehended even by those who
were in the midst of 1t.
The frat heard of the storm by Professor A.
T. Williams was the heavy dashing of hail
against the windows of his house. The hail
storm lasted but few moments, and imme-
diately thereafter the heavens and the earth
were Illuminated by q living, continuous sheet
of flame. Professor Williams said he had been
in many hard-fought battle, and had heard
many hideous Sounds but never heard anything
like the voice of this monster storm. The crash
ing of the houses and the whirring of the tim
bers and spllnters through the air which followed
the demonacal sounds of the wind were terrific,
but nothing like the roaring and bowling of the
winds. ta
II appeared that the Storm dense cloud
composed OF all the angry, destructive, and
noisy elements of nature, rolled like great
ball upon the earth, envelopiug and wrenching
from its place everything that came within its
reach. Its speed was that of cannon ball, or
of lightning Itself. The storm had hardly sub
sided when rain followed in most incessant
torrents, and the half-clad, homeless people
were drenched and chilled until they were help
less from exposure, If not from the wounds
they received by being struck with or thrown
against the flying timbers, or buried in the
debris.
Then followed heartrending scene, if dark
ness like that Of Egypt, occasionally broken by
vivid flash of lightning could be called scene.
What the eyes could not behold the ears could
hear. The stout hearts that were terrified a few
| moments before by the hideous shrieks of the
storm demon, now melted with pity at the
| piteous wall of the poor, helpless women and
| children The danger was over, but the suffering
| had commenced. Husbands and wives, parents
,lxs Lol acA,t
ably in the same room, perhaps in each others
| fond embrace, were separated and thrown in
opposite directions, in some instances falling
several hundred feet from the site of their dwell
ipgs. To search for each other in the awful
darkness the drenching rain pouring down and
! impeding the steps of those who were free and
| able to walk, guided only by the sound of the
| voices of the suffering, treading upon upturned
| nails and splinters, with unprotected feet STUN
bling over the piles of timber and debris, with
out a single hope of finding loved ones alive, and
| with the certainty of finding them cold in death
| or suffering from their wounds-was the work of
| two hours of such darkness as is only known
| just before day and Immediately after such
storm. d. ,....--- .r
Professor Williams, after being awakened and
hearing the approaching storm, anticipated
danger, and prepared for the worst results. He
| thought his house was strong and would with
stand the storm, and 1t did bravely resist the
first attack, but 1t was afterwards lifted from Its
| foundation and turned around like top two or
| three times, and then, in an instant, the whole
building was torn to splinters, and the fragments
and the occupants were tossed to the winds like
feathers. Not more than thirty seconds elapsed
/ from the time the storm struck the house untif
| 1t was torn to pieces, and the whole time, from
the beating Of the hail against the windows
until the storm was past did not exceed two
minutes. There were positive evidences that
this house was turned around before completely
yielding to the storm. The persons who were
| sleeping in a back room were found lying IN
the front yard after the storm passed over Pro-
fessor Williams had placed his clothing on "
| chair near his bed on retiring, and his pants
were found on a stake half mile west OF the
site of the house. The coat was found three
fourths of a mile in an easterly direction, while
the vest was found about two miles west of
| town. The leaves of the springs OF buggy
| were torn asunder, and the axles of the buggy
were bent double There were nothing but
small particles of the buggy remaining. A
handcart and large water-tank were, standing
nearly together the tank containing about fifty
| gallons of water, and the hand-tart about an
| eighth of n cord of wood. These made the trip
| together, and were found three-fourths of q
| mile from where they had been standing, the
tank very sightly injured and the hand-cart
completely demolished.
Nine bedsteads were in use in one building,
and the largest pieces found after the storm
| could have been pat In basket; Thlrty chairs
1 in the same house were so badly crushed and
wrenched that enough pieces could not have
| been found to make three complete chairs. Pro-
| fessor Williams had library containing several
| tnOukauQ volumes, anu not one OF tnem can DC
| found that Is ft for any use. No less than
fifty houses are said TO have been demolished,
containing not less than fifty thousand dollars
worth OF furniture, clothing, etc, and there ID
not an article to be found that is worth fifty
cents In scrip. If all the articles Of clothing,
including feather-beds and mattresses and bed
clothes, remnants of furniture carpets, pieces
of stoves, stove-pipes, canned fruits, etc. etc.
were gathered up and brought to this city, and
offered at auction, the whole lot would moi
| bring fifty dollars. This being true, what mus
| be the condition of the unfortunate people who
have been rendered homeless and comfortleSs
But the loss In pecuniary point of view II
| nothing compared with the loss of life and the
suffering of the wounded. OF those who wer,
| reported dangerously wounded yesterday, two
have died, Joseph II. Brown aud the wife o
DR.. Joel Y. Wilson. A telegram received from
Gave City late last night states several other
| cannot live.
George w. Neville's wife and daughter wer,
very seriously injured. Mrs. Novilles injurie
are internal, and may prove fatal. The littl
girls skull Is fractured and the brain is exudlnt
Miss Matte Drane who was residing Will
Professor Williams family, was thrown dis
tance OF two hundred feet, and received yer,
severe injuries.
number of the dead were buried yesterday
George w. Poynter, wife and child were buriet
in neighboring cemetery. Anderson j. David
son was buried by the Odd Fellows from Glas
Cow. John g. hcCown and child were taken /,
the burying ground of McCown's father-in-law
Edmund Davis, twenty miles distant. ft = FF
Two mem hers of Mr. Vaushan'a family war