The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-08-03
Incidents Of the Tornado in Western Mis-
souri

Incidents Of the Tornado in Western Mis-
souri,.
The st. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette gives lengthy
account of the terrible tornado which visited
that section on the 18th of July, and from the
particulars in relation to the great destruction
of property and loss Of life, we gather the fol-
lowing incidents;
By far the most painful occurrence of the
| night, and which was really heart-rending, was
the killing by lightning of Mrs. Lucy Lowell and
Mr.. Henry r. Blakemore, at the residence Of
Thomas Kiger, about five miles south of the
city, near Saxton's station, on the Hannibal
and st. Joseph Railroad. The house is two
stories high, with three principal rooms and
hall on each floor. When the storm came on
Mrs. Lowell was up stairs in one of the back
rooms of the house reading the Bible to her
| little daughters The windows of the room
having blown open, she took her children and
ran down stairs with them, and passing from
the hall door to the bedroom adjoining, put
them on the bed and kneeled by the side. In
this position she was killed. Young Blake
more also came from the second floor and was
yet in the hall. The bolt which killed them
came down chimney in the centre of the
house and followed the partition between the
hall and the bedroom in which Mrs. Lowell had
placed her children. The electricity followed
to atoms the doors and articles of furniture
contiguous. In the room in which Mrs. Lowell
lost ber life were MIR. Kiger, who was severely
and painfully injured, but not fatally as yester-
day revealed also Mrs. Kiger, who was slighly
scorched. A younger brother of Mr.. Fl. r.
Blakemore was also above stairs, but had not
yet descended. There were also in the house
at the time, in other rooms, Mr.. Phil. Helsley
and Mr. Chrisman who were both more or less
shocked, the latter not recovering for some time.
The plain fact is, there is scarcely person
who did nots sustain more orless damage. Cellars
were filled with water, and goods there were in
| iured by the volumes of water that poured down
the streets shade-trees planted years ago, nur-
turred with care and pointed to with pride, were
torn up by the roots and dashed to the ground !;
fruit trees, loaded with delicious fruit, upon
which rich feast had been anticipated, shared
the same fate gardens that had been cultiva-
ted with care, and promised an abundant yield,
were leveled to the ground, and in many in
stances the products torn up by the roots.
Signs around the city were changed in q man
ner calculated to startle their owners. One be-
longing to q leading physician was carried four
squares and landed in front of an undertaker's;
up in front of the station-house; while still
third, which had swung for years in front of
one of our banks, stood prominently before Gus
| Verhein's barber-shop yesterday morning. Peo-
ple stared and smiled as they passed down the
streets, and the owners of the signs wondered
how such things could "come by chance" To
undertake to enumerate the various chimneys
blown down would be an impossibility.
Although the storm did not extend very far
west. quite gale seems to have visited Nemaha
County. Kansas, resulting in terrible accident,
the particulars of which we gather from j. E.
Tayfor, ESQ.,, one of the leading attorneys of
Seneca, who arrived in the city yesterday.
About mile and half southwest of Senccaa
man named Wcstfall, some G5 years old, resi-
ded, with his two daughters, one aged 30 years,
and the other12 Aquiet, good citizen, he had
pursued the even tenor of his way, and won the
esteem OF all that knew him. Early yesterday
morning one of the neighbors noticed that the
house in which the old man resided was blown
down. He started over to the place. AS he
approached the spot no signs of life were visi-
bic. He wedgcd his way i'll among the ruins of
the fallen house only to witness spectacle that
was calculated to chill the blood with horror.
Buried beneath mass of fall timbers lay the
old man, his gray hairs clotted with blood, his
| features contorted with pain, and each of his
arms encircled around one of his children. He
was lying near the door of the cellar, having
evidently endeayored to reach that place to es-
cape the terrors of the elements without. True
| TO the instinct which God had implanted in the
parents breast, in the very last moment hehad
not forgotten the loved ones of his household,
but gathered them in hisarms, determined that
all should've or die together. The youngest
childwas dead-her features covered with blood,
and her hair tangled in the ruins that lay scat
tered around The eldest daughter erstill lived, but
crushed and bruised and bleeding, could only
murmur these words, 'Hclp me, friends; L
am dying" and expired in a few mt moments: In
assembled: the bodies were removed from the
ruins and conveyed to neighboring house;
During the morning scores Of neghh0rs be hs called @
ternoon the remains Of the old man and his two
children were followed to the grave by large
concourse of people. The sad affair has thrown
gloom over the entire neighborhood.
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