St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-07-21

The ,clenraphic reports in no way cx-
aa"eratcd the tremendous force Oh Inc
storm which recently devastated a por-
ton Of Nebraska. In the country near
Omaha serious mischief was done. A
number of people were killed, ana a
vast quantity of property destroyed. The
house of a farmer, j. II. Jester, was
lifted bodily from It's foundation by a
furious blast, and whirled through the
air five rods or more, stunning and bruls-
ing the frightened inmates. In the same
town. nearly every house was unrootcd,
the wind tearing the roofs oil like paste
board For miles the corn fields and
wheat fields have been ruined. Says The
Omaha IIcral : A procession following
the corpse of Louis i. Thompson was
oyertakcn by the tempest about tour
miles west of this city. Mr. Ireland
was one of the first 10 see it coming, and,
being a strong man, he jumped out, hop
mo TO be able to hold the carriage 10 the
Ground, but his efforts were iruitlcss, the
vehicle being twisted cut of his grasp
and overturned. Nearly every team was
lifted bodily from the ground. A car
r.agc in which Mrs. Thompson, Mrs.
Ireland, Mrs. Scott, and other near rcla-
tiycs Of the deceased, were riding, was
capsizcd. Tie hcarsc ran down into a
hollow where shelter was afforded, One
lady was taken up from the Ground and
carried Il distance OF 20 fee. IN the ar
bciorc She sonld regain her feet. The
men could not stand up, but were thrown
about at the mercy of the wind. The
afternoon train on the Fremont and
EIkhorn Valley railroad was struck by
the storm. between Scrihner and Crowcll,
3nl the three coaches wcrr lifted from
the track, thrown down the cmlankmcnt,
and turned upside down in the ditch.
One side Ci the engine was lifted cigh,
inches from the track, bnt the coupling
broke, and it fell back AGAIN. Nearly
every passenger was more or less injured
But one mile from the wreck of the train
the house of Nathan Austin was pickcc
mp by the wind, carried about 100 feet
and torn completely INTO pieces. Mr.
Austin was crushed to death in tho
wreck by falling timbcrs lis daughter
escaped with her life, though she wa
severely injured. The Union Pacific
railroad express train, which had drawn
up to the water tank at Lone Tree, wa:
backed away from the building when tho
approach Of the storm was noticed, ant
not n moment too soon, for the W indmil
and building fell Immediately aftcrwarC
with fearful crash. As the storm swept
about the train, shaking it tremendously
the employees of the company hurricC
through toward the sleeping cars, which
were considered the safest from being IL,
heaviest, and they said that the passen
gers were nearly all on their knees pray
M for mercy, for not one expected t,
escape alive. Immense hail-stoncs fell
at this point, and a dispatch received
from there said that none were smaller
than coffee cups. One was found that
actually measured y inches in circum-
ference. In the city, l. houses were
blown down and destroyed. The root
was torn from the back side of the depot;
the kitchen Of Tie hotel was blown
down; the telegraph poles were torn
from the ground; box freight car, stand
INC en- side track, was demolished thl
frame was blown down an cmbankmcnt
and the truck was taken up by an oppo,
site current Of wind and tlIown on tho
main track piles of lumber were whirlct
IN every direction. The operator tclc
%raphcd that a woman was picked W
by the wind and carried quarter Of ;
mile at the rate Of Il thousand miles ;
minute A gentleman named +. Phelps
living near Lone Tree, was killed, hi
daughter fatally injured, and every mem
her of lis family more or less bruised
The storm there continued about tc
minutes, and the track was about tr
miles in width within that limit, ever
field OF grain was entirely destroyed
At blair, the Sioux City and Pacili
round-housc was blown down. and I'll
Waterman, with his son, narrowly @:
tapcd from the ruins with their live
Mr.. Boston'$ housc, about one mile irol
the town, was torn TO pieces, hut iortI
natcly no person was injured. The lo
in buildings and crops, which is immcn~,
cannot now be estimated, and it is prof.
able that further loss OF human lie wi
be reported.
LiyHtiiiiig EOdS.