Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1873-06-05
THE IOWA TORNADO.

THE IOWA TORNADO.
Tho Terrible Cyclone in Washington
and Keokuk Counties-ThrfIIinE De-
scription of the Storm Kings Ride.
The recent tornado in Iowa was of the
fercest description, far surprising any
thing of the kind ever witnessed in that
section. The track of the hurricane
was about a half mile in width, and tore
into fragments everything that came in
its course. Houses, barns, fences, trees,
cattle, and human beings were caught
ND and whirled through the air like mere
toys, and then dashed to the ground with
such violence as to produce instant
death with the animate beings. The
houses and barns were torn to fragments
and scattered for miles around. Large
pieces of timber were driven into the
ground at an angle of ninety degrees,
and cattle were actually driven head
ly conceive of the devastation or realize
the force of the tornado. The saddest
part of the terrible visitation was the
loss of human life, some eight or ten
persons having been killed. Sad havoc
was made with all kinds of live stock,
| several hundred head having been de-
stroyed by the cyclone.
From an eyewitness description, it is
almost q miracle that anything in its
track escaped alive. He says that he
could see large pieces of timber hurled
from the cloud as though shot from a
cannon. Hail fell that measured nine
inches in diameter. The roaring of the
tornado was fearful, and could have
been heard easily ten miles. At the dis
lance of five or six miles the noise was
perfectly appalling, SURPRISING anything
ever heard except the roar and din of a
terrific battle. In Washington county
alone the damage is enormous, AMOUNT
ing to thousands of dollars. Eight per-
sons we're killed in that county, namely ::
Housed, Mr.. Davidson, Mr.. Baker, a
daughter of Jacob Seek, the wife and
two children of Henry Waters, a daugh-
ter of Henry Ramthel, aged IA, who
was carried a distance of q quarter of a
mile by the wind, and a Miss Gardner.
In the town of Lancaster, Keokuk
county, every house but one was swept
away. A letter from Washington, Iowa,
says Our reports are from only a few
points on the line of the terrible de-
| stroyer, and we cannot estimate the
amount of damage, but it may be many
thousands of dollars. Many more lives
were probably lost thar those reported,
and no estimate can be made of the
stock killed. Nothing heretofore SO
terrible and violent has ever befallen
I'LL SOuI1b1, hto VIC SchA Ol11 SOllUO11-
plate it's devastation with awe, and won
der that so many escaped alive.
It is impossible to describe the scene
after the storm had passed. 1t re-
sembled a long tract of country that had
been suddenly overfowed and every
thing carried away, and as if the water
had suddenly fallen and left everything
in complete ruin. The force of the
storm must have been tremendous.
Nothing resisted it. Heavy cattle were
carried over a quarter of a mile, and
thrown to the ground with such violence
as to half imbed them in the earth.
Wagons and farm implements of all
kinds were strewn all over. Even the
spokes were broken out of the wagon
wheels. A hog was found pierced
through with a two by four timber, pin
ming it to the ground. Building material
and agricultural implements, including
thrashing machines, reapers, corn-plows,
planters, cultivators, ETC., in every shape
Imaginable, are strewn the entire dis
lance. The storm seemed to confine
itself, in width, from 100 to 400 yards.
Washington Qowa) Cor. Chicago Tribune.l
The roar which accompanied this
manifestation of the anger of nature was
distinctly heard here, and it is said by
farmers, who live 10 miles away, that
they heard q peculiar, rumbling noise,
and could not avoid connecting it with
the storm. To some the noise sounded
like a heavy freight train at night, when
everything was reposing to others, like
musketry, with an occasional discharge
of artillery.
Everything, except here and there a
mile or two over which the whirlwind
seems to have jumped, is desolatelook-
ing. Scarcely a house, barn, shed, or
granary is left. ALI were swept away
as clean as the fire wiped out the North
Side of Chicago.
say they first noticed an immense black
mass, which to some resembled q huge
hay-stack in shape, and to others a
balloon, with the small end toward the
ground. They could not see beyond its
borders, but, as it went by, they saw
mud and boards flying in all directions.
Houses were torn from their founda-
tions, as if they were chaff, broken and
twisted into a million fragments, some
of which were forced into the ground
two or three feet. Cattle were lifted
up, carried some distance, and hurled
head-long to the earth. One heifer,
three years old, was thrown into a ditch,
head first, and when found her head and
neck were buried in the mud. This is
an actual fact, as L saw it myself, the
owner having left the animal where she
was thrown in order to satisfy the in
credulous. Several steers had pieces of
timber forced into their sides, and quite
a number were thrown down so violently
that their limbs and horns were broken.
It is impossible to give an adequate
description of theprogress of the cycloue.
1t moved forward SO rapidly, and those
who saw it approaching were SO badly
frightened, that they thought only of
their own safety. What met their view
they could not avoid looking at, although
fear seems to nave confused their minds
and rendered them unable to give a salts
factory account of it. AS far as I have
been able to learn, no man who possesses
even a superficial knowledge of storms
observed it. Those who were in its
midst and escaped with broken limbs and
bruised bodies have no distinct recollec-
ton of anything except that they were
lifted up, carried along with the rapidity
of lightning, and landed suddenly in
the mud. A few who were in their
dwellings,, and as they thought safe,
found themselves sprawling on the