The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1873-06-12

s 32sa
NO. "a,
Remarkable Incidents OF thu
Great Tornado. in Washington
| County.
The destruction Of the Beedleford
school house, six miles north OF Wash.
ington, Is thus described
1t was an old frame building, made
of square timbers. Nothing remains
on the site, but n quarter Of . mile
down the road were found what had
evidently been portions Of II. School
was In session when the cyclone made
its appearance, about twenty scholars
being in attendance. The rumbling
frightened them. and they gathered
around the teacher, Miss Smith,
thinking she could protect them.
The building shared the same fate as
the others which came within the
grasp Of the tornado, and teacher and
scholars caunot imagine how they
got into the roadway. The wind
demolished the windows first aud
rushing into the building lifted It up
as II II were made OF paper and
knocked 1t about like . shuttlecock.
A daughter Of Henry Rathmel, aged
IL years, was in the doorway, and
seeing the black cloud coming, started
to run out. No one knew what had
become of her until they found her
mangled body half an hour afterward
In the mud quarter Of mile down
the road. She must nave been raised
by the wind aud carried along. She
had very little clothing when found,
and her remains were covered with
mud. Miss Smith and six Of the
scholars, whose names could not be
learned. were injured, three or four of
them dangerously.
One very singular thing is. that the
mud was blown so hard into the faces
OF many Of the children that it can
not be washed off Some OF their
faces look as II they had been tattoed
with India ink or powder. Mics
Smith says the first thing she realized
was that she was standing III the road,
surrounded by the boys and girls.
She does not know how they got
there, being unconscious Of having
made an ascent into the air.
Near the school house, across the
road, stood the dwelling OF Henry
Walters. II was reduced to atoms,
and Mrs. Walters was instantly killed.
When found, she had one Of q pair Of
twins in her arms. The little fellow
was bruised and cut, and died the fol-
lowing morning. The other one es-
capped, though no one can tell how.
This infant lives, being unable to tell
his story. Three Of her other chill
dren were In the school-house aud re-
ceived serious injuries Two Of them
are not expected to live.
A hedge fence at Cancers farm pre-
sented peculiar appearance after the
storm. Against the outside of 1t, for
nearly quarter Of a mile, was hay
aud straw mixed indiscriminAtely.
How II came there can only be 20.
counted for 10 one way. A water
spout drove II into the hedge. A
simple rain-storm would not have
fastened 1t SO securely. Scarcely any
rail, boards or wire fences could be
seen, all having been lifted up by the
whirlwind and carried no one can tell
where. Pieces Of imbedded timber
were so thick in the fields that forty
or fifty acres had the appearance OF
having been devoted to the raising Of
beans and hops.
At Laughiin's helper named Ba-
ker was hurt badly In the back. He
was driving along the road, and, OBJ
serving the cloud coming, jumped
from his wagon and took shelter along
side Of q hedge-fence. The wind
struck both him and the team with
full force, and carried the man, mules
and wagon into the adjacent fields.
Baker says he went through the air
like lightning for about a quarter of q
mile.
At Gibson's sixty fat steers were
carried of by the wind, some OF them
Weighing 400 pounds, and landed
into slough twenty rods off. They
were covered with mud, and a few
looked as If they had been rolled over
and over for long distance. A hog
was observed through whose body a
large piece Of scantling had been
driven. A heifer was buried in the
mud head first. All the spokes of a
new wagon were torn from the hub,
and the iron cylinder Of a corn-sheller
was blown away, as IL it were as light
as a fall leaf An apple tree was torn
from the ground and forced into one
side Of the granary, and looked as if
it had been planted there. The corn
in the cribs was scattered. Over $50
trees were uprooted.
A DoCToR'S DIARY.-A pocket dia-
ry has been picked up in the street,
and now Is in the finders possession,
awaiting its owner. From the follow
ing extracts, it would appear that the
owner was q medical man:
"Kase 230. Mary An Perkins. Bis
ness, washerwoman. Sickness in her
he'd. Fisk sum blue pills soaperi-
fix; aged So Ped me one dollar, 1