Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-06-04
A BIG BLOW.
Terrific Tornado Accompanied with
Hail, Rain, Thunder, aud Lightning.

A BIG BLOW.
Terrific Tornado Accompanied with
Hail, Rain, Thunder, aud Lightning.
From the st. Louis Republican, ssth.
A tornado swept over st. Louis
and its vicinity yesterday, which
for the time it continued has seldom
been equaled for the fury and de-
struction it brought to property. In
the past ten years, indeed We can
only cite one other instance so
memorable for the general havoc
produced by the resistless rush and
drench of the elements. During
the past week the thermometer had
indicated an approach to 80, an un-
usually high temperature for May,
and the people suddenly found them
selves transferred from the lap of 3
cold and uncomfortable spring to
close intimacy of a scorching sum-
mer. From such an atmospheric
condition the weather prophets had
been confidently predicting a-storm,
but the official weathercock known
to all as "Old Probs,"
GAVE BUT FAINT ISTIMATION
OF what was to come, and the gratu-
titus prophets were not regarded.
Old Probs, contented himself with
q few inconsequential remarks about
falling barometer in this section
of the country, and that was all.
Well, the barometer fell. So did
chimneys, smoke stacks, and other
exposed objects, but roofs, signs, and
similarly vulnerable objects rose.
Thirty minutes before the storm
burst there was but faint indica-
tion of such a fearful visitation.
The sun shone with unusual heat,
and there was a slight density Of
the air which indicated a refreshing
shower and nothing more. At ten
minutes to two the sky became
clouded over, and at two, or perhaps
five minutes past, sharp rain fell
through masses of inky yapor,
which piled, up in thick clouds in
the east, and scudded with great
rapidity over the malarious fats of
the American bottom toward the
city. 1t now became evident to all
that heavy storp was approaching.
At quarter past 2 the tornado burst
with an appalling fury, carrying in
its breath .. .ae-,a
A DELUGE OF RAIN AND HAILsTONES
measuring half an inch in diameter.
in some sections fiat, and in others
round almost as a worn marble. The
rain fell in binding misty sheets,
and the hail, rattling against the
windows, smashed in not only glass,
but sashes, as if they had been so
much matchwork, while the fierce
gusts of wind howled and roared
along the streets as though the horn
band of old Boreas had been prac-
ticing for charivari. Then after a
little came the thunder and light
ming in their awful majesty of sound
and meteoric splendor, and, in with
the clash of the lesser elements, pro-
duced q spectacle of sublime gran
duer which will not soon be forgot
ten. The greatest violence of the
current seemed to be at an elevation
of from fifty to a hundred feet
above the surface of the ground, and
hence the points most severely WIS.,
tied were the upper stories and roofs
of lofty buildings, the stately chin
neys and pilot houses on river crafts
and the flooring of the bridge. 1t
was a rough time and an anxious
one with many, and fearful women
in many parts of the city took their
children to their hearts and lay
down on their beds, to await the re-
suit in an agony of apprehension,
while the roof trees tremble over
them. All this lasted about twenty
minutes. To the nervous and
weak it seemed an hour. Sud
denly the storm abated. AS sudden
ly as it broke it ceased. The sun
pierced through the dark mist OF
clouds, and by 8 o'clock was scorch-
ing from the heavens as potentially
as before the storm. @
The eastern wall of the Republi-
can Building rises about thirty feet
in the clear above every other OBJ
ject between it and the. bluffs eight
miles beyond in Illinois. Against
this wall the storm na,
~ SPENT ITS Widest FURY.
1t bent double iron shutters, it
smashed in the frames and windows,
and gust, after gust struck as if a
Titans were plying their battering
rams to level it with the ground,
making the staunch structure of
brick and iron rock again. While
the tornado was at it's blindest fury
and you could scarcely see fifty feet
before you fer the driving hail and
sheets Of rain, a huge black mass
was seen to rise from Second street
and scud along through the air. 1t
a tin roof, which had been torn off
bodily and carried away by the mad
wind, with the buoyancy of a straw
hat. 1t was one of those visitations
that defies description by the pen;
the painters art could alone do JUS
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