Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1875-05-07
From IT, Columbit PEp n,
The Storm King.
Terrible Tornado at Column
bia on Saturday Evening.
TIE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN RUINS.
State House and Market House
Badly Damaged.
Many Stores and Dwellings
Badly Damaged.

Oduly Oou1"S0Us
Between and & o'clock, Saturday
evening, a devast ttIng tornado passed
over Columbia. The wind was fnrl-
Gus, and the rain that fell was drlvel
into a mist. The thunder and light
ming which accompanied it was terrific
and almost incessant. Fear was pic
tured on every face, and visions OF
recent cyclones rushed to every mind.
The destruction Of property was In
uense, but there was Il miraculous es-
cape of life and limb. The storm pnr
sued an cas- erly course, aud dwell
amongst us about half an hour. Hail
stones fell IN large quantities, soIne OF
which were of a size to cause much
d mage. The sky light of tine market
was blown off, and its fall tore dow
part of the east roof. Wagons in the
path of the falling timbers were de-
molished, but luckily no animals were
killed neither was there injury TO
any of the larg number Of persons
vino had coDgregated here to do their
marketing. great deal Of market
abb, goods was b own through the ali,
and scattered in every dirrct1un. The
tall steepl Of the Presbyterian Churt h
was Frustrated, and the massive tim
bers were driven through the ceiling.
damaging the church to such al extent
IS TO render it unsafe to hold divine
service therein until repaired. Tie
rear wall was badly sprung and thc
roof and ornamental paris of tht
church badly damaged. The stneplt
evidently fe!! It's full length along I'll.
top Of the bni'ding, ana rolled off ols
The South side, where the fence amt
wall wa, broken down. The West end
Of HE attic of Mr.. J II. knard's
house, opEosi the church, WAS Down
III. aud tn floor flooded by the rain
The roof of the outrage shop )rhej
Of WASHINGTON and Assembly stree t.
| VAS biowu If aud portion OF TIN
walls torn down. The turniture store
Of Mr. A G.. >quier WAS badly dam
| aged, the front portion being driven IN
ucon his wares, and iDhICtIug heavy
! loss. The family, who reside III the
| building, mad a marrow escape. The
| roof of the State House was torn off
at the same old plac. the West wing
"a door blown ont, and chimney
hurled to the ground. The cast-iron
palmetto tree III front of tic State
House was Frustrated, and the ornamen-
| tai work su pounding 1t broken down.
| The strong bolts and hooks which held
| the tree up were torn out OF place and
! Strengthened out The tree was divld
ed into three parts. A car shed at the
Greenville and Columbia Railroad
was partially destroyed, as also the
| depot of the South Carolina Railroad
which was uuroofed. The rear wall II
| MIR. Crawford's warehouse, near THESE
railroads, was blown down. A log
| cabin on Vince ;er's hill was leveled /,
! the earth, and we are informed an IL
mate killed, but we have not received
reliable Information as TO the death
The roof of the Presbyteri. n office was
torn up, and also the roof of the build
lug occupied by Mr.. J. II. Aitee as {
grocery store. At this latter place
the front windows were very bad!J
-, broken. A house on Gervais street
between Lincolu and Gates, was m
rooted, and, we hear, woman hunt
The portions of chlmn-ys protecting
above the roofs of many houses IL
| high and exposed localities were de
molisbed, and i'll several instances tie
bricks penetrated the shingles. Tie
large windows in Mr.. Fines restaur
ant were crushed in, as we'll as many
panes of glass in the State House anC
a number of private residences, which
gave the ram free entrance, and dam
! aged considerable furniture and car
| pets. Huge trees were rprOoted il
every dire ctlon, and signs, awnings
billboards, fences and walls were btowl
down sid parapets injured Many
dwellings, have been seriously dam
aged by the rain. which was driver
through the smallest crevice, ant
| soak Il through the walls-lp som.
instances causing the plasterlpe
to fall, and III others inJurlng tc
ID extent sufficient to compel replas
ling. Many houses narrowly es
capped being crushed Ivy falling trees
a portion of the new city hospital wa
blown down. A house III the suDur h,
caught fire by the wind blowing in th,
door and scatteril 6 the fire arount
the room, but it was promptly eX:Iu
guished. The roads leading TO Col
umbia were blockaded by the rise il
small streams and FRUSTRATED trees
| Trees which have stood the storms o
half a century, and which had grown
to an immense size, were snapped hk,
pipe stems, and hurled a considerable.
distance. We heard that 4 coloret
| man was lifted Oft his feet and carried
thirty or forty yards. During hi
passage, he thought of the Adventis
| prediction, and came near being u be
lever He claims TO have prayeC
rapidly and fervently while on hi'
stormy journey,
After the storm had passed away
that sign which was placed in til,
heavens after the subsistence of til,
food, made beautiful appearance
AID tie grand sunset and many-col
ored rainbow were hailed with de
light.
1t is impossible to give at this writ
ing u fun account of the injury IL
ficted by the tornado which SO sud
denly came upon us, but we will fur
nish our readers with full particular,
as soon as the extent of he damag.
can be asserted.