South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1876-05-12
Destructive l,ornadoes.

Asasenrorfa and Chicago strael ~ terrific sfsrns
= Destruction If fgs and property.
CHICAGO. AIay IA disastrous lorna.
do swept throuyh the Nest and North.
west Saturday. 1t strnck Lcavenwor,h,
Kan. before daylight during dren,.,-
ing rain which prersiiea for sixty hours.
The atmosphere was file 4 with electric.
ity, and there was for some hours an a.
most DLbroken glare OF lightning and
roar of thur Ter. About htif-past ) A.
NJ. the dense black tornado cloui cane
roaring and rushing upon the ,ity. nc
companied by 4 binding fash oil light.
| ming aud a crash Of thunder that made
the earth tremble. The wind cloud was
funnelshaped, with tho small eni down.
II moved with an osci'latinc motion from
west to east, rebouniing like :, bomb
shell. and scattering ruin in its pathway
wherever it struck the earth The loss
To the city and conntv cannot he less
than $f50.000, and may reach quarter
OF million. The Lcavenworth car,.et
factory. with machinery valued at $780,
GOO. was totally destroyed. The Roof of
the Odd Fellows hall, one OF the largest
buildings In the city, was torn.off, and
the interior Of the structure ruined by
water. Some houses were crushed by
Ealing roofs. Many houses, large & small,
were unrooscd, ana other damage DONE
A dispatch from Kansas, Mo, Satur.
day. says there had been an almost un.
interrupted and unprecedented rain fall
there during tho past two days. causing
immense damage and delays to railroads
by land slides, washing away bridges,
&c. None Of tho ten roa,;s ccntering
! there sent out trains Saturday mataiag
on time. and no trains arrived except Gu
! the Missouri Pacific, North Missouri
| and Fort Scot roads. The damage to
/! private property is heavy. There has
been no such storm i'm that region for
fifteen years.
About 5 p. NJ. a rotating tornado
struck Chicago, damaging property to
the extent of $250,OOO. chiefly in the
South and north sides, the west side cs.
Gaping The Michigan Southern depot
was unroofcd, and elk laborers hurt.
one fatally.
The massive steeple OF Grace Church,
l75 feet high. fell. and crushing through
the roof, penetrated the isle. The choir
were practicing in the church at the
I s'''S, Wv "ViS hOb SNs TIC SDtTc
of Wabash Avenue Methodist Church
also broke off and fell into lot adjoin-
ing. The upper portion OF the roof of
the old county hospital Was carried
away. The patients were speedily re.
moved, and none seriously hurt. The
wind took OF large portion OF the roof OF
Osborn's harvesting machine manufac.
tory, AMI sixty feet of the west wall Of
the building fell in. The house of Hen.
~ w. King was unroofed. The onni-
bus barn OH Blue Islanl avenue was
blown down. y three-s.ory frame house,
on the corner OF Pauline and twenty.
! second streets, was blown down and Que
! boy killed, besides several Of the tenants
were injured. The massive fog bell nj
the crib. together with the newly erected
tower were swept into the lake aud en-
tircly destroyed. Trees, lamp posts
and other debris strew the streets. In
some psr.ions Of the city the sidewalks
were turned over and jammed against
houses, breaking glass, &c. Hacks and
| carriages were wrecked in the streets
and abandoned. Nearly fifty vehicle
were seen on the south side after the
tornado passed, turned over, and some
worthless on account OF the damages nv
the storm. Nearly every vessel inside
TIE Larbor and in the river, as we'll as
! those outside. lost sails or masts or nor.
tons Of their rigging. The lightning
! struck several times, but only i'm one
case was man injured, and he onIy
/ slightly. The storm laste, but few
minutes. In a csnly store OH Lake
street four girls were seriously hurt.
and two Of them probably fatally, nv a
chimney falling through the roof. The
| loss to- the Palmer House is about So.
GEO; to the gardener House 81 1000. and
to the oil county hospital $4,000.
a dispatch from Neoga. Ill, saws the
Illinois Central mail train. bound south.
WAS struck by tornado two miles south
of that point Saturday night and the
entire train ditchcd. No person was
killed, but several we're severely Injured.
! The tornado had terrible force. and
swept everything in its path. which was
very narrow. Fortunately other damage
is slight.
A heavy storm prevailed ut St. Louis
and Memphis Saturday afternoon.