The daily gazette., 1877-07-05
The Great Storm.
RAYAGEs OF THE CYCLONE IN
CHESTER COUNTY. te

HOUSES AND BARNS BLOWN DowN-GREAT
Loss OF PROPERTY.
The Oxford Press gives lengthy ac-
count of the great storm in Chester
County, Pa, Saturday, of which the fol-
! lowing is condensation:
The tornado, which was in the form or
/ a great swirl of wind, came from west
ward direction, having formed, it is sup
posed about the Gap, Lancaster county.
| 1t gathered force and fury as II swept
along and swooped down upon the earth
IN places, wrenching, twisting and demol-
ishings, building trees, fences and every
thing with which it came in contact.
The first visitation of the fury of the
tornado, was to the farm of Phllp Hath
away, half a mile south of the village Of
Gap, whose buildings were considerably
damaged. 1t then passed in a curved
line north of Christiana and passed on
with increasing fury until 1t reached the
top of the ridge between the Pcnnsyl-
vania Railroad and the Strasburg road,
about two miles west of Parkesburg,
Here it prevailed with terrific violence,
destroying a number of valuable houses
and barns, killing colored woman and
fatally injuring white man. AT Parkes-
burg new dwelling, just completed at
cost of $500 by G. w. PaXson, Superin>
tendent OF the Pomeroy and Delaware
City Railroad, was completely demolish-
ed Several other houses in Parkesburg
were destroyed, and number badly
damaged.
The bridge of the Pomeroy and Della
ware City, Railroad, over Rock Run, "a sub
stantial wooden structure 100 feet long,
one and half miles from Pomeroy Sta
ton, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, was
lifted from its piers and carried into an
adjoining field Near here, the barn of
DIR. Murphy, in Highland township, was
demolished.
The next locality which felt the fury of
the storm was the village of Ercildoun,
three miles south of Coatesville and
twelve miles west of West Chester. This
was quiet, pretty little settlement, with
a Friends meeting house, large semi
nary and about dozen dwelling houses,
occupied by industrious mechanics and
small farmers. Here the tornado ex-
hausted itself and finally spent its NO.
lence, and the village was almost ami
hilated. The principal building was the
Ercildoun Seminary for young ladies',
owned and conducted by hichard Dar-
lington, Jr. This was a large, substan-
italy built brick structure, 60 feet
square and four stories high, surrounded
with handsome grounds, planted with
ornamental, evergreen and other trees.
The school closed for the summer vaca-
ton on Thursday last, and the young lady
pupils, of whom there were about fifty,
had all gone TO their homes, the only per-
sons occupying the building being Mr..
Darlington, his family and servants.
The family took refuge in the cellar, and
the large building was almost demolished.
The roof was entirely torn off, the walls
of the upper story thrown down all
around the house the masses of brick and
mortar falling into the rooms that only a
few davs ago We're used as the dormi-
tories of the pupils. The eastern gable fell
nearly to the ground and the west wing,
was torn to pieces, and the building is a
complete wreck. The fine trees on the lawn
were broken off or torn up by the roots,
the fence carried away, and more per-
feet scene of destruction it would be diff
cult to imagine.
About a hundred feet from the Semi
bodybuilding Mr.. Darlington was erecting
a fine large dwelling house, three stories
high, which was to cost when completed
about $1,000. The roof was on, and the
plasterers were to commence work yess
terday. The storm completely annibila-
ted this building, tearing the timbers and
lumber into thousands of fragments, and
scattering them over the fields for quar-
ter of mile around.
were blown down or seriously damaged,
aud the farms all around neighborhood
of Ercildoun are covered with the rub
bish and debris of the building destroyed
in the the village. In all the houses the
work of destruction was the work of a
few moments and IN most cases the peo-
pie lost all their furniture and clothing.
The pecuniary damage is very difficult 10
estimate but, taking the whole track of
the tornado it must be very great. Mr..
Darlington estimates his loss at from
twelve to fifteen thousand dollars but the
greater portion of the damage falls upon
frugal industrious class oil. farmers who
can Ill afford to stand the blow.
Near Malshallton the house and barn
of Joseph Marshall suffered terribly.
The former was robbed of its roof and
the latter leveled to the earth. Here
abouts also orchards were swept away
and shade trees uprooted and carried a
Ton siderable distance.
Many cows, hogs and other animals
were killed by being caught up in the
air and hurled violently to the ground
and number of men and women mar
rowly escaped the same fate.