The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1878-08-15

years o4eef tA&l tie ui9ett iuhAlttani.
TIE Waliiugfof5 Commaaiiy had
wAteg.wbesl % The shore Of Wiadof.
mere Lake TIE vhifluio3 essght Il.
ADD i vas crsmbled - # J, bad been
bull. q straw A few hundred yards
from the lake. % The east q it, WAS >
poor cottage ia which lived Michael
Twohey. bis wife MARY. aud their sons
DAniel and Michael Michael was IN
The village With the hrst pna Of
wind the woman attempted 20 shat tie
windows The boys assisted her. Be.
fore they knew what bad happened,
The house was levelcd 10 the earth. A
power that seemed irresistible carried
the building. twisted into fragments,
dying through the air. Mrs Twohey
was caught up and buried along
through branches Of trees and over
telegraph wires, beyond Ithe railroad,
across two lanes. d distance Of nearly a
quarter mile. when che was flung down
battered, aud gAshed, and bloody. The
boys we're blown through windows
along with bricks. aud pots, aud pans.
Michael was carried into the branches
Of a Frustrated apple tree Daniel was
whirled away on the gale l50 yards,
where he was flung down so violently
as to have his arm broken, while bis
face was mass of liyid blue spots aud
deep scratches.
Right in the path Of the gale stood
the Roman Catholic church. hemmed
10 on three sides by a cemetery, in
which stood some handsome brown
stone aud marble monuments. The
church was plain one, worth perhaps
less than 81, 900, and was fitted with an
organ and church furniture OF ordinary
description. The storm, to judge from
the appearance of the ruin as 1t looked
to day, plowed into the foundations,
pressing them away from the frame
work. Then the walls, side and back,
were crushed in, aud the roof fell so as
to cover all completely. A more com
plete wreck than this church could not
have been made, except by fire. 1t is
literally mass OF fre.wood. As if
to make the devastation more complete
the wind carried laths in masses mile
over the ridge to the east, and flung
them down in the fields broadcast, like
sowing of seed Opposite the church
were several little tenements, all occu-
pied by large families. When the gale
had passed nothing remained to indi-
cate that there had been houses there
except the gaping cellars, emptied OF
contents, aud line OF splinters, lead
ing into other lines that at last met in
an unbroken covering to the ground OF
broken joists, fences, dead fowls,
kitchen utensils, and clothing.
In this spot, an eighth OF mile on
each side Of and opposite to the Catho'
lie church, the great loss of life occur,
red. 1t is remarkable fact that every
person killed was a member of the
Catholic church. In one of the houses
lived Mrs Downes. middle-aged wo'
man. She was whirled away 600 feet
and was picked up dead and almost
naked. A hay.stack on John Lynch'f
farm was carried an eighth OF mile
and then dropped upon the side of the
bill.
All this destruction was dohe II
much less time than it takes to write
lii. With appalling velocity the wind
swept up the hill, toward Main street
still whirlng and eddyiDg about, anc
dropping a shower of rubbish on the
tobacco fields below. Where it touch
ed the brow OF the hill the new districi
school house stood in it's path. Tht
odiice cost $40, 900 in 1870, and was
fne building of three stories and
mansard roof. The wind struck upor
its west front, pushed in the walls 0
the two upper stories, wrenched hug
pieces from the walls and flung then
into the yard. and then passed on. II
an instant the building was ruined
Two stories stand, but they are pushed
out Of perpendicular SO completely tina
they will never be Strengthened. Look
ing back from the school house towart
the westward, about so feet below, a
the end Of a steep slope, is the plain
covered with its carpeting of debris
The entire work Of devastation in tina
direction could be seen, plain win
row, half mile in width in its wides
part, aud 10 that dreadful lane onl.
two or three houses that still chung TO
ge,her at all, and these so badly twist
ed, tilted, and defaced that it will b
difficult ever TO rebuild them
CORRESPONDENTS.
vxrrus,ox ro saaaroca