Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-04-30
The Great storm.

The great storm that swept over the
Mississippi valley, recently, was more
destructive and widespread than at first
reported. 1t seemed to be more of a tor
nado than whirlwind. 1t was unac-
companied by rain or electric phenomc-
ma. The tops of timber in lis course
were twisted off. Dead horses,
cows, hogs and dogs are found all along
the path of the storm, and fowl are kill
ed. Some of the bodies of lighter an
imals were blown great distance
Young trees are barked completely,
either by the force ofthe wind or the con-
tact of the debris that filled the air, The
path OF the tornado averaged about
quarter of a mile in width. 1t was an inn
mense cloud of q conical shape, looking
much like the smoke from burning oil
1t was densely black in the centre, but
| lighter on the edge. ltrolled along with
a roaring noise, and by its centrifugal
force scattered the debris of the wreck it
was creating on either side, The air
was fairly filed with billions of pieces
OF plank. One man who saw it said that
it was in shape like the little funnel
whirlwinds which are frequent in March,
carrying little pieces of paper and wood
round and round. The rolling motion
of the cloud is shown by the
trees, the tops of which are not
broken, but actually twisted off
The loss of life by the terrible tor
nado and subsequent fire at Marsh
field, Mo, is greater than was at first sun
posed The list of the dead reaches
about 100, and nearly all the remainder
of The population of the town and its
vicinity were more or less injured. Of
the 200 buildings in the town, only
twenty remain. A dispatch of the 22nd
inst, says the loss of property aggregates
about $3500O0 The tornado made terri.
BILE work in the counties of Christian,
and Moniteau, demolishing houses,
barns, fences, trees and everything in its
course. Great destruction is also
reported near Jefferson City
and other parts of the state.
In addition TO the nearly complete
humiliation OF Marshtield il was very
destructive elsewhere, it nearly des.
troyed Fayetteville IN northern Arkansas.
Coming from the southwest it struck and
destroyed the residences of Mr. kitton,
DR.. Paddock, Mrs, Croch, j +. Vaughn,
the masonic hal, the fremont house. a
three story brick hotel, killing Mrs.
Gloss, wife of the proprietor; the Demo.
crdt office is badly damage DIR. Balls
and Brown Bros. store, the cast end OF
the Mountain Home, and jennings
stable, and Coffey's twostory brick
house are an utter wreck Eight or ten
frame dwellings cas-: ofthe town were lift
ed from their formations and torn to
atoms Many houses are unrooted.
AT Shawnee Mission, Kansas, number
of persons returning home from funer
al, at 3 O'Clock in the afternoon, were
overtaken by the storm, and took refuge
in shed adjoining a large brick store
of Mr.. Routh. Shortly after the party
had taken shelter, part OF the store was
blown down upon the shed, burying a
dozen or more persons in the ruins, and
very seriously injuring d. G. Campbell,
L. j. Wilson, Mollie Brown and Tillie
Strong, and more or less injuring the re-
mainder of the party. In the village OF
Panther Valley, Mo, seven persons Were
killed outright and many wounded.
Numerous deaths are also reported from
Green county and from Henderson. The
town of Locking was entirely destroyed,
excepting three houses Three hundred
persons are homeless, one life lost and
seventeen persons wounded-tvc Of them
seriously. Fifty thousand dollars dam
age TO all kinds of property in the coun
ty. Ii is reported that great damage and
loss of life occurred at Russelvlle thirty
| five miles southwest OF Jefferson City.
and in Morgan county, but nothing def
mite has been received fr IN there.
A report from Texas county says the
town of Licking was very badly orn up
one-half of the place being destroyed