The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1880-05-08
Great Wind Storms.

The dispatches from the West telling Of
the recent destructive wind storms entail
ing great loss of life and destruction Of
property are as meagre in their details as
to direction Of wind and time Of the storm
or storms that ii is impossible at present to
map out the course Of the tornado. 1t
seems probable, 10 fact, that there we're at
least two storms Of independent origin.
The INST destructive Of these followed for
time the line Of the Atlantic and Pacific
Railroad thr9ugh Missouri, developing its
greatest force at Marshfcld, at which
place il is said about 100 persons we're
killed and 200 wounded. Mention is
made Of destruction Of property and loss
OF life at points southwest aud north cast
Of Marshfeld IN almost direct line.
From other parts Of Missouri and still
further nurth in Iowa aud Wisconsin, as
well as in Illinois and Indiana, come reports
Of wind storms with considerable less Of
life, but as no time is given it is not pos
sible to connect them with the more de-
strueiive tornado at Marshheld. The loss
Of life 10 this little town Of 500 inhabi
tants was much greater than from any
recent land storms in this country.
THE wALLISGFoRD TORNADO.
The tornado which swept away por-
ton Of the town Of Wallingford, Conn,
August ., 1878, was very destructive.
According to reports of the U. S. Signal
officers, thirty persons lost their lives aud
seventy others were more OK less injured.
Flity-fye houses and barns were complete.
ly or partially demolished, and the money
loss was estimated at s250,OO0. The
force Of the wind was such that house
weighing $4,000 pounds was moved bodily
three feet on its foundation walls and q
monument weighing 1875 pounds was
lifted from its pedestal and thrown oyeI
on the ground. In this as in other tor
nadoes, the meeting Of two currents of al
Of different temperature and pressure wa,
observed and the eddy or whirl travellin,
in the diagonal of the two currents an
peared to be determined by the coufgura
tion of the ground
OTHER WIND STORMS.
A tornado passed over several towns i,
Iowa aud Illinois May %, 1873, doin
great damage to property, though compal
atiyely few lives were lost, In this storr
f school house weighing thirty thousan
pounds and occupied by the teachers an
! pupils, was lifted from its foundation an
, carried distance Of thirty feet. but VIZ
, not overturned. This storm passed over
: portion of the track from which repori
have been received Of the recent tornad
+ ln August, 1873, great hurricane |
e sea reached the neighborhool of the Gu
b Of st, Lawrence. 1t destroyed at lea
. one thousand one hundred and twent,
c three vessels, and two hundred and twel
J, ty-three lives are known to have bee
4 lost. 1t is estimated that the loss Of Ii
G on sea aud land was at least six hundre
r aud nine hundred houses were destroye
f This great hurricane was preceded by
2 destructive wind storm or series of torn
D does on the coast of New Jersey. whiS
c also did great damage in Eastern Pen
+ sylvania aud Maryland
k THE GREAT HURRICANE"
Ihe most terrible wind storms, howeys
do not occur in this latitude. What
known as the Great Hurricane, start
from Barbados, October 10, 1880. 9
quilted an English feet anchored befo
81. Lucia, ravaged that Island, where $
d thousand lives WGre lost, travelled to Ma
} Unique, where il sunk French feet
forty ships, carrying four thousand S,
d diers, devastated ST. Domingo, St. vi
J, cent, st. Eustache aud Porto Rico. Al
= sunk many vessels sailing in the track
'' the cyclone. Nine thousand persons DC
lshed at Martinique and thousand at S
Pierre. At Port Royal 1900 houses we
; blown down, and 1900 sick aud wound,
|, were buried beneath the walls of the ho
: pital. Great as has been the suffer-,
> aud loss of life from tornadoes in III
country, they cannot be compared to I'll
truly great hurricane of century ago.