The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-06-30
THE IOWA CYCLONE.

pearance of the cyclone, but can OF refrain,
in this connection. from reproducing, as nearly
as can, description given me with uncon-
scious eloquence by an eyewitness to the descent
of the boreal monster upon the fated town.
1.-THE sun went down." he said, "behind a
bank of peculiar clouds. They we're of fantas-
tic shapes, and the last rays of the setting sun
impaired to them q crimson, angry hue. /
couldn't help for the life of me, thinking of
the ferocious red eyes of an untamable bull
dog, when / looked at the lurid spectacle. Night
came on, and with iG the storm. Inces-
SAINT lightning illuminated the northern
and western heavens The clouds grew
blacker and the atmospheric agitation in
creased. The balloon shaped cloud abont which
you already know could be seen approaching a
quarter OF an hour before it reached the town,
and for at least five minutes before its arrival
the roaring sound, which has been APPLY likened
to the rumbling of fifty freight trains across an
iron bridge, filed the air with its omlnous
echoes. 1t was preceded by violent wind.
which blew down trees and drove people
into the house. [ was standing in an open
space on ole of the western streets of the
town, and. feeling that was safer there than
could be in house, / determined to
stay there, though | admit l was frightened
er, and the lowering mass seemed to reach out
black arms to the earth, when, with horrible,
whistling shrek, the monster swept by within
hundred yards Of the spot where was rooted
with amazement and fear. The raging thing
,swooped down upon the place, licking up every
thing in its path. Some of the houses were
mashed down and swept along, while others
were picked up bodily, torn to pieces, and
the furniture and occupants lifted into
o,kl1 - Id 49, r%1
OF blown the Lord knows where. The dreadful
giant pursued it's way, crushing, crunching and
destroying with cruel wantonness In the I'M
earthly glare produced by the blazing lightning,
which flashed wickedly and necessarily, and by
the balls Of fire with which the gyrating mass
seemed to be alive, / could see the air filled
with flying objects of every conceivable form,
from scraps of paper to sections Of roofs and
floors. to the height of 4U0 or 500 feet, and
don't know how much higher. A house would
be crushed like an eggshell and in less time
composed it would be climbing skyward with
incredible rapidity. The air was charged with
electricity, and where stood the atmosphere
was of a ghostIy palIor. The whirling monster
threw out flashes, and sparks, and balls as it
passed along. Mingled with the frightful
roaring of the cyclone could be heard the shrill,
blood-curdling shrieks of women as they were
demon concert is ringing in my ears yet. The
cyclone was probably minute, or minute
and half, passing me. 1t seemed an age.
Nothing ever filled me with such unspeakable
awe as this relentless riot of the elements
this merciless march Of DEATH"
After the storm came q binding, drenching
rain. 1t was dark as the bottomless plt-so
dark that the blackness could almost be felt
and through this inky air CROPPED hundreds of
men and women trying to find the mangled
remains of the victims of natures cruel revolt
The City Hall was converted into morgue and
the other public buildings into hospitals. Re-
lays Of doctors hastened to the scene of butch
cry from all quarters. Mr.. Moffatt, who
had charge of the dead-house, tells of the
spectacle that was presented there Sunday
morning:
"We worked half the night and all Sunday
forenoon getting the bodies into shape for
burial. There were forty of them ranged about
in the room, nearly all women and children. 1t
being Saturday night, the men were mostly
down in the business part Of town making pur-
chases for Sunday. The bodies when first
brought in were unacceptable Dirt, sand,
plaster and cinders were ground into the flesh,
and in many instances it could not be washed
or scraped off. 1t was as though the victim
had been mashed into an ash-plt and rolled
about undertremendous pressure. i can think
of no other smile that will convey my idea of
how they Looked. -
1.-THE clothing was torn from the bodies in
few cases, but only a few. The sbred3 that
were left clinging to the forms had to be cut
away, however That was the only way it
could be done. Every single person brought
to the morgue was mutiated in shocking
manner. Forms were sometimes hammered
and beaten into shapeless masses. Spines
were driven into the skull, protruding through
the top of the head backs were broken, or
telescoped skulls crushed like egg-shells; eyes
hanging down the cheeks; arms and legs
torn from the bodies and hanging, DISCOUNTED,
by shreds of flesh !; entrails protruding from
frightfut gaps, and yitais scooped out and de
tached entirely from the bodies. The picture
was sckening. 1t took me two hours to lay out
the mutllated remains of what had once been
beautiful young girl Her head had been
crushed down into her trunk and could only be
e1trlcated by cutting away the flesh in a man
ner that seemed almost barbarous. There was
only ore way of doing it, however. pray God
l may never be called upon to see another such
sight" Tfa4.a4ss.
Astonishing stories Of the freaks of
the tempest are told, and I am in a
fit frame of mind to believe almost anything
alter having gone over the track of the cyclone
for dozen or more miles, and seen with my
own eyes the havoc wrought. Who has not
heard of the wind blowing hard enough to take
the thingsl never believed. Neither could 1 quite
swallow the statement that, out lin Nebraska, the
+ inhabitants have to wall up their wells to keep
the hurricanes from blowing out the holes. The
story about chickens having been denuded of
feathers is scarcely less difficult to believe than
the dog story; yet to-day there is an old hen
and brood of chickens in Grinnell literally
slipped by the wind Of every feather. and as
clean as the day they broke through the shell
of the egg that gave them life, and am told
that hocks of prairie chickens have been seen
plucked in a similar way.
In Malcolm stable belonging to Bradhrook,
noted sportsman was lifted from the ground,
transported over the tops of grove of trees
and landed at the foot OF a hill an eighth of q
mile away, and none of the three horses in the
barn were killed, or even seriously injured
One of the animals was thrown through an
open door, alighting Fright sideup, with care,
in the mud.
On three Of the four corners of the two main
streets in Malcolm are fiimsy frame buildings,
and on the remaining corner stood q strong
two-story brick block. The cyclone spared the
wooden buildings, and knocked the brick struct-
ure into flinders. Up the street, half block,
was located three-s DRY iron and brick build
ing owned by j. II. Duffus 1t was crushed like
shell, and pieces of the corrugated iron
veneering blown to the outskirts of the town.
farmer living seven miles away brought in q
piece of Duffus iron, Weighing several pounds.
it having been dropped in field near his farm
house.
Aone-armed STUDENT jumped from the third
story of the brick dormitory and was carried q
considerable way before he struck the ground.
without scratch. The student immediately
ran down town and rang the alarm bell. Sc 81
Mud and dirt were blown into the sides Of
buildings still standing with such force that
the distguring blotches cannot be removed.
Gravel was not splashed up against the build
lngs, but driven in, as though discharged from
q mortar
l saw delicate mantel ornament taken un-
injured from mass of mortar and other rub.
bish in Grinnell, and within twenty feet of the
place was . Ozark spot, showing where young
child had been driven into the earth and
crushed out of shape.
A large house, owned by Lucius Sanders, in
Grinnel, was lifted clear of the cellar, in which
were concealed ten persons, and hurled upon
the ground $50 feet distant, while barn in the
rear OF the same lot was pitched the same dis
lance in an exactly opposl direction.
young woman living less than a block from
the Sanders residence was drawn through her
bedroom window on the second floor, and
gently waited sixty yards away and deposited
softly on the ground unhurt Other members
of the same household were treated with
equally delicate consideration having been
blown to the same place without the infection
of serious injury.
Another Iowa Cyclone.