St. Landry democrat., 1882-05-13
ADESTRUCTIYE, STORM.
A Town Demolished in an Instant-Ffsne
Persons Killed and Fifty Others Injured

Town Demolished IN stn lnstant-aliSnG
Persons Killed and Fifty Others Injured
BROWNSVILLE, Mo, April 10.
About four O'Clock yesterday afternoon Il
slight wind commenced blowing and a show
err of rain fell Almost Immediately the at
mosphere grew very heavy and a deep
murl<y darkness seemed to envelop every
thing. Two large blush colored, angry
looking clouds were seen rising. one III the
south and the other in the southwest me
clouds we're apparently several miles DIS
tant and seemed to be driving toward each
other at fearful rate of speed. When
ehont two miles from town the two
monsters came together with a loud nose,
anti then apDroached with lightning velocity.
Immediately after the clouds joined each
other, Il loud roaring, similar to the distant
rumble of q locomotive, was heard, ana When
the storm struck the town the roar was al
most deafening. accompanied at intervals ny
loud reports similar to the discharge OF e.
cannon. Before the clouds united 1t Was no.
ticed that both seemed to be reelin5 in a very
peculiar manner, but as soon As they came
togetherthey assumed the shape OF a large m
verified funnel, the mouth hanging cIoSc'
to the ground and the stem running
high into the air. The center OF the nun
mel was dark blue in color, while around the
>'iS
whole occasionally lighted up with brilliant
flashes of lightning, which rendered. ne spec
tacle only the more frightful. Tue storm
clouds seemed to travel in a ZigZag motion,
at the rate of at least a hundred miles an
hour as scarcely five minutes elapsed from
the time the first cloud was seen until the
place was in ruins. On account OF the threat
ening appearance of the we itler during
the early part of the afternoon but rev peo-
pie were on the streets, ana scarcely nan a
dozen persons saw the clouds or had
any intimation of the approach OF the
storm until it was upon them. Ihose
who did see its approach were so thoroughly
frightened by its terrible appearances that
they were rooted to the spot on which they
stood, and not more than two made any EFFORT
to seek place OF safety The first place the
cyclone struck was the two story brick build
ing on the corner of Main and Spring streets,
occupied by Myers Il Duensing, dry goods;
Thos Andrews. clothing; "A. Helsea, grocer
les, and A. S. Reinbert, hardware, allo which
were lifted from their foundations ana hurled
into the middle of the street. Several persons
in each store were buried in the debris, and
three persons killed outright. .
From this point it continued northeast de-
molishing number of dwellings on the way to-
the brick block on Lexington avenue, known
as Newtown here. The work of destruction
was most terrible, both to life and property.
Seven two story brick buildings were totally
destroyed, and three others badly damaged"
The Brownsville Hotel, a large history frame,
was completely carried away and the tmbers
scattered for hundreds of yaldS around. Five
persons are known to have been killed i'll this
block, and at least twenty-five others more
Or less injured. The Star mill, half a block
bo1f z
Beatty and RusselIslivery stables were leveleds
to the earth stock uninjured. The brick public
school building was cut down to the top OF
the first windows. School had been dismissed
about fifteen minutes prior to the storm. The
Christian Church was also entirely demol-
ished About twenty frame and several brick
dwellings were destroyed The force of the.
wind was so great that the heavy brick build
ings were lifted clear off the foundations, and
frame buildings were picked up bodily aud
crushed and twisted into splinters. Sections
of sidewalk were carried through the air over
one hundred yards. Carpets and furniture in
dwellings were carried entirely out of town
and lodged in the tree-tops and timbers from
the lumber yards scattered all over the coun-
try; several pieces have been picked up over
one mile distant. A horse was picked up and
carried about fifty feet and hurled to death
driven entirely through the body of a COW.
Following is correct list of the killed, so
far as known: Matt Williams George Payne
and A. L. Scruggs, farmers; W. E. c. White,
City Marshall James Miller, clerk; Claus
Meyers, dry goods merchant; Dick Ferguson,
clerk; E. j. Arthur, travelling man from Fits
burgh, Pa. Seriously wounded Jesse Jack
sonby, spine injured. Perry Wilson. shoulder
fractured. G. M. Kelly, both legs broken;
terribly bruised; condition critical. S. Chap
line, right eye terribly hurt and head and
body bruised. John Lamkin, serious cut on the
head. A four-year- child badly bruised.
j. L. Wilson, blown against building and
severely cut and bruised. Mr.. and Mrs j. G.
Mailer, Mrs. jeff Eccles, James Matthews. ser
ious bruises. w. II. Steers, face and head ter
ribly cut. w. G. Parsons, injured internally
will die. At least fifty others are slightly in
jured. The home physicians have been re-
lieved by others from Sedalia and other adj
iacent towns and the wounded have now
been nearly all attended to. A large number
of people are rendered homeless. but the
Brownsville people hope to be able to care
for them for the present, at least, without
sistance. Parties who have lost most heav-
lily declare their intention of rebuilding right
away. The total damage to property can
scarcely be calculated, but will not be less
A singular phenomenon of the storm was
that everything in its path was charred and
blackened and covered with blue, sulphuric
smelling mud.
The brick dwelling of jeff Eccles was lifted
from its foundation The family, including
the baby in cradle in the front room, were
all covered by debris and more or less iniur-
ed. except the baby, which had not received
single scratch and was not even awakened.
The Pacific Railroad ran a large excursion
train from Sedala, donating the gross pro-
ceeds to the sufferers
After leaving here the storm cloud raised
some distance in the air and began the de-
struction of fences.
Work of the Wind Elsewhere.
At Montrose, Henry County, the Christian
and Baptist churches were completely de-
molished, Colman's butcher shop was
| wrecked, the roof of j. FL Vickers new house
was swept away, and many other structures
were RACED.
story building, belonging to William Gregg,