The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-04-28
Terrible Tornado in Fayette County.
DESTROYING CHURCHFs. DWELLINGS AND
BARNS AND BLowTNG PEOPLE TO DEATH.


DESTROYING CHURCHFs. DWELLINGS AND
BARNS AND BLowTNG PEOPLE TO DEATH.
4 most destructive cyclone passed over the
northern end If Fayctte county late on We'd
uesdav afternoon of last week. The storm
first struck the west enc Of BuI~kiu town
ship iu the northern part uf Ga" county. and
swept IN uortbeasfnriy direction devaSta-
ting everything before it. Houses, barns,
orchards timber, trees and fences were all
levelel for a space of Severa miles in length
and about two hundred yards in width The
first building 10 sustain damage was the
Mennonite church the root being Cal Tied TAR
away Little Abner Jarrett. who was riding
1v was lifted from his horse and buried Vio-
lently in the air, landing many yards distant.
He had hardly left his horse when the lattef
was struck with heavy timbeTS ana kllIeu-
SEerrick'S barn was next unroofed. When
the hurricane reached PennSvIlle II demOl-
ished the Disciples church and DESTROYED
the houses and barns Of Farmers Miller. l4y-
OnS and Wright MeSSrS DetwileT, Atkin-
son and Fre5e also saw their barns, orchards
and fences swept away. John Bundori 5
house was upturned and he himself perhaps
fatally injured. Joseph Glassburn's house
was utterly destroyed and his wife and flve
children dangerously hurt.
IN THE TRACK OF THE GALE.
The terrible gale then struck the house of
John WinegTove and made sad havoc of it.
His wife was found by her husband living
dead, many yards away, with her lnfant
child at her breast The child was unhurt.
The next thing to meet Mr.. Winegrove's gaze
were his five children, scattered about, all in
flames and fighting both fire and storm.
Their lives were saved. The children aver
that the flames came from the cloud that
burst over them. jerry Stauffer and his two
daughters were badly hurt, but how badly
cannot vet be learned. The extent of the
destruction of property cannot be told now.
but the devastation seems almost complete.
Several other deaths are hourly expected and
the wall of mourning in the stricken district
is heard on every side. Accurate descrip-
tiOns by eve witnesses are hard to obtain for
the storm was so rapid in its progress that
the work of destruction was over before the
frightened people knew il. 1t appeared in
the shape Of a funnel. Hailstones as large
as a teacup fen during the progress of the
storm.
FURTHER DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.
PITTsBURG, Pa, April pa dispatch
from Pennsville, Pa, says The cyclone
swept district is a scene of devastation and
distress, of waste and ruin the like of which
has rarely before been known The storm
that unheralded burst Suddenly on this COM
munity about 4 o'clock on Wednesday even
ing was of short duration and very limited iU
its track 1t mOvedfrom south west to north
east, going over the northern portion of Fay
cite county.
The little town of Pennsville is situated
about four miles north of COnnellsvile, on
the Southwest Railway, and is in sight of the
devastated track, the storm having swept
Just north of the village. The hurricane so
suddenly burst upon the people and was so
. soon over that few can give any satisfactory
account of its nature. The wind, rain and
. hail poured out of a dark blue, funnel haDed
cloud, which travelled at an almost Incredible
speed. The first serious outbreak here was
in the western part of this township, where
it struck the Mennonite church. about one
mile west of this town and unrOOfed it. a
distance 4 I a T.
rRtt, a boy 10years old, riding along on hOrs E.
back was carried some fifty yards by the
/ force of the wind. and his horse killed by
some timbers that were dashed upon it, His
/ brother Neil, a young man, was hurled
/ through the air in the same way for long
distance. The storm struck the farm of 4
Y. Sherrick, on the crest of the hill neal
Pennsville, destroying the orchard, unroofnC
/ the barn, and passing Oh to the house, level
/ ing chimneyS, fences anG trees to the ground
The gale crossed southwest to the Penn
+ sylvania Railroad, and destroyed timber and
/ trees on the Wilson, Boyle and PlayfOrd
/ farms. 1t unrOOfed the Disciple church and
Z otherwise seriously damaged it. On the Mt
Pleasant road the house of a widow named
Miller was demolished aud her barn carried
. so far that it has not vet been found. W. z,
Lyons property was also damaged to the
amount of 81 900. John :. Detwiller's barn
: was unrOofed and his house badly damaged,
as was also the house. barn and orchard OF
. @. d. Atkinson. Half a mile further on z.
+ Herninger and H. s Fretz suffered similar
. losses.
l The elements seemed to gather strength as
the storm Travelled on. Before 1t reached
Mounts Creek it took an easterly course, and
here the deadliest work began. John Bur
DORIS house was the first to Succumb
/ Strange to relate the lower story of the house
. was swept instantly away, and the upper
portion then came tumbing down. Mr.
BundOTff was outside, and when he saw the
storm approaching he sought shelter inside.
He was, however, Overtaken and whirled
abOut in the air at the mercy of the gale. His
dwelling place was rendered 4 shapeless mass
/ Of ruins. He relates that rails, rubbish and
/ timber could be seen flying through the all
| as if they came from the clouds. Mr.. Bun
( dorff was struck by one of these missiles Just
below the small Of the back. 1t penetrated
an artery and it is feared the wound Is fatal.
Mr.. Joseph GlassburE' s house was utterly
destroyed, as was also his barn. The last be
saw Of the roof of the latter it was going up
the mountain at lightning speed. Nothing
was left standing on his farm. Mr.. Glass
burns wife and FIVE of the children are badly
hurt.
a half mile from Glassburn's the storm
struck the house of John Wingrove. lie
was about 500 yards from his home, driving
thither a load of oats. He leaped from the
wagon and ran towards his house. Fifty
yards from the houselhis wife lay dead, with
her babe of II months elasped tightly to her
bosom. She had seized her youngest born
at the instant the storm struck the building
and had been hurled so far that the violence
deprived her of life. The babe was unharm-
ed. Mr.. WingrOve's other children were try
ing frantically to eXtingulsh the fire, which
had caught in their clothing and was then
consuming them. They assert that the fire
burst upon them from a cloud overhead. Al
eXander and Harry, two of the boys. aged II
and Is years respectively have since died of
their injuries. The other children will prob
ably not recover.
About a mile further on J. Stauffer's two
4 houses and barn were leveled to the ground.
Mrs. StautfeT was seriously injured, as were
also her two daughters. The last point in
the tack, so far as we can ascertain, was
two miles beyond Stauffer's at Hinton Kyap-
snider's, whose house was carried away.