Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-05-31
Some Curious Freaks Of the Late CT
clones,


OF the city knew nothing of the awful hayoc
created in the outskirts By Fridays blow
until the following morning. No fear,
had been entertained of acyclone, for it was
generally known that Prof. Gray had de-
monstrated that such a thing was out of the
question near large body Of water. But
when the people heard the noise like ''the
rumbling OF a million railroad trains" as
one man described it, some became alarmed.
The noise ceased in a minute, and then
men and women came to the doors of their
houses to see what was going on. The mud
dy cloud had gone, and a. white one was
coming toward the city with astonishing We
loeity. 1t appeared to pass over the north
end within two minutes, and when it
reached the lake hundreds of people rushed
to the shore to see the effect. Immense
masses of water were apparently drawn up
by the cloud as it travelled along, and the
sight is said to have been a very beautiful
one. When the cloud disappeared in the
distance everybody on the south side of the
river believed the storm was over, and they
went to bed without knowing what had tax
en- place on the outskirts of the city a mile
or so distant.
The next morning, around every spot
where there had been a dwelling were the
former occupants, who were gathering what
remained of their household goods, though
few found any article of value. A singular
thing noticed was that in almost every in
stance the bedding was in good condition,
while stoves, beds and chairs had diSap-
peared. One man was seen taking off q
wheelbarrow full of QuiltS-an that was left
of his effects except cow, one of whose
horns had been knocked off. Another fam
lily found only clock, a vinegar jug and
cup and saucer. A few lost absolutely
everything they possessed.
The triplets and their parents, Mr., and
Mrs. John Sabin, who lived on Hegaer
street, escaped with some slight bruises.
This was good news to the people of Racine,
who had taken agreat interest in the chill
dren. Sabin's house was struck, but only
the front wall was torn away. One of the
triplets was in front room in its cradle,
and the mother grabbed it and ran out,
while the father looked after the other two.
Mr.. Sabin was struck on the nose and hand
by flying pieces of timber, but he didn't
mind hts hurts, being happy over the preSeT-
walton of his progeny.
AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
The Vagaries of the cyclone defy enumera-
ton or description. Preserving one general
course from northwest to southeast it Wab-
With penchant for high ground, it was
not too proud to travel along the lowlands,
uproOting, twisting, shivering and splinter
ing massive oaks and stalwaTt hickories,
scattering fence-railS in every direction, and
playing with telegraph and telephone poles
as though they had been match-StickS and
the wires slender threads.
Not satisfied with running homes, it scat
tered their Notwithstanding the most
trifiing-on every hand. A large mirror in
the English residence was broken into
thousand pieces, and relic-hunterS picked
them up to-day. A teapot landed in the
bOughs of a young Sapling, where it was
caught and held, while pieces Of a lady's
necklace were found in the hedge-fence,
under careened stoves, and in various out-of-
the-way places. In short the cyclone
seemed to have no regular programme, but
to take pretty much everything that came
in its way and do with it what it pleased
Some of the escapes and incidents at the
other places were peculiarly interesting.
Seven people rushed into Bolivar Turkeys
cellar and escaped, though a baby was
slightly hurt about the head; and cat
which had found its way there was killed.
Twelve persons at Henry Turkeys also took
refuge i'll the cellar and escaped, while one
of Turkeys six horses was safe and sound
with halter and broken piece of the
manger around his neck, half mile distant,
and the other five near the barn. The hedge
fence opposite ROy'S was coated with geese
feathers and every now and then onamented
with clump of cornstalkS. Sam Ashton
found his vest half a mile away, but the
thirty dollars he had left in one of the pOck-
cts was missing.
AT HARVARD, Ill.
The following reliable account of the de-
| scent of the cyclone Friday evening upon
this section is given by farmer living near
Chemung, two miles north of this place:
''The sun was shining all day Friday,' he
said, and there was stiff gale blowing
from the southwest. AbOutSiX o'clock /
noticed a fmnel-shaped cloud, with the small
end upperInOst coming toward the village
from the northwest. At the same time
a heavy rolling cloud came toward us from
the southwest. Before the two clouds met
the gale suddenly stopped, and there was
dead calm. The clouds approached each
other almost mile from where l was, and
the counteT-currentS rolled over them upon
one another backward and forward. The
fmnel-Shaped cloud tipped completely over,
and its small end swept the ground. There
was suffOcating calm for few moments
after the clouds cOllided. The collision
was marked by clap OF thunder and glare
of lightning. Then came roaring wind,
and l saw the big cloud that had been
formed by the two sweep by. Its center
sides were jet black. 1t slanted downward
toward pond, and I could see it sweeping up
and carrying masses of mud and water. &c
lifted the fences straight into the air, and
they seemed to float in its bosom rather
than whirl around. I was about a mile out
of the clouds course, but the strong wind
struck me downward to the earth. In half
a minute the cloud passed, and then the hot
sun poured down upon US brighter than
ever"
To illustrate the force of the cyclone it is
noted that hickory trees from six to ten
inches in diameter were twisted and torn
from their places like reeds. A heavy oak
beam was found four miles east Of its former
position. Near the Sugar Creek bridge two
trees five feet in diamer were broken down
five feet from tlSSlr base. A horse was
taken from a stable and carried about three
hundred yards into an adjacent field. When
found he was tied to apart Of his manger,
which had been taken with him. He re-
ceived but few light bruises.
tod T1nnFflioF