The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-05-26
THE DEADLY CYCLONE.


season of high revelry in different parts OF
the country The "ball" was opened about
; p. NJ on Thursday In Saunders county,
Nebraska, deso!alng IL tract about six
miles long and rods wide In is coursel
lay the village of Valparaiso, with about
100 buildings and 300 Inhabitants. Most
of the buildings were destroyed and noneI
left unirjured, though fortunately no lives
were lost. The loss Is estimated ut S2o,OOO'
On the same day cyclone struck Den
nisnn, TeXa, destroying the Bapu-t church
and IN part the free school building, ana
killing one womnn The Storm says
the dispatch, "cpme directly downward
from The sky III biach, tannel-shapeo
mass, and lasted not 10 exceed minute,
seemingly rising upward into space again
1t was followed by an exceedingly severe
thunderstorm"
Another cyclone, Of vastly more :mpor-
lance and greater in extent than the above,
was that which seems to have originated AT
about 4 o'clock p. " on Friday last 90
miles Yves, of s.. Louis. and ragged through
Warren, Montgomery and ST. Charles
counties, Mo, and then passing into I'LL
nois, zizzagged shout IN Madison county,
and then took an almost due northerly
direction until it expended its force in Law
ineston county. At times 1t would touch
the ground and covering space an eighth
to a quarter OF a mile wide, swept every
thing in It's course; then 1t would mount
upward, skipping half dozen or a dozeh
miles, then leap down again, renewing Its
work Of destruction.
Beginning in Mis- 0ri, the largest
amount of destruction seems to have been
wrought in St. Charles county, where the
storm swcpt along south OF the Wabash
railroad, iryeling to the ground nearly
everything in its path, and leaving nothing
but devastation and ruin IN It's track, There
are accounts OF killed and more or less
seriously wounGed.
Crossing The Mississippi aboveSt. LOUIS
1t first ran against the bluff on the llllnoi!
side, finding no town but venting its wratl
on farm houses, barn, fences, &c, until i
struck EGwardsvile, where number o
houses were destroyed, among others tina
of Nj. X. Barnett where q relative visiting
from Upper Alton, Mrs +. Maxey, wa:
l.; ,,,li This hnngn % foo
deep and containing 20 !eet Of water, wa:
sucked entirely dry, Woodsboro and Staun
ton were visited in course and besides
several lives the loss of properly is estima-
ted at S65,O00. 1t zlgzagged along the
! bluff to Grafton, where all the stone quarry
} derricks, building and fixtures were demol
lshed, together with five engines and :
number ot houses. Three houses in Shinr
e Hollow, near by, were wrecked and Mrs
Garner killed. 1t seems then 10 have zig
Jagged through Macoupin and Montgom-
cry counties, blowing down farm houses
barns, school houses destroying orchards
fences, &c. The iron suspension bridge o
the Ind. IL ST. LOUIS r, r. at Hillsborougl
was blown down and the express train go
ing east wrecked by plunglng into thu
creek, the engineer being killed. In Macon
pm county, Mrs. Rice, Mrs. George Bake
: and three children were KILLED near Brushl
) Mound. John Donley and boy nance
. Israel were killed at Roodhouse.
; The turn of Sangamon and Morgan
! cou.tles came next Springfield was strucl
; IN the Southwest quarter, near the junction
Of the Wabash & c. and a. Railroad. TIL
r first damage done was the raising of tn
house of VIM. Booker. Next came tn
house of Mrs. English (once a resident o
, Ottawa and daughter of Sen. Turuey witt
< lived here some % years ago. Mrs. En-
2 glish was caught by falling timbers AM
dangerously injured about the hips, ant
also internally. The house WIS sCattere'
about the fields, and the top of the barr
was cut off about six feet from the ground
leaving the lower part intact and III
horses unframed Mr.. Woedruffs hous
was in the line and one.fourth of his tOul
sided roof WAS taken out as clean as car
penter could do it.
Rochester, miles from Springfield, wa
Il heavy sufferer Other points IN Sangs
mon county that suffered were Round Pra
, RE, Dawson and Buffalo, where Willar
|. Van Norstrand, John NJ. Farbry, and Mr.
Chanley and child were killed. Farl
;, houses, barns, fences, asd timber were II
4 terly destroyed, the loss being estimated ,
r not less than $4,000. In one instance seve
! persons were in 3 two. story brick dwelling
= which was carried away bodily, while tn
d inmates all escaped in safety, one Child b,
c ing hurt Ia the head and a man receivln
bruises In the back from bricks from tn
walls.
y At Literberry, Morgan county, villag
: OF 500 inhabitants, all except dwelling
were demolished and persons were kille
and about 30 injured
In the neighborhood of Clinton, De Wi
county, the damage to property is estimate