The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1883-05-26

A fIightful tornado at 7 e'elock on the
evening of the 18TH inst. brought death
| anl destruction to many homes in the
city OF Racine: 1t came from the south
west and was heralded by a terrific thun
der storm. The dense black cloud that
marked the center Of the cyclone first
struck the city at Wolfs gardens. in the
extreme northwestern portion. where If
leveled farm house and esipplei six
Of the Inmates. Here il seemed to rise
from the esrth, which wzs again struck
about halt mile TO the north
east and at the corner of St.
Clair ana High Streets, where Lutz'
gardens were situated. From here
| II proceeded due east almost to the Like
shore, covering path of pelrlv a quarter
OF mile IN width. Ii the LaLh OF the
storm scarcely building remains in.
tact. The locality dey sfei consisted for
the most part Of class of poor houses.
but bere and there was brick house cf
substantial structure. No.hlg escaped
the power Ct the cyclone Tic houses
he Ia heaps Of stones, boards and bricks.
In some places, where the houses were
unusually close together, they had be- Il
blOwn In heap so large as to effe ectuaI-
Is blockade tie streets. Eve1ywl ere
throughout the portions Of the city with
III the patb OF the storm are hesps Ct
rubbish.
All The houses on the west sid Of
North Main nolth Of English Street.
me demolished. Most OF them are of
wood, but one vas large brick h, use,
owned by Mr.. Fisher. Fred FsIk' )
house on English Street was completely
wrecked. May hou> es on North Wis
coDsln Street we're more or lrs IS dam
aged. Oue horse on High Street.
facing east. was picked up aud ap-
peared to float la tEe air twenty feet
above the earth, and when 1t ah5htel it
was in a tclerable tate Of pre- e vatiop,
and faced south. A barn oa Mllw ukee
Street was lifted into tue cir and il came
down underslde up, plesenli G p strange
Appearance. Sidewalks III the track o.
the cyclone were drawn into the air.
trees torn up by the rCos, ard out
houses, etc., were To more than
feathers waited by breeze.
Fourteen persons were in Petura' s
saloon, on Douolas Avenue, ard, though
the tgo sto1y brick building in which 1t
was located was reduced to a mere pile
Of bricks ard mortar. DO one was seri-
ously Injured. Beach's barn was taken
up INTO the air, and, after whirIing Ike
a top, alighted in good order on its side.
like a ship on her beams. The fax
mills, the vinegar mandatory, aud the
br ck yards Of William Baumaus shared
tie common fate Of destruction. The
roof Of BettIoy's bakery was lifted off,
all on the ssme ssrCet, s.. Clair. the
cnpola Of Father Matthew Hall was
damaged. The T:l0 tram from Chicago
was dslayed nile north OF the city bv
hcuse which had bsen picked up by
the cyclone AID deposited sqaarey oo
the rails.
The scere among the dead, wounded
end dying at the northern part of the
city was one painful beyond descuptiCn.
In many instances surviving relatives
lad lost all sCmb,auce Of reason, PEysi-
clans were lot numerous enough to give
prompt assistance ard numerous bleed
Iug victims were rolled up in blankets
while anxious relatives ral IN every III
rection to secure medic2i aid
4 feature of the result IF the storm is
that the houses IN general appear to
have exploded. Those within tie storm
center were in a vacuum, ard The pres
sure Of the air from the inside acted as
an explosive. Some few houses were
lifted and carried bodily for a short Is
tsnce, and here the occupants Jared
better than those in the storm center
All the physicians IN the city were
called into service, ard responded robly
to the call for help. As fast as they were
ext1cated from the debris the wour dad
were examined. and when therc ndition
permitted were conveyed to ST. Luke's
and St. Mary's Hospitals.
Fully twenty five people were killed
and as mang as one hundred injured.
One hundred and fifty houses were de
molished, and had the cyclone struck
near the business center the dana &c
would have been incalculable. At
Western Union Junction, seven miles
west of Racine, many houses were ruined.