Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-09
Some GNious Freaks OF the Late Cy.
clones.
AT RACINE, WIS.

III hiS
nad been entertained Of cyclone, for it was
generally known that Prof. Gray had de-
monstrated that such a thing was out of the
question near a 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
zen 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
locit$. 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. Immensc
masses Of water were apparently drawn up
by die cloud as it travelled along, and the
s:rht is said to have been a very beautiful
one. Wien the cloud disappeared i'll the
distance everybody III the south side of the
river believed the storm was over, and they
went to bed without knowing what had talk
EN- place on the outskirts OF the city a mile
OF so distant.
The next morning. around every spot
where there had been a dwelling We're the
former occupants, who We're gathering what
semained OF their household goods, though
few found amy article of value. A Singular
Cling noticed was that in almost every ill.,
stance the bedding was in good condition,
while stoves, bed and chairs had disap-
peared. One man was seen taking off a
~wheelbarrow full of quilts-all that was left
,of his effects except a COW, one of whose
horns had been knocked Off. Another fam
lily found only a clock, a vinegar jug and a
cup and saucer. AZ 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 a great interest in the chill
d Ell. Sabin's house was struck, but only
III front wall was torn away. One of the
triplets was in a front room in its cradle,
and the mother grabbed it and ran out,
while the father looked after the other two.
Mi. Sabin was struck on the nose and hand
by flying pieces of timber, but lie didn't
mind his hurts, being happy over tile preser-
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-
bled and twisted in every conceivable way.
With a penchant for high ground, it was
not too proud to travel along the lowlands,
uprooting. twisting, Shivering and splinter
ing massive oaks and stalwart hickories,
scattering fence-rails in every direction. and
playing will 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 contents-sometimes the most
%trining--on every hand. A large mirror in
the English residence was broken into a
thousand pieces, and re%lic-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 a cat
which had found its way there was killed.
Twelve persons at Henry Turkeys also took
refuge III the cellar and escaped, while II
OF Turkeys six horses was safe and sound
with a halter and a broken piece of the
manager around his neck, half a 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 Olnannented
with a 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 byea farmer living near
Chemung, two miles north of this place:
"SThe sun was shining all day Friday" he
SAID, land there was a stiff gale blowing
from the southwest. About six o'clock /
noticed a funnel-shaped cloud, with the small
END uppermost coming toward the village
from the northwest. At the same time
aheavy rolling cloud came toward us from
the southwest. Before the two clouds met
the gale suddenly stopped, and there was a
dead calm. The clouds approached each
other almost a mile from where I was, and
the counter-currents rolled over them upon
one another backward and forward. The
fnnnel-shaped cloud tipped completely over,
and its small end swept the ground. There
was a sutfocating calm for a few moments
oItSA 1AC CAOuuS SOlllueu. Liz COLLISION
was marked by a clap of thunder and a glare
of lightning. Then came a roaring wind.
and l saw the big cloud that had been
formed by the two sweep by. Its center
was of a yellow.sh color, but the top and the
sides were jet black. 1t slanted downward
toward apond, and could see it sweeping I'M
and carrying masses Of mud and water. It
Gifted the fences straight into the air, and
Glsey seemed to float in its bosom rather
.than whirl around. 1 was about a mile out
eof 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 i'll 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 their base. A horse was
taken from a stable and carried about three
hundred yards into an adjacent field. When
found he was tied to a part of his manger,
which had been taken with him. He re-
4ceived but a few light bruises.
The cyclone presented peculiar character
1istics. Where it assumed a funnel shape it
sucked up trees, drew houses high INTO the
air, and when this funnel shape was absent