Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-06-29
OLD BOREALIS.
sweeps Kansas city with Furnel-shaped
Fury causing Death and Dc-olation
among the terror stricken People

give an account of terrible cyc!on,
which has jnst visited that city witt
fatal and disastrous results. 1t has
been held heretofore that kanaa.
City was outside the path Of cyclones
and that only during the heatet
weather was danger to be appre
hended from that direction. The
result of the storm, however, contra
diets this fact, rs the weather was il
nowise warm OF sultry, but, on the
contrary, during the thirty minutes
prior to the storm the atmosphere was
cool and pleasant, and the Immediate
coming of the cyclone was heralded
by a severe hail storm. a short time
before this the sky was obscured
by light t-colored clouds. constantly
changing, until a few minutes before
5 o'clock they banked in the north
west and west in huge black masses
and a wild current of air appeared t.
hurl them like battle clouds one upon
another. 1t was about this time that
the watchers upon the bluffs over
looking West Kansas. and there were
hundreds of them. were startled to
see a dancing funnel shaped cloud
appear back of Wyandotte, in the
West, and sweep around rs if to de
stroy the town. BY some caprice its
path was changed. and instead of
passing through the city it went to
the northward. demolishing small
houses and killing one woman. and
then hating for minute to send
out clouds of fine sand from one of
the Missouri River islands, it swept
through the timber to spend its fury
i'll Clay county. About three min
utes later a second cloud formed in
the same manner, and swept down the
river toward Randolph Point, but
doing no damage. although for a few
seconds it looked as if it would leave
the rivers course end fall upon the
buildings along the levee. near the
old Gilhs House. Hardly had this
second cloud disappeared, when a
third. more angry locking and ugly,
formed hear Armstrong, by the meet
ing of two separate air currents. For
second or two the cloud danced
about as if seeking some avenue of
escape, and then slowly started in an
eastcrly direction. As 1t came on it
increased in size as the distance
diminished, and soon that ominous
roar, like muflled thunder, which
always accompanies these storms,
could be distinctly heard as it went
whirling along on its mission of
destruction. The upper part of the
cloud as seen through the rain, which
at this time came down in torrents,
became immense in size, while the
neck and sucker-like mouth, which at
times appeared to reach to the earth.
alternately increased and diminished
as the huge bag above assembled or
descended After watching its track
a minute or so but few had the cour
age to remain, except those remote
from its apparent path. Many sought
shelter in cellars and ont buildings
until the roar and turmoil was over,
and then it was found that the track
of the cyclone lay through the south
ern and eastern part of the town.
The cloud appeared at times to stop,
as if gathering force, and then bound
ing forward a block or two at time
would gather up boards, timbers,
bricks, sidewalks and trees, filling the
air and sending the debris in all di-
rections and places. AS the tornado
first came up the bluff from West
Kansas it first reached out and par
TALLY destroyed the new house be
longing to Mr.. j. g. Horton, on Dripp
street, and also blew off corner of
the elegant house of Mr.. Charlie
Doggett. 1t then swept along through
the Fourth Ward, the houses of
Rev. A. d. MADEIRA, A. Glenn, Upton
Eby, d. S. Irwin, f. j. Frey and
Keefer's grocery store, at the corner
of Sixteenth and Penn streets, being
demolished and ruined Thence east
ward until Maine street and Four
teenth was reached did the whirling
cyclone continue its zigzag path.
blowing down small houses, unroof-
ing larger. ones, turning over side
walks and blowing fences and build
ings about. The track of the cyclone
from Main street was eastward ON
Fourteenth to Grand avenue, build
'ings of all kinds being torn down
and demolished on the south side of
Fourteenth until McGee was reached.
when it took the north side and de-
stroyed the houses of Mr.. John Hen
gle, DIR. Grow and others. Crossing
Oak street the elegant new church of
the German Evangelical Society, but
recently completed at a cost of s;35,
600, was totally ruined, as were all
The houses on Fourteenth street,
facing the park. from Oak to Locust.
Several houses on Locust street,
facing the park, and three between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth, were also
badly damaged.
The first point touched by the cy
clone on the east side of the river
was the small boat house of Capt.
Burns, on the bank of the river west
of the Stock Exchange. The house
was blown to splinters and the own
er being hurled twenty or thirty
yards was finally struck by the tim
bers of the house and instantly killed.
and Burns boats We're scattered. some
of them crushed INTO slivers. Some
boatmen who were on the river at the
time were hurled against the bank.
but beyond being somewhat bruised
suffered nothing from their terrify-
Ing experience. The Stock Exchange
next suffered from the storm, the
roof being almost entirely blown of,
some portions of which were carried
a block away. A number of persons
who had been watching the peculiar
movements of the clouds and the
formation of the cyclone fled in ter
ror when they saw the storm strike
their homes, and many fled to their
cellars or sought other places of fan
cied security. The direction of the
storm extended from Denver to Kan