The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-07
THE ROAR OF RUIN
Makes Itself Heard in the Vicinity
of Springfield, Missouri
How the storm Cloud Passed Over
and What 1t Left---R Remarkable
Fatality Among Women---Fiye
Killed, Others Hurt.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo, Nov IA disastrous
tornado swept across the western portion OF
Green county shortly before O'Clock, leaving
ruin and destruction in discourse. 1t came as
usual from the southwest, bearing mainly to
the northeast The village of Brookline, on the
Frisco road, west of here, is reported as to-
tally destroyed, and rumors of similar disas-
ter reach us from Republic, twelve miles west.
The wires are down and all Geographic COM
munication in that direction cut off, and all
the news is brought in by persons on horse
back. Hazel Dell school-house, four miles
west of this city on the Carthage road, was
totally destroyed and the building RACED to
its foundation. Although full of children at
the time, none were fatally injured, and but
few are seriously hurt
The storm-cloud struck Springfield at 2:20
O'Clock about two blocks south of the west
end of Division street, and swept clear across
the city to its eastern limits, passing across
the city's boundary at the line of the Frisco
railroad The course of the storm
across the city varied but two or
three blocks from a due east line from where
it struck to where it passed out into the open
country east of the machine shops The
time of its passage could not have exceeded
three or four minutes, yet the destruction
of property in this city will Got fall
much below 100000. Five women
are known to have been killed, and two
others are supposed to he fatally injured.
| The recovery of three more is doubtful, and
| the list of minor accidents and injuries will
run into the hundreds 1t is estimated that
about thirty dwelling houses are totally de-
| stroyed, and nearly one hundred others badly
| damaged. Fortunately for the underwriters
| the tornado swept across the residence portion
| OF the city, lying along the boundary line be
| tween the new and old towns, where house
! stool farther apart, and in some instances
were cheap, temporary structures. A strip
| averaging about one block in width marks
| the track of the storm, and nearly every
| building within its line was more or less,
/ damaged The south line of the storm
| crossed Benton avenue few feet north of,
Mr.. Harwood's new $4,000 house, doing
no further damage than tearing down the
back fences, upsetting the outhouses
and bending down the lightning rods
which projected above the dwelling.
Prof Oliver Browns house next north had
the chimneys blown off, windows dashed in
and outbuildings destroyed. A new houses
| partly completed, opposite Prof. Browns
was not only blown down, but totally
wrecked. Mr.. William House. the contrac-
tor was in it when the storm came, and saved
his life by dropping down between the foun-
dations as the crashing building went to
windward.
Besides these, and the most important
single loss was that of Lord & Regan's
wooden mill, employing forty hands, and
which was almost totally wrecked.
The names of the dead are: Mrs. Andrew
Arnquist, Mrs Dunlap, Mrs. Holberless, Mrs.
Finney, Miss Saliie Edmondson.
The heaviest losers are as follows: Lord &
Regain, woo!en-mills, $4,000; F. A. Heack
er's cigar factory and dwelling, $1,000; Mrs.
BIyant's dwelling, 81 ,0O0; DR.. Headly, dwell
ing, $, 200; Judge Baker, two houses, s., 900
About 225 other houses will range in dam
age from $500 to 81, 900. The damage don't
to household goods is additional, and will ag
gregate several thousand dollars.
The swath cut by the cyclone was about
100 yards wide, though the wind sometimes
bounded over objects directly in its path
I In Bridgetown, east of North Springfield, il
spread out to a width of 800 yards, destroying
thirty small dwellings and injuring severa
parsons Among the seriously hurt al
Bridgetown are: Mrs. Pennington, injured
head the head; Mr.. Akin, leg broken
Mrs Jane Huffman. At the northeast o.
Bridgetown the storm destroyed everything
in its path. In this vicinity Mrs. Dunlal
was instantly killed and Mrs. Beeman seri
ously injured. Mrs. Van Hunter, a Swedish
woman, was probably fatally hurt ahou
the head and two of her children were badll
hurt. Thousands of people rushed to tn
scene of destruction, and within twent,
minutes after the storm ceased and every
thing possible was done to relieve the iniure,
and house the homeless Many remarkabl
sights mark the storms track across the city
In some places pieces of board and scantlin
are driven through the sides of houses a
smoothly as knife-blade could be put throug
a potato In one place board was drive
through a six-inch sapling as smoothly as if
. mortise had been made.