The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-02-28
A SAVAGE BLAST.
Particulars Of the Appalling Dam.
age Wrought by the South.
srn Cyclone.
Whole Towns Swept Out Of Existence
In Z Twlnkling By the Awful
Storm Cloud.
Hundreds Of Persons Killed Outright
and Thousands Of Others
Manned.

The cyclone that recently swept through
sections OF Alabama, Georgia, and tho
Carolinas was probably tho most violent and
destructive TO life and property Of any Visit
tation Of . similar character In The history
Of tho country. II seems Almost incredible
that tornado covering such large area Of
territory should attain such destructive
force Hs this one. Il IL roughly estimated
that i,cee square miles we're swept BY this
terrible hlnst, that a,0nO houses wcrc leveled
to the ground. and TINT no. less than zoo peO-
plc were killed, and three times rs many
wounded.
During the progress. Of the temp est tho
lightning was almost continuous. and the
most vivid ever " tncsScd. The very heavens
seemed TO be on tire, and the thunder caps
shook the houses as II rocked BY I'm earth
quake. Torrents Of rain ana hall followed.
tho hail.stones In scme cases being
NJ large Us mans fist. The storm
came up early In thr afternoon
to l:3o o'clock, according to locality. Tho
skses overhead gave warning OF some un-
usual atmospheric disturbance, assuming u
dali, 10 ldcn hue. with that peculiar tfnt
which denotes I'm ovcroharpc Of the electric
current. The neat thing was the form alton
OF tie terrible funncl shaped cloud, blact AZ
night. "A II 6p. reached ehaits dartcd from
the top Of the cloud toward the earth with
most lightning rapidly. In many places the
track Of he monster Mas three miles in width,
every inch OF which WAS dcnuded OF timber,
and stripped ms clean rs though nm immense
NOV Ing machine had been run through 4.
Fiom the cop'ous reports of this phenomenal
storm teicgrnphed II, IN Atlanta. GA.. TO the
Chicago papers, VIC compile tie following
particulars. The cyclone formed in the
hat ahoochie Valley. near the Mexican
Gulf. and then passed ncrth. II n;st
struck the city of Columbus. The storm
h a Sfsitd nnsa I rant n rflnnnv I'M thc Ala.
bama side cf the Va Icy until II MAS dchet ted
by the ked Mountains, In which birmingham
ID located. Then II took an eastern course and
passcd through Leeds, Lodtma, and OAmoor
into Georgia, where It passed through Cave
Springs, Zone, and Barlow County into SAn-
ton aud out of tho Stat. along the foothills Of
tho Blue l,idxc. Fourteen persons lcrishcd
at Lodima, six at IesiS eisht Mt Cave
Springs, and ten along the line from Rome to
Canton. Near Canton q terrible accident
happened. The crowded country school was
dismissed in order to allow the pu-
pills 10 reach home. About thirty cf
them took refuge in 4 hailiiny which
was overturned by the storm and ten Of tkem
mangled to death. The o:hcr branch Of the
storm went eastward from Columbus through
Talbot, crawford, Ribh. Jasper. Hancock,
baldwin. and Columbia, I'm ling exit through
Edaene.d, 81 In Baldwin. the Hon. X. {.
Humlin candidate for State Treasurer was
killed by Tying timbcrs. Seven other ler~
sons were also killed. An old couple over 80,
nam,d Mathews. ,ottcrsst out OF the cram
Macon aud .Aresta Ron was blown Oh tho
traox. but 70 .ne was hurt. AZ nearly rs
can he gathered, :u0 lives were lost In
Georgia alone, a.0ua buildings sestro cd. and
Sl.0u0.oOo worth cf property demolished
In Columbia County. tc>ides damages
in the interior. the plantation OF Geo.xc
Granadc was ruined. the houses demolished
and timber carried on. I'm the plantation Of
DIR. Reese ncsro was killed. aud MIS-. v.
N. Wade. the vile OF the oversecr, seriously
wounded. The cyclone Passed through the
sNburhe Of Cave Springs, Ca. Killing nvc
men and severely iniuring others. Houses
and everything in It's path were demolished,
and the damage was great,
The town OF nrad!cya = g.. was nearly
blown away. The wife Of DIR. IiEon was badly
wrecked and = child killed. The residence OF
W. IA. S,attworth, EiRcncld County. South
Carolina, WAS blown down, and. the ruins
taking tirc. \ little daughter periehed. The
dwell ng house of ]. c. Hankinson aud the
store Of J. Z. Boyd. 1t jackson, =. G., were
town Of Millen was nearly destroyed. Al
ID. ID. Dickcrts' plantation. Ncwbcrry County.
Ito acres OF O. gsnAl forest were ewept Away.
At Matthews the Lutheran Church was blown
down and William II. Ellers residence was
carried on AMI he and his child seriously in.
Ascd. Several large nrcs were observed In the
track af tho storm. Chappelis station wAs
swept away, not 4 house being left. The wife
and child OF George T. Reed were badly
hurt. MIRA. Resale Simpkins had IN arm
broken. and a colorcSi man had his skull
crushed. John !. Carry's r-sidcncc was dc.
0troycd, and he. his wife, and child hurt,
Mrs. David NJ. nickcrts had her skull fract
ursd. q n. Shasord, +, e,mAster Boycman
". Rcsl. and one or two others were In the
second story OF Res,d's store. Shunord VA.
killed. uAcMNn had an arm and leg bro
kcn.n, and iced an arm and rib broken
hight loaded cars. standing on the track, wer
carried forty yards and torn TO pieces 4
man, woman. and child are reported killed y,
Anderson.
South Carolina. James CMbhase and Her
Raxsctts child were killed. In Darlington
COUNTY the dwelling Of II. W. boyd Was de-
Etrayesl, himself seriously injured, aud tws
neyrsss kilkt. The dwelling OF Mr.. White
near Darlington Court House. was aiowr
down and himself aud wife killed, whi.s
Mrs. {. Edwards WAS seriously injured il
the fail OF her house. Six M~scns are know
IL have hech killed in the county. and fif,cel
weandcd. \ serious loss of life ana prop, ,rt,
. reported In tho vicinity OF williamsburg
| County. The srss os property everywhere i
srsy great TNenty-nse houses--all in III,
Philadelphia settle ncns--iu North Caroiint
| Ncw .ercsed h tie cyclone. Tn.
boiiss oi thi~c Wits men an,
| eleven colored have beca uncovered
Search Is being made Tor others believed I.
| have teen killed. At Pioneer Mills, Carrabu!
County, six houses were blown down ard
c,,lcrcl woman killed. Al Woodward's I
/ negro and his wife were killed. At Minns
1 foru three negroes and an Aysd white lady
| Mrs. Sterliax. were killed. Mrs. Sterling
SON and daughter were blown from the hoas,
/ into tree. Vt r,lkton tie wife of +. NJ
Gray was killed by the In ling of their house
i Al Concord two hrick houses were partly dc
molishci. ~ Rockingham the cs sclone strucl
on the outskirts, destroying fifteen houses
killing t~en's-threc people and woundini
| many mere Several colored lsoale Ner
also killed na the peice River. At Manie
i and keys.r the cyclone destroyed very thinp
Near l.illing;on, harnct' County. six person
| were Killed.
i In the Gahawba vaies in Alabama e'gl,
persons were killed aud thirteen injured
| three OF whom cannot live. These casua'tic
occurred In one community near the ne'
| ieMn of Leeds.
The cyclone struck Leeds about l:3
p. ma. and swept AWAY the section house q
| the railroad. killing JEFF Ford, Dan Cloud
and Rert Keith. negroes. and seriously injul
ing an aled white couple, named liass, iisin
near. Three miles south or Leeds the hous
af John Poole wa> blown amAy. and = son q
u. a daughter al u. and a child OF ncgr
tenant OF the phse were instantly kilie,
Poole his wife and four children were 4
very badly injured. The residences Ill
premises Of nr. W. r. Wright wev
completely demolished. tn. tody of Mrs.
s. Wright. nr. Mrixht's mother, was foun
lva yards from the Ganee, fearfuliy mnngle
and With the skull crushed. Annie, aRed =,
Jennie Id, Thomas Is, james II. and Fdsar
Il, all children of Er. Wright, we're badly IL
| jnred--hasi ing their arms and legs brakei
| Harriet MctyeW. cook for the Wright famii.
Was killed--half OF her head being taken oi
IF twsnty-four carts. two wagons, and thrt
horses on the place, nothing rema.ns but III
! carcass OF one horse. The house occupied
Mr. Mclaughlin was blown away and he ",
badly hurt. ]. z. LandrGl, vile, aud dau2
ter. all had legs broken. Tie house OF ms
| named Kerr took ire during thc storm. al