Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1885-10-17
4 BIZ hEfE BLOW.
The Terr;D!c:leirect Of an Chic
Observation-Disclosures
court House Blown
NOWn.

4 t"rriI'n cvrlnno. stru"k Wqs!in"-
ton Cour: House, OHIO, a city of 4,o'h
.,.;:.',.ta,t- aud almost literally
swept !, from the earth. l. cam"
fro,n tic ,.,,fl.w"st and ~ Ike upon
-" town If night, carving cvcrv-
th.rg !-.rlc it, The tornado
w!I.lel ~ Court street. the
amin business th"rongfar", AID ri:in-
q 9',aos, very business block on II,
n; tea; 30 If 80 IN all Hardly IL
's,,vat. residence Ill town escar7"d,
It'll, :0G dwellings, going down.
Tie Br!ti,t. the Presbyterian aud
the CuthoiI" churches all suffered n
cpmm,r IA" The Ohio Southern,
-he T":an lie, the Narrowgua%e and
TIE ,I!i,r.l railroll dcpots We're
blown t. ,mithcrcnS and every build
ing III tie vicinity was carried away.
r!uhirg ia.sreSS and egrcss almost
imrnssi:'l" As every wire within :"
c!rclc IF two miles is down, 1t is ut
teri, impossible to get accurate de-
tails I'll the catastrophe. The only
reports that can be COTTON are
through an Operator who tapped n
vi;'c two mites west of town, and IL
s.tting III heavy storm to work his
instrument: The panic stricken peo-
Ilc were taken completely unawares.
ana fled from the tumblinG buildings
IL every direction through the mulky
darkness. \ mad frenzy seemed to
eeizo them, and they hurried Lither
und tui,her in their distraction, little
lnowinr where they We're fleeing
After the w..irlwind, which lasted
sn1ut 10 ,arnutes. n heavy rainfall set
il aI.d continued with great fury fo-
may hours.
! Ie following Is m account II the
s:3rm by ore who WAS present; The
cyclone WEich came upon tins town
last c7enlrg ut ) o'csocl; almost COM
v.e,tiy demolished it. Not a single
store iarin" the central square out f.
- IS left III the track, and 4 ma oritv
~ them ave lcveled. About 200 resi-
u noes are destroyed and the street
- titled with debris that it is almost
Impossible 10 pass. Sheriff Rankin
ordered out the militia, which took
c.ln ,, and helped to get order out
Il CHAOS All the gas went ont when
TIE storm came, and as the works
were destroyed, bonfires had to be
huiit III tho streets 10 give light for
the search.as. The total known to
tc dead Is fifteen, and about 50 i'll
lurcd. One Of the latter was the
nanaEer of the Telephone exchange,
WHO was hurled across the street and
mad one arm and one leg and his
collar bone broken.
Some houses were lifted up and
carried bodily several hundred feet
and then dashed to the ground with
great force. The shattered frag-
ments were then whirled in some in
stances n quarter of a mile. "A re-
lief committee is at work, and all hou-
ses hot destroyed are thrown open to
the homeless. Farmers are coming
n by the dozen bringing food and
bedding. Every hotel. bank, church
and business house III town is ruin
IL The utmost desolation prevails.
The people who are coming III report
ne nn3inr Of debris 10 miles from
.nwn. The loss will exceed 81 ,0G0,-
oU0. The city council has appointed
relief committee and the militia
cse guarding The stores, whose con-
:@,.t. are al exposed. The storm al
ga lid great damage i'll many other
g.aces throughout OHIO and Indiana