Connecticut western news., 1885-08-12
SWEPT BY A TORNADO.
SEVERAL. PEOPLE KILLED AND OVER
 A HUNDRED INJURED.
Hundreds of Houses Ruined or Damaged
 in Camden, N. J.


 A terrible tornado swept up the Delaware river Monday afternoon, wrecking two steam boats that were in mid-stream, tore along the water front for way, and then wrecked, or damaged some hundreds of buildings on sew eral streets of that city. Then, crossing the river to Port Richmond, it did much further damage, and finally spout it's strength further up tho Delaware
 The peculiar cloud was first noticed by the passengers on the Reybald. Itexended in a spiral shape from near the wator's edge up- ward and was lost in the leaden sky. They could see it whirling along the Pennsylvania shore like column of smoke, and gyratlng like top It struck the Pennsylvania Salt Works, at the lower end of Philadelphia. Roofs of houses in the nei9hborhood were twisted off and swept skyward. The heavens is seemed to be shrowded in heavy pail, and It became amost as black as midnight. The river assumed leaden hue, and waves began 10 rise and wore lashed into foam as the monster wind flew ovor them. The ferry and tugboats hastened to shore, and the people along the banks looked at the terrible phenomena with white faces, and wondered if everything on the river would be swept out of existence. It passed directly over the Reybold, and with the rapidity of lightning, spintered her.
 The tornado struck the ferryboat Peeriess. The boat was in midstream opposite Hunters Point when the tornado struck It squarely | amidships The boat was lifted completely out of the water and whirled around like top | for an instant, and then dropped back into the water with its prov still pointing toward the Pennsylvania shore. In that brief moment, however, back pilot house and rear cabin were 1 all carried away and sent whirling into tho stream.
 The tornado then struck across the river and passed up through Camden with frightful rapidity. The sight, witnessed from the busi- | ness houses on Delaware avenue, was pro- nounced one of the most terrible ever seen. A | dense leaden-hued cloud, like bursting col umn of smoke rose in the sky. It out 8 swath l through Camden from Second to Fourth streets It took everybody unawares. It howled and shrieked through the city. Roofs and chimneys flew in every direction. Many people were struck by the flying debris and in- | jured. | across the roadway are sandwiched with the | fin. slate and shingles of roofs of houses that were torn of by the tornado, and in many 1n- stances carried & considerable distance by the | violent wind.
 Along the line of Second street, as far as the | eye can reach, the telegraph poles have been blown down, and in some instances they lay | directly across the street, and the wires form net works, through which it is difficult to pass | Within the bounds mentioned above there is much destruction, amounting to loss of | several hundred thousands of dollars. But the | immediate places where the scenes of desola- | tion are greatest are along Second and Third and Fourth streets, and on Mickle Penn Arch, Stevens, Washington, Bridge, and other cross | thoroughfares
 | From Camden the tornado sped up the river | bank, and crossed the river to tie Philadelphia side at Port Richmond, the great coal shipping | port. It struck the upper part Of the place | and demolished about 200 buildings. Some of | the houses are leveled. Others have great | holes blown through them as though they had | been bombarded by heavy cannon. Others are twisted entirely out of shape. | In spite of the immense destruction the loss of life will be small, although a score are in | the hospitals suffering from broken arms.
 From Port Richmond the storm whirled ur the river, where it spent it's strength in a short
 time.
 In it's ravages in Camden scores of dwelling houses were unroofed and some of them thrown down, and the damage to the business property along the river front is enormous Hundreds of families were rendered homeless | and one victim, Charles DaiZey, was killed outright at the American Dredging Company wharf. Another, Harry Stevens, had his log cut of by flying piece of timber, and vii probably die. The path of the storm througl
 Richmond was marked with death and de
 struction.
 The tornado's track was almost due north from the Port Richmond coal wharves. About l5O dwelling houses were wrecked or 30 badly damaged as to be rendered unfit for habita- ton, and 200 families were driven from their homes to be cared for by their neighbors. number of people were seriously and some ia tally injured. A girl of ten years, Lizzie Mo Vey was killed at her home, 174 Melyale street, in sight of her mother, who was herself pinned to the floor by fallen rafters, few feet from her dying child.
 The tornado is described by those who wit messed it's progress upon the river, where it could be-seen to advantage, as an immense,
 black cone-shaped cloud, with its apex resting | upon the water and it's base mingling with the rain clouds, which hung in dense masses from the sky.
 | AT OTHER POINTS.
 Chicago and it's vicinity were visited by tho great storm of Monday, and much damage was done to property.
 Advices from various points throughout Maryland show the storm to have been the most disastrous that has ever visited that seo- ton. A tornado swept Q path two hundred yards in width through Cecil county. Houses, mills and bridges wee carried away, and a number of persons were injured.
 The tornado visited Smyrna, Del, destroying much property for miles in a swath 300 feet wide. Stock was killed and orchards and corn fields destroyed. No lives are known to have
 been lost.
 In North and South Carolina and Georgia much damage was done. ...... s