The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-05-19
An Espr--- Train Caught in Tornado.

An ESPr-~. Train c Iught in a Tornado.
PuIsECPc. May l5.-The Chicago express on
the Fort Wayne Railroad mad rough experience
passing through the tornado which struck East
ern Ohio Ia; night The lightning flashed con-
tinuOuSly from the time the train left Fort Wayne
at p. m, and the rain descended almost solidly
until Lima. O.. was passed. Such a storm the pas
sengers hal never seen before and the ladies. OF
whom quite a number were on the tram, were
greatly frightened. and the gentlemen were too
scared themselves 70 be OF much service in allav
ing their fears. The wind steadily increased
the rushing sibilatiOn OF the telegraph
wires made concert of wild sounds.
Of Pittsbnrg. about iS:$5. The i eneinee sr
was then sending the locomotive along at about
thirty miles an hour The engineer put on more
steam and when about three miles from Kirby
the storm was al It's height. Suddenly there was
dull roar in the distance. and then a cyclone
Iare across the level plain OF the south side of the
track. and catching big tree tore il up by the
roots ana dung IL across the cars. One limb
struck the locomotive and cut the eOw-catcher in
two; another limb fell on the platform and steps
of the hrst csr and demolished 1t. Other branches
smashed IL the wi ndows along the three orndin-
AIRY cars and the two Pullman Sleepers. Tee-
graph poles came dancing down at the So ne time,
and rocks ana bushes flew through the air in
T1otOus scurTg. The car windows were smashed
70 pieces. c-atked and splintered, and the glass
HeW IN eTe-y direetiOn. The train kept
on the rails. and the engineer, applying
The air brakes brought it to a standstin within
100 yards Livery passenger was I'm paroxysm of
lear. The seepers were transformed into dense OF
wildly excited men and women. The railway
men kept fairly cool. and far they
rOuld assisted in the restoration OF confidence.
The storm continued. The air was still filed
with flying branches and stones, while the glare
of electricity liberated from the clouds intensi-
fed the horror OF the scene. Though every win
dow in the Sleepers Baden" and "Salamis' were
fractured, and almost every pane in the other
coaches smashed It is remarkable so few passen-
gers were hurt. Mr.. G. c. Bow, a merchant of
Canton, OHIO, was in his berth in the sleeper 'Sa-
1amIs when the tree shive ed the glass and drove
one piece under mis- right eye with such force that
the eye was literally cut out. A lady in the same
car, who refused to give her name, was also cut,
though not seriously, about the face. A few
Others had their hands cut The storm did not
abate much. except that the forbade passed away.
An idea OF the force may be conveyed from the
TACT that rocks were blown into the cars on the
south side with such force pierce the western
windows IS clean as il they we're bullets from
Calling gun. None OF the occupants OF the cars
were much damaged. The smoke stack was
cracked of on straight line. The train reached
this city hour and a half late. A good deal of
time was made up on the run. The train looked
ss if il had been riddled with sharp-shOOters.