Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-05-20
STORM ECHOES.
Death, Wreck and Devastation By
the Recent Storms.
Towns and Cities lin Illinois, Ohio and In
diana Receive Fearful Valuations
Shocking Loss ofLffe at Xenia,
O., and Elsewhere.

1
noon and wrought great destruction. One
brick block was wrecked and three ware
| houses were unroofed. The Eastern
| Hotel, Masonic hall and four store build
ings, also the upper story of the Angel
block, in which was the Odell Bank and
Odd Fellows hall, were completely de-
stroyed. Scarcely room in the town
escaped injury. The loss will foot up
| about $4,000. The houses were twisted
| off of their foundations and destroyed :;
| trees foot in diameter were snapped off.
| The large livery barn of Hoke Bros. was
completely destroyed A large three
| story elevator, operated by c. H. Chisam,
was blown off it's foundation and badly
damaged. The two-story brick hardware
store of s. S. Cole is total wreck. A
number ofresidences were badly wrecked,
| and as many as seven barns blown to
! pieces. The streets are filled with tim.
| bers, boards, trees and fences. The new
school-house is partially unroofed, and a
| one-story school building was completely
| demolished.
Those fatally inju red are:
Lottie Zwife, ten years old. She was
| carried over two hundred feet in the air,
| and fell on the railroad track, smashing
| her skull.
George and Charles Hoke, liverymen,
both fatally injured.
S. S. Cole, merchant.
Two children Of John Miller are seri-
| ously injured. The Miller children had
| taken refuge in brick building and were
| buried in the debris.
The storm only lasted about five min.
utes. Ten minutes before the storm the
| cdr seemed to get green. The cyclone
struck Odell at 40 p. M, and was ap-
parently formed by the union of two
black and ominous storm clouds which
were first noticed about five miles from
OdelI, one south and one west. The
wind was from the east. At this time the
passenger trains of the Chicago & Alton
met and passed at Odell, which is about
forty miles from here. The engineers OF
both trains saw the storm approaching
| and stopped their trains one on each side
| of the town, and the storm swept be-
tween them. The windows of both trains
were smashed and the passengers greatly
terrorZed.
A passenger described the storm cloud
as an inverted mountain peak of inky
bhckness, streaked with lightning flashes
and accompanied by great heat and loud
and dreadful roaring. In few minutes
the storm-cloud had disappeared and APP
parentiy dissipated. Every telegraph
line was wrecked and communication has
uOG DcGLl IuuG cStdUllSutu SCb
XEN1A, O., May ia terrible storm
ragged here from nine until twelve O'Clock
last night. 1t is supposed to have been
water-spout. 1t struck the southeastern
part of town, and followed the course of
the Shawnee river, which was swollen in
few moments so as to inundate all the
neighboring streets, sweeping away or
- N1roI
houses. Many were swept down the cur
rent with the families in them. One of
these, that of Aaron Ferguson, contained
nine persons of his own family and three
of John Burck's, who had fed there for
safety.
man named Earbor risked his life
by throwing himself into the current and
floating against the house, and with
rope in his hands succeeded in saving
the inmates of the house by means of u
boat.
Twenty dead bodies have been taken
out of the stream, and are now lying i'll
the Mayors Office. and many more are
supposed to be lost.
The Panhandle railroad, including its
entertainments, is 4 total wreck in this en-
tire vicinity.
The greatest excitement prevails.
The building which contained those who
persisted is surrounded by crowds anXi-
Gus to view the remains of the dead.
Many narrowing stories are narrated.
A family named Morris was fioated
away in their house and drowned, with
the exception of child about seven
years old, who was found this morning
clinging to tree.
1880 p. Mp to this hour twenty
three dead bodies have been recovered
from the ruins of once happy homes,
which are now naught but tangled mass
of timbers and slime. Relief parties are
hard at work; the doctors are all over
worked, and nearly every uninjured house
is a hospital.
The condition of the town is sickening.
The groans of the wounded fill the air,
and whole families have been killed. Over
a mile of the Little Miami Railroad is
completely gone, and no trains can be
run. The nearest approach is Dresden
Junction.
struck this town at ten O'Clock last night.
1t came from the northwest and was ac-
companied by ram and hail. The Leba-
non House was unroofed, also the Meth
odist Episcopal church and the Union
Sunday-school.
Washington Hall was unroofed, de-
stroying all the scenery of the G. A. r.
No serious casualties are reported. Every
shade tree in town is damaged and not
less than forty private residences show
the effects of the great blow.
There are twenty persons known to be
killed and the number of injured is said
to be seventy-five.
During the rain the wind blew fearful
~, blowing down telegraph poles and
wires, trees and every thing that came in
fits way. Communication of any kind is
not to be had with the town, six hundred
feet of the Little Miami track just east of
Xenia being carried away.
The train over the Little Miami road,
leaving at seven O'Clock every morning,
left for the East at nine O'Clock this morn
ing, and went via the Muskingkum Valley. |
The regular Columbus train, due here at |
z a. M, has not yet left Columbus. All |
eastern, western and southern telegraphic |
is cut off from Xenia.
DAYTON, O., May ia fearful thun- |
der storm visited this city last evening, |
at half-past eight O'Clock
aud continuing several hours. The cleo
trical display was decidedly brilliant, and
the rainfall very heavy, flooding many
cellars in various parts of the city, par
ticularly among the business houses on
Main street between Third and Fourth
streets. The loss will reach many thou
sands of dollars. The storm was accom-
panied by a heavy fall of hail. which last
ed about ten minutes. The hail-stones
were very large and solid, and did great
damage to windows, Shrubbery, flowers
and fruit.
The levee broke at midnight, washing
AWAY the Panhandle railroad bridge and