Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1888-02-24
A Western Storm.

Nj VERNON, ILL Feb. 2U.- Int
cyclone that visited this city yester
day afternoon at 5 o'clock destroyed
nearly 800 residences, places of busi
ness. and unhoused from 1900 te
l,5cO people. In the fall Of the walls
many person were buried under the
debris and thirty.6ve were killed,
while twice az many more were In
iured, Ell ht or ten 80 seriously thai
their recovery is despaired of.
Mt. Vernon is q beautiful city o
900 inhabitants, the county seat o
Jefferson county. /. is con sidereC
one of the most thriving and beautiful
of Southern Illinois cities. Its streets
are broad and we'll lined with shade
trees and its residences are trim ant
home like. 1t is situated on the
Louisville & Nashville road aud il
about 7S miles from St. Louis. The
surrounding country ID rolling. Cy
clones or heavy storms have never
before visited this region and it was
considered safe from any such de
structive element.
Preceding the destructive wind
was heavy fall of rain for half an
hour, which drove all the inhabitants
to shelter. This was following by g
slight bail storm, accompanied with
light ming, and then the furious blow.
which formed into the funnel-shaped
cyclone, struck the southwestern por.
tion of the city, unroofng everything
it its path, taking q diagonal course
through the business portion OF the
city, unroofng and dismantling the
Supreme Court buildings. near the
Louisville & Nashville depot, and
skipped along to the Methodist and
Baptist Churches, caving them into
worthless masses. At one point the
destructive element jumped upwards
and missed several stores and resi-
dences, but soon pounced down again
and began q career of unparalleled fe-
rocity and destruction, tearing down
heavy brick building, wrenching and
twisting frame structures out OF SEM
blance and making a useless mass OF
solid banks. The massive court
house that occupies the public square
in the center of the city was literally
torn to pieces, the wall being twisted
and crushed. The tower was lifted
and dropped to the westward and de-
molished the handsome pillars that
supported the entrance. This was
the extreme point to the north that
the storm reached, although the busi-
ness block in which is the Mt. Yer
non National Bank and other busi-
ness houses, was somewhat disman-
tied by flying bricks and timbers.
Fifty yards south OF the courthouse
the storm seemed to be at its height.
On the corner of Washington street
and the public square was Crews
block, a three-story brick building, soft.
front, occupied by Evans Bank,a gro.
Gerry and saloon. This building was
thoroughly demolished and then TAX
ing fire, all infammable material was
consumed. The owner of the build
ing. r. G. Murray, was caught in the
falling walls and was cremated. Ed
Hannal, wife and small boy, were in
the basement, having taken refuge
from the storm, and were buried by
the walls, but the man burrowed his
way out of the ruins, making pass
age for his wife and child and then
made an effort to extinguish the
flames. This fire was intensely hot
and at noon to-day the bricks gave
the heat of a furnace
Across the street on Washington
street was a row of two-story frame
buildings with an occasional brick.
The brick buildings were caved in
and tie frames were crushed out Of
shape against each other. Near the
corner to the were lot of groggeries
and frame structures which served as
warehouses and dwellings,. The
storm played havoc here and then
turned the place over to the flames.
which consumed the last plank.
These fires and the crushed brick
buildings leave path which give a
good view of the destruction. Stores,
dwellings. mills and storehouses went
down in the general mass and left the
streets obstructed.
The storm was over in three min
utes and the brave people rushed out
of their safe retreats and unharmed
homes to give assistance to the needy.
The fire company, aided by the citi.
zens, who had organized in squa de-,
began the work of rescue which was
carried out systematically. The
Mayor filed his place admirably and
in short order had called for assis-
tance from neighboring towns. Fire
engines and physicians were wanted,
and Centralia, Ashley, Nashville and
Evansville responded generously and
quickly. The citizens threw open
their houses to the homeless, aud
their bedrooms became hospitals
while the worthy matrons turned e1.
pert nurses.