Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-03-03
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2SM .,,oon az y NlNNN NN"Nt|I ~ AN"iig
Wv sosidences and places of business,
~ anhoused from I 200 10 I 800 people.
snu ma fall Of walls many people
~ buried under the debris and thirty.
o'V we're killed, while twice rs many
W. w.. more or less injured, eight or ten
W. ssriously that their lives are des.
III az Preceding the destructive
,nS was heavy fall OF rain for half an
I'M which drove all inhabitants 10
sai,er This was followed by a slight
& m Storm. accompanied with lightning,
~ then a furious blow, which formed
MA a funnel shaped cyclone, struck the
.an,bwestern portion OF the city, un.
.oosng everything in its path, taking a
A s;aconal course through the business
- N the city, unrooilng and disman.
r iiay the supreme court building, Jump
~; iiIe aver the Louisville & Nashville de-
and skipping along 10 the Metho-
FL g;sl and Baptist churches, caying them
Il ;nto worthless masses. At one point
b Ia destructive element jumped upward
n M missed several stores and resi-
+ denees, but soon bounced down
q S,,,ip tearing down heavy
5yiek buildings, wrenching and tearing
& t,ame structures out Of semblance aud
Il aaking useless mass OF solid banks.
The massive court house that occupied
M public square in the center part OF
IA city was literally torn 30 pieces.
This was the extreme point to the north
witch was reached. Fifty yards south
oftbe court house the storm seemed 10
~ Al It's height. On the corner Of
WAshincson street and the public
,,nars was Crews block, three-story
builling Of eighty feet front, occupied
IN Evans as grocery and saloon.
Th;s Was demolished and, taking fire,
IN inHanmabla material was consumed.
Tho owner Of the buildings, II. q. Muir.
~ Was caught in the falling walls and
,rsInaied. Ed Hannal, wife and small
Inv. we're ia the basement, having taken
refuge from the storm, and were buried
by the walls, hut the man dug his way
81. Of the ruins, making a passage for
lis wife aud child, and then made an
FHor 10 extinguish the flames. On a
eros street from Washington street was
4 row u tNO-stoFy frame buildings with
a occasional brick. The brick build.
ms we're cayed in, and the frames were
crushed out II shape against each other.
Near the corner south were q lot Of grog.
geries aud frame structures, which
ssrrl rs dwelling and warehouses.
They we're blown down aud then burned
entirely Tho storm was over In three
minutes
Tbs storm does not appear 10 have
done any damage outside ~ Mt Vernon.
Hal |, occurred an hour earlier the loss
d lie would have been frightful, as the
Methodist and Baptist churches, both
u which we're destroyed, were crowded
x the time A formal aud systematic
appral wall be made a. all persons TO as.
- the icmOmliEed city ID is affection,
nhirh Is indeed beyond parallel in this
rDnhsry ia devastation Of cyclones
ihOse - western Missouri, jamestown
sud Washington Court house, Ohio, not
squaling ia total destruction the loss 81
'bn plaee To,day's trains brought 4
hosl ~ r1cufaiunists uho came 10 ace,
10 rnlcF aid, and Ia comfort stricken
friends Nearly 1000 strangers tread
the streets amazed al what they hear
ard sec The t1Wn is full oI reporters,
Ahi the drraTy tale h repeated time aud
time asaln Artists are on the srone
skrichins ihn ruins, aud pencils in a
hundred hands lntting down the facts
and stories from q thousand mouths
Alightins At tho Louisville 4 Nash.
yillc railroad dclrOt attention Il NJ first
directed 10 the two story supreme court
buildins u fcu yards from the depot,
without dome or roof. but ahreds Of tin
hanging from ita SidrN, making a pivot
around which thc storm seemed 10
swing All ulsc In this direction IL uu.
touched, few KtrIs eastward along
Tho railroad dtsclpBes tn the southwest
N appalling night 81 devastation. II il
n thus direction the laboring classes
built their little unn-story cottages
among tbs timber, and hero IL was that
the cloud first dropped down aud in
shirling fury twisted immense oaks
ifuin tho ground aud mashed homes
nat; ihrn gathering clinging pieces,
stTcwcd them along the Path, bearing
down fences and wiping out landmarks
How many houses were here destroyed
y not known, for nothing ialcft in many
places a. mark the lot. Fifteen founda.
lions still remain. In six acres. former
y well built mp, but three houses are
standing in the Path of tho storm. and
lhrse are wrecked On the right and
lei' OF tho Tath, the debris plunged like
caiapulta in the homes Of the more for.
ii.ahatc Looking northcastward across
ln w, railroad, the ruin appears moro Ter.
nblc. There buildings were larger,
heavier and moro compact, and the
save swept for COO yards clean swath,
earring down fences aud trees; piled up
liebFiS on either side. and left the naked |
enco posts and foundations 10 mark |
ne spotB Of residences. There still re.
main on either side Of the park dismAn.
Ied iramc houses half buried with other |
Ooia To the southeast stand the mon.
,,mchtal ruins Of the three.story brick |
iour mil, the walls stripped down and |
ho machinery exposed, and ON the |
loHh, partially surrounded bv unin-
ursd houses, The crushed Baptist church |
,hu the large brick Commercial hotel, |
'nfooiod and partly torn down.
OH hundred yards further on In the
ouISe OF the storm brings you to the |
,sostotiice corner. aud in front stands the
,,lAttercd court house with the dome |
hfoWn down over tho entry. Tho walls
20 cracked and partially tumbled down,
no IN the supreme court yard lie tin
hu timber and roofs of adjacent build.
1ngs In front of tho poatoilice, across
'nrton street, n brick building was
a1ed tn the ground. and nearly al to
II. 4 l.. a