The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-02-22

nv life. On reaching Mount Vernon sta
ton il began to thunder and lightning.
Presently it began to rain and hail, driving
every one to shelter, Just about this time
a portentious black cloud, funnel-shaDed,
was seen over our heads. Some OF the
people knew in moment what was COM
ing and began to cry out words OF warn
ing. The cloud burst 10 minute after
forming. 1t came with roar and crash Of
q mighty ball, Houses OF all descriptions
went down like wheat before the fail. Men,
women and children ran hither and thither,
screaming and praying, in their peril and
fright. The county court-house was utterly
wrecked, and three story mill was blown
across the track, just behind Us. Our train
was lying in the track of the cyclone, and
it was taken at a flying rate. down the
track. The engineer could not control the
train and, fortunately for Us, the brakes
were not on. Trees were uprooted and
cars lifted cleanly off their wheels. The
passage OF the cyclone must have occupied
a: least two minutes. 1 think that fully
half the town was totally wrecked and, to
add to the horror OF the wind, many fires
broke out among the ruins. From the train
we could see the smoke and flames rising
from dozen different houses. Our train
did not wait long enough in the town for
Us to learn the accurate loss of life and
property, but the devastation was terrible.
A strange thing was that three minutes
after the cyclone the sun was shining
brightly and serenely on the scene of des-
ISOLATION.
j. w. Wallace, agent OF the Southern Ex-
press at Shelbyville, Tenn, also saw the
storm from train window and described
1t thus: 81 beheld q fearful black cloud
coming from the northwest. 1t was in the
shape of large inverted cone, and 1t could
be plainly seen to be revolving around an
imaginary axis, and at the same time to be
bouncing up and down through the air with
wonderful and frightful speed. 1t grew
denser, and the blackness assumed fierce.
ness that was appalling. The wind in our
immediate vicinity was now blowing with
an almost incredible velocity, and, as the
cloud was approaching, caused the stand
ing coaches to rock and sway on their trucks
like cradle. Men and women on the
streets were blown to the ground. In a
moment the whirling cloud arrived at the
town, and it could be seen dipping down
here and there and tearing off house roofs,
and then, rising higher into the
air again like swaying bal
loon, it would float along with
lightning like rapidity, but soon swoop
down again upon the defenseless little
town in another spot, rszing the houses
and trees, licking the sides of buildings
and tearing great holes in them and leaving
devastation along every part of its course.
As the cloud would dip down and rise
again, it would carry trees upward into
the air and throw them to the ground with
mighty force hundred yards away. Parts
of house roofs. trees, boards, bricks, with
all kinds of debris, were flying through the
air at a fearful rate, and left piled in in
coDgruous heaps along the track of the
cloud. The passengers on our train were
frightened, ard veritable panic ensued.
Women screamed from fright, and rushed
into the arms OF their husbands and escorts
for protection. The cloud dipped down on
the north side of the train aud demolished
a house, but just before 1t arrived at our
position it arose and passed over Us with
magical swiftness and dropped down on
the earth to the south Of the train, where
IL completely destroyed another building
and passed on through the town in its work
of destruction. Thus, you can see that our
train had miraculous sgcspe."