New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-21
THE RUINS OF Mt. VERNON.
SEVERAL HUNDRED HOUSES DESTROYED.
CALL FoR HELP FROM THE RELIEF COMMITTEE
or THE TowN-THE DEAD NUMBER THIRTY

persons were buried under the RUNS ana 'hiry
five were killed while twice as many were injured
eight or ten seriously that their recovery s
despaircd Of Preceding the destructive wlno was
a heavy fall Of rain for half an hour, which drove
all the inhabitants TO shelter This was followed
by a slight hail storm with lightning ana 'hon
the funnel shaped cloud struck the southwestern
nortion Of the citv unroofing everything in its
Jath taking diagonal cours' through the business
mart of the CITY unroofing and dismantnng the
Sunreme Court building. near the Louisville ana
Nashville station. aud skipping along to the Metho-
dist and Baptist churches turned them into shape-
less hcaps At one point the cloud jumped up
ward and missed several stores and dwellings, ouo
soon pounced down again, tearing do~h neaNS
brick buildings, wrenching and twlstlnS lr"ho
structures and making useless mass OF soiiu
banks The massive Court House that occupied
the public square in the centre OF the town was
literally torn to pieces, the walls beng twlS'cu
and crushed. The tower was lifted ana droppeo
10 the westward, demolishing the handsome pillars
that supported the entrance. ms was the "a
trcme point TO the north reached oy lhe s.oi"'
altbouph the business block in which is the Mount
Vernon National Bank and other business houses
was somewhat damag ged by flying bricks and TIM
bers Fifty yards south of the Court liouse Ihe
storm seemed to be at its height At washington
st. and the public square was the Crews BLOCK
q threc-story brick building eighty feet 1roht'
occupied by Evans Bank, grocer. This bulldihg
was demolished and the ruins took nre Inc
owner of the building, r. @. Murray, was caught
in the falling walls and his body was ourheo'
" Ed Hannal his wife and small boy were III the
basement, having taken refuge from the Storm
and were buried, but the man burrowed MS
way out of the ruins, making
massage for his wife and child. On the
other side OF Westinghouse. was row OF two
story frame buildings with an occasional one
of brick The brick buildings were blown down
and the frame houses were crushed out of shape
against each other. Near the corner to the south
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
RrIN WAS WROUGHT III THEE MINUTES.
Stores, dwellings mills and storehouses went
down in the general mass and left the streets
obstructed. The storm was over IN three minutes
and the brave people rushed out OF their sa1e
retreats AMI unbaImcd homes to give assistance
TO the needy The fire company. aided by the
citizens wlo had organized in squads, began the
wock Of rescue which was carried on systemat-
icaly The Mayor filed his place admirably
and in shor. order had called for assistance from
neighhoring towns. Fire engines and physicians
were wanted, and Centralia, Ashley, Nshville and
Evansville responded generously and quickly.
The citizens threw open their houses to the home
less and their bedrooms became hospitals What
was left OF the Supreme Court building
was turned into q morgue. The
citizens. as soon as the persons caught in the
ruins had been released from their ?erilous posi-
tions and the wounded turned over to the care
of physicians, held a meeting and organized per-
manently The City Council acted promptly and
eppropriated $500 for immediate relief, and al
though there is no money in the city fund, the
order was quickly cashed by the banks lhe ioi-
lowing committees were appointed:
Finance Coumttee-G. W. ES ans, chairman; Dr.
" Dun Green. J. +. Howard Morris Emerson, NJ NJ
Goodae. y. H. Moss, secretary with headquarters
COMMITTEES on Informatlon-MOrris Emerson, John
". Grear, c. H. Patton.
Relief COmuitoe-First WaId, J. W Faugh A 1.
Cuthrie Mrs Kim Collins Second Ward-J W Bur
Gn ETank Ha%Sn u w. RaG6 .OSef Ms rs AsnS William
Reid Third ward a. NJ strattan, J. " Batterfeld,
N Burgess. Mss May slade Mrs. I P Watson Miss
CALLING ON THE COUNTRY FOR AID.
The committees are to report to Norman IL.
Moss, secretary Of the Finance Committee. 1he
secretary has been in communication all day with
the large cities of the country. lie has issued
the following circular:
MOUNT VERNON, Ill, Feb 20.
To the Mayor and Citizens:
The CITY of Mount Vernon, H. was visited by a ter
rle cyclone YESTERDAY afternoon which carried deaf
woe killed. right and scores of men, women and
children manned. wounded and bleeding ana ana
disaster some three hundred houses swept almost
fr the face Ct tho earth among which are he County
Pats. CHURCHES, Supreme Court house, roundhouSe
~ ,he Lonisvlle and Nashville Railroad and many OF
the leading business houses also total wreck,
their contents being buried benealh the DEBRIS, "A
raging fire which broke ont also DESTROYED ucn OF 1he
ighf ba rxgSp hay
Inc rs We are sorely in distress and call upon the
cha table people of the country Tor money sp sTGn
Mcnev needed more than provisions, a. mere arr
nv business hoGses that may os ase 70
George W. Evans chairman Ftna &C Committee.
NORMAN II. MOSS. secretary
COUNTING Up THE LosSrs.
The morning trains brought host of visitors
who came to see, to render aid, and to comfort
stricken friends Tornadoes have never before
visited this region and il was considered safe from
any such disaster. The following list OF losses
has been compiled so far, Supreme Court build
ing unroofed: County Court House, destroyed;
Methodist Church. torn TO fragments; Commercial
Hotel unroofed Baptist Church, demolished; B'
w Yost store blown in; Porter * Bond, drug
store. destroyed: Major James Hitchcocks resi-
dence and phot graph establishment, destroyed;
Jerry Taylor's residence, ruined; Nleman's res
taurant and bakery, wiped out; Maxey, WeScott
e. Swift general merchandise ana macmhery'
el0 900 damages: +. w. Jackson, harness store,
roof of and smashed; Jordan Morgan. leweller'
building completely destroyed, some stock saved;
Jacob Oswald, building occupied by the Poshers
Furniture Company, entire loss both building and
stock; the Crews Block owned by K &. Murray,
occupied by Robert I. Ryan. dry goods, entire
stock lost A. ID. Cox, groceries and dry goods,
loss entire c. w. Evans, bank, destroyed; STRAIT
ton X johnson, thr c story building, wrecked OC
cupied by JohnsOn's drug store, also by Renchlcr,
Waters q Co.. groceries and dry goods total loss
also c. b. GOrdrdge groceries, upper
cnped by theatre and Masonic hall Central Hotel
both ends blown out; Cooks frame drug store,
total loss story brick occupied by Gothen
q Elis's saloon, Silas Downing, twostory brick
rcsidence ruined Warren's twO-story frame store
rnnrns Ueishmann bakery and con