The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-01-17
A CYCLONES WORK.

A CYCLONES WORK.
Il Sweeps Through Pennsyivania, Cutting
Wide Rwath Of Death and Dsstruc.
tion-Four Men Crematcd at Reading.
Pain the Same City m Immense silk
Mill In Blown Down Burying 2OO Poo
pic In the Ruins Wy Eighty Of Them
Thought to Have Been KILLED, and
Nearly All Of the Rest InJured-seven
Lives Lost and Over Thirty Persons
Wounded By the Demolition Of several
Buildings at Plttsburgh-Loss or Life at
Sudbury The Storms Work In Ohio.
Illinois and Indiana.
READING, Pa, Jan. 10-A cyclone swept
over the northern section OF this city
Wednesday afternoon and laid waste
every thing within It's path, with terrible
loss Of life. The number Of lives that
have been sacrificed and the number Of
persons injured can only be estimated.
The most reliable ccmput. tion at midnight
is that not not less than sixty and perhaps
eighty persons have been killed outright
and 100 injured.
II rained hard all day until about 4 p
m. when the sun shone for about half an
hour. Then tho scene change with sud-
denness that was appalling The feecy
cloud. gave way to the ominous signs of q
coming storm In the western sky the
storm was seen approaching with
laundering noise. Persons residing along
tho track Of the storm say that they
saw the first signs Of danger in q funnel
shaped cloud which seemed to gather up
every thing within its reach and cast it
right and left Out in the country h, uses
and barns were unroofed, farm outbuild-
ings were overturned, crops rooted up
aud destruction spread In every d rection.
The track Of the storm was not more
than 100 feet wide, and il ID lucky that it
only touched the suburbs Of the city. 1t
came from the west and passed along the
northern border Of Reading.
First It touched the Mount Penn stove
works. Here the corner Of the building
was struck. and portion Of the roof was
cut Of rs nicely as II done by pair Of
scissors. Then the storm crossed some
fields and took Of . portion Of the root
Of ]. II. Sternberg's rolling mill.
A number Of dwellings were un-
rooted a. readily as II their tin
roofs were paper. The storm hurried
across the property Of the Reading
Railroad Company and crossed the rail-
road. A passenger car was overturned
as quickly as il it had been . toy, and its
splinters scattered In every direction.
Meanwhile tho rain poured down in tor
rents. The atmosphere bee inc heavy and
oppressive, and it was almost as dark as
night.
On one side OF the track OF the Reading
railroad was 8 tuated the paintrshop Of the
company. II was Q one-story building
about 60 by $50 feet in size. Here
about thirty men were employed in paint
ing passenger cars. The building was
struck squarely In the middle, and the
bricks scat cred about "a il they were
playthings. The cars were turned topsy.
turvy, while the men were buried under
the debris. Some of the bricks were
carried away. The chamber Of each Of
the passenger cars was already filled with
gas, as they were ready to be taken out on
the road in . few days. They exploded
cannon. Bang, bang, bang, they re-
people to run ont OF their houses
thinking that il was the sound of
an earthquake. There was con-
siderable quantity OF gasoline in the build
ing and this added fuel to the flames. A
sheet Of A lme shot upward with the roar
OF musketry. About twenty Of the men
had chance to crawl out of the debris,
but four Of their companions were en-
veioped in the flames. Their cries were
heard for moment by the terrified work
men and then their voices were hushed
forever. They were quickly roasted to
| death.
Tho department was called out, but ito
services were unavailing. The building
and cars were consumed in fifteen minutes
and nothing left but bsackened, smoking
ruins, under which lay four human beings
burned to crisp. Their names arc:
John Kaller, Albert Landberger, Sheri-
| dan Jones AMI George Schaffer.
II was rumored that several others had
been killed. but these are the only ones
known to have lost their lives. Aaron
| De,valt, one Of the employees Of the paint
shop, had his arm broken. and George
Knabb was injured internally. no doubt
fatally. The loss to the railroad company
Is fully $75,O0Q
| When this was going on the storm was
! travelling with fearful rapidity. 1t must
have travelled at tho ratio of 100 miles an
hour ltstruck some moro private houses
and uuroofed dozen private residences.
The huge sheets Of tin were carried half a
! square away and deposited in q lot. Then the
storm proceeded In its full fury. Directly
in its path, at the corner Of Twelfth and
Marion streets, stood the Reading silk
| mill, one OF tho industries Of the city in
which the citizens took the greatest pride.
Here about 1s5 girls were working. The
building was huge structure, most sub
| stant!ally built, four stories in height, and
| had basement besides It occupied an
entire block of Rr, und. The building
itself was nearly 800 feet in length and
| about $50 feet wide. It was surmounted
by o massive tower fully 100 feet from the
ground The funnel-shaped storm-cloud
struck tho building directly in tho center
on it's broadest side, which faced the west
1t fell to pieces as If composed Of
! so many building blocks. Nearly 2O(
human beings went down in the
awful wreck. Human tongue can never
| tell the terrible scenes Of that hour. The
| walls gave way, the floors fell down, ont
en- top Of the other, and carried their grea,
mass Of human beings to the bottom The
bricks were piled up in the greatest con
fus on. Amid the hurricane, the whistlins
and roaring Of the wind, terr. bio erie.
for succor were sent up to Heaven
4 1t was moment that tried mem.
souls. Girls with blackened faces, bruised
and broken limbs, their cl' thing tatterel
and torn, dragged themselves from tn.
IuIu0. OOs pTOU6Uly, 20 tO lUU escaped
or were dragged out ~ their friends
| These worked on the upper floor,
| and were thrown near the top o1
the debris. At some places the brick.
were piled twenty feet deep and under
| meath are lying human bod cs by the
score. About $50 girls and young women
were usually employed il. the mill, but al
4o'clock eighty were relieved from dut,
| for the day.
Tho alarm for relief was immediatel,
sent out, and in . short time thousands Of
| citizens arrived to help out the dead ant
the dying. The scene was narrowing
and beggars description. The mill il
situated near the foot of Mount Penn
. high mountain overlooking the cit ,
Wien the PEOPLE arrived every thing
was enveloped In darkness. Huge bon
fires were built, which cast u dismal glare
on the scene. Tho tire companies lef,
the burning paint-shop and assisted in
| the rescue Of tho dead and the dying
The entire police force was called
out The ambulance and relief corps
and 1000 people were in among the
| debris carving out brickS pulling away