Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-01-25
APPALLING CYCLONE.
A Terrific Tornado Sweeps Over
Western Pennsylvania.
It Brings Death and Havoc to
Reading and Pittsburg.

One of the most appalling catastrophes &C
.ompanied by loss of life that have ever
visited Reading, Penn, has occurred. 1t
had been pouring down rain all day and at
o'clock it cleared up nicely. The sun shone
brightly until about 4:30, when black cloud
formed in the southwestern sky and moved
rapidly toward the city.
The rain poured down in pt~fect torrents
for fifteen minutes, when funnel shaped
cloud cut its way through the city, over
throwing many trees, telegraph and electric
light poles The wind blew harder and
harder until a roaring cyclone was In
progress It's course was from west to east,
Ind covered path of about 800 feet.
In its course was the Reading Silk Mill,
located in the northwestern portion of the
city, in which about 800 operatives, prin-
zip lily females, were at work. Before the
storm reached the large mill, however, the
girls its approach and saw it preclp1-
tatng all the house-roofs in it's path.
A panic ensued and the operatives made
an effort to escape from the building. Be
fore they could get their wraps the cyclone
struck the fvestory building, and In an IN
slant the massive brick work and heavy
machinery were piled pell NELL on the unfor-
Inmates, from the fifth to the first story.
The building was a large structure, most
substantially built, four stories in height and
had basement besides. 1t occupied an en-
tire block Of ground. The building itself
was nearly 800 feet in length and about $50
leet wide 1t was surmounted by massive
tower, fully 100 feet from the ground The
funnel-shaped cloud struck the building
directly in the centre on its broadcast side,
which faced the west. 1t fell to pieces as
though composed of so many building blocks
Nearly 300 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, one top Of the other, and
carried their great mass of human beings to
no
greatest confusion, WHILE amid the hurricane
and whistljng, rushing, roaring wind, terri
bic cries for SuccOr were sent up to heaven.
Almost simultaneously with the fall of the
building came the awful cries for relief. Girls
with biackened faces, bruised and broken
limbs, their clothing battered and torn,
dragged themselves from the ruins. Proba-
bly, seventy five to one hundred escaped, or
were dragged out by their friends These,
of course, worked on the upper floors, and
were thrown near the top of the debris. AT
some places the bricks were piled twenty feet
deep and underneath were lying human
bodies by the score
The entire police force was called out, the
ambulance and relief corps, and thousand
people were in among the debris carrying out
bricks, pulling away timbers, and assisting
but their work was slow compared
with the demand for the rescue
of the victims Of the disaster Here young
woman was taken out, all bloody, suffering
WIN cuts ana bruises. One DOOy as IL was
dragged out had it's head cut off. Others were
in various postures, the living all suffering
from the most rrible wounds, and some al
most scared to death. The reporter entered
what was once the basement of the building,
and, cropping his way through the debris. no
tced five bodies of young girls lying close
together. He tried to pull them out, but
they were pinned down. and it was impossi-
bic to get them out They were dead, and
beyond all human aid
AuCuStuS ROSaV foreman of the second
story of the silk mills says that 245 operators
were at work when the building was wrecked
He says: ''It was about 5:15, just after
| had turned on the electric lights All
the floors of the mills were brilliantly
illuminated, and the girls were all
busy Suddenly I heard a strange
rushing noise of wind and [ thought it
sounded like a cyclone. Then the building
shook as if by an earthquake, and the end of
the large room in which / stood went down
first. At least thirty girls rushed to me
and wildly screamed and tore their hair.
l was helpless. The other end of the
room seemed as if up a steep hill
The girls became panic stricken, shrieked,
and left their machines. The next instant
the building collapsed. 1 shall never in all
my life forget the heartrending screams
of those 260 girls just before many
of their voices were hushed tor
ever in death At first we had only
hand lamps to see by. Under the wreck
girls were piled six deep, mangled and bleed
ing and helpless. The first dozen bodies re-
moved were covered with blood. One girl
had her head cut off. The sight was heart
rending, and l can say no more"