The Washington critic., 1889-01-10
THE DEADLY CYCLONE.
West virginia and Pennsylvania Laid 1,
Ruins.

general throughout the States of Penn.
sylvania and West Virginia. and brought
in its wake to the latter sections death
and destruction.
Shortly after o'clock in the after.
noon when the people of Reading. Pa.
were looking forward to clear weather
and the rain had ceased the scene
changed with suddenness that was
appalling. The fleecy clouds gave way
to the ominons signs of Il coming storm.
Dark, heavy banks of clouds marshaled
themselves towards the front, and a
gloom seemed to have settled over the
city. There was u stiffness rs of COM
ing danger Then the wind whistled
and roarcd and tore in mad confusion.
The storm clouds grew heavier still,
and louder roared the wind. In the
western sky the storm was seen approch-
ing with a laundering noise. The swath
1t cut was narrow, but its effect was
terrible. Persons residing along the
track of the storm say that they saw the
first signs Of danger in funnel shaped
melstrom which seemed to gather up
everything within its reach and cast it
right and left.
Out in the country, houses and barns
were unroofed, farm outbuldings over
turned crops rooted up, and destruction
spread in every direction. The track of
this destructive element was not more
than two hundred feet wide, and 1t is
lucky that it only touched the suburbs
of the city. 1t came from the west, but
passed along the northern border of
Reading. First it touched the Mt. Penn
Stove Works. Here the corner of the
building was struck, and portion of
the roof was cut off as nicely as if done
with pair of scissors Then the storm
cloud scurried across some fields and
took off portion of the roof OF J. II.
Sternbergh's rolling mill, and number
of dwellings were unroofed as nicely as
If their tin roofs were paper.
The storm then hurried across the
property of the Reading Railroad Com
pany and crossed the railroad. Here q
passenger car was standing.
READING EMPLOYEES ROASTED.
This was overturned as neatly as if it
was a toy and its splinters were scat
tered in every direction Meanwhile,
tire rain poured down in torrents. The
atmosphere became heavy and oppress-
i've, and it was almost as dark as night.
Directly alongside the tracks of the
Reading Railroad was situated the paint
shops of the Reading Railroad Company.
1t was one story building, about go by
$50 feet in size. Here about thirty men
were employed painting passenger cars.
There were eight or nine of these cars
in the building. They had been built in
the company's shops in this city at
cost of six thousand dollars each The
building was struck square in the middle,
and the bricks scattered about as if they
were playthings. The cars were turned
topsy-turvy, while the men were buried
under the debris. Some Of the bricks
were carried square away. The cham
Der OF each of the passenger cars was
already filled with gas, as they were
ready to be taken out on the road in q
few days. These exploded one after
another, with the fearful bang of can
non. Bang! bang! bang they resounded
over the city, causing the people to run
out of their houses, thinking that it was
the sound of an earthquake. There was
Il considerable quantity of gasoline in
the building, and that added fuel to the
flames. A sheath of fame shot heaven
ward with the roar of nusketry.
Some twenty of the men had, q chan ce
to crawl out of the debris, but four of
| their companions were enveloped in the
embrace of the flames. Their cries were
heard for n moment by the terrified work;
man, and then their voices were hushcd
forever. They were quickly roasted to
death, and the fire from the nine passen-
ger cars lit up the heavens for miles
around. 1t was beautiful sight, and
could have been enjoyed but for the aw-
full calamity which brought it about In
the meantime the fire department was
called out, but its services were unavail-
ing. The building and cars were con-
sumed in fifteen minutes, and nothing
| left but blackened, smoking ruins, under
which lay four human beings, burned to
a crisp. Their names are John Kahler,
Albert Landberger, Sheridan Jones and
George Schaefer.
1t was rumored that several others had
been killed. but these are the only ones
who it is known have lost their lives.
Aaron Dcwalt another employe in the
paint shop, had his arm broken, and
George knabb was injured internally, no
doubt fatally. The loss to the railroad
company is fully $4,000. While this
was all going on, the storm was travelling
forward with fearful rapidity. 1t must
have travelled at the rate of one hundred
miles an hour. 1t struck some moro pri
vate houses and unroofed dozen private
residences. The huge sheets of tin were
carried half square away and deposited
IN lot.
SLAUGHTER OF THE MILL GIRLS.
Then the storm proceeded in its fury
Directly in its path, at the corner Of
Twelfth and Marion streets, stood TIL,
Reading Silk Mill, one of the industries
of the city, in which the citizens tool
the greatest pride. Here about III
happy girls were working. The build
ing was huge structure, most substan
italy built, four stories in height anC
had a basement besides 1t occupied ai
entire block of ground. The size of tn,
building itself was nearly 800 feet il
length and about 100 feet wide. 1t wa
surmounted by massive tower fully
100 feet from the ground. The funnel
shaped storm cloud struck the buildn.
directly in the centre on its broades
side, which faced the west.
1t fell to pieces as if composed of 81
many building blocks. Nearly two hun
dred human beings went down in tn,
awful wreck. Human tongues cal
never tell the terrible scenes of that hour
The walls gave way, the floors fell down
one on top of the other and carried thei
great mass Of human beings to the bot
tom. The bricks were piled up in tht
greatest confusion while amid the hurri