The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1889-01-18
HUNDREDS OF nousraoLps N MOURNING.
Frf9at,d Desfrssetion Of Lifs and Properfl
bv the Easfera Cyclone.

Frigatid Desfrrscfion of Lifs and Property
by the Easfern Cyclone.
Reading dispatch: This was the sad
dest night in the history Of Reading.
A hundred households are in mourning
rs the result of one Of the greatest ca
lamities in the history of Pennsylvania
A cyclone swept over the northern seq
ton of the city this afternoon and laid
waste everything in its reach, with ter
rible loss of life. The lives that have
been sacrificed and the number OF per-
sons injured can at this writing only be
estimated. The most reliable computa-
ton at II o'clock tonight is that not
less than eighty persons have been killed
outright, and over q hundred injured.
The track Of this destructive element
was not more than 200 feet wide, and it
is lucky that it only touched the sub
urbs of the city. 1t came from the
west, but passed along the northern
boundary of Reading. First it struck
the Mount Penn stove works. On one
side of the track of the Reading railroad
were situated the paint shops of the
| company. II u ~ IL otOIy buAittiAS
about 60x150 in size. Here about 1870
men were employed in painting passen-
ger cars. There were eight or nine OF
these cars in the building, costing SO, 900
each. The building was struck squarely
in the middle and the bricks scattered
about as if they were p~laythings. The
cars were turned topsy-turvey, while
the men were buried under the debris.
Some twenty of the men had q chance
to crawl out of the debris, but four OF
their companions were enveloped il the
embrace of the flames. Their cries
were heard for q moment by the terri
fed workmen, and then their voices
were hushed forever. They were quick
ly roasted to death. The fire from nine
! passenger cars lit up the heaven for
, miles around. It was q beautiful sight,
and could have been enjoyed but for
Che awful calamity which accompanied
it.
In the meantime the fire department
was called out, but its services were IN
availing. The building and cars were
consumed in fifteen minutes and moth
ing left but blackened, smoking ruins,
under which lay four human beings,
burned to crisp.
While this was all going on the storm
was travelling forward with fearful rap
idity. 1t must have travelled at the rate
of 100 miles an hour. 1t struck some
more private houses and unroofed a
dozen private residences. Huge sheets
of tin were carried half n square away
and deposited in a lot. Then the storm
proceeded in its full fury.
Directly in it's path, at the corner OF
Twelfth and Marion streets, stood the
Reading silk mill. Here about IT'S girls
we're working. The building was a
huge structure, most substantially built,
four stories in height, and had q base
ment besides. 1t occupied an entire
block of ground. The building itself
was nearly 300 feet in length and about
$50 feet wide. 1t was s~urmounted by a
massive tower fully 100 feet from the
ground. The funnel-shaped storm-cloud
struck the building directly in the cen
ter on its broadcast side, which facet
west. It fell to pieces as il composed
of so many building blocks. Nearly 200
human beings went down with the awful
wreck. The walls gave away and the
floors fell one ON top of the other and
carried their great mass of human
beings to the bottom. The bricks were
piled up in the greatest confusion, while
aulluot th0 luS, IuoAlAS, AOdL
ing wind, terrible cries for succor
moment that tried mems souls,
and almost simultaneous with the
fall of the building came awful cries
for relief. Girls with blackened faces,
bruised and broken limbs, their clothing
torn, dragged themselves from the ruins.
Probably s~eventy-fve or q hundred es-
capped or were dragged out by their
friends. These, of course, worked on
the upper floors, and were thrown neal
the top of the debris. At some places
the bricks were piled twenty feet deep.
and underneath them are lying tonight
human bodies by the score.
About $50 girls and young women are
usually employed in the mill, but at
o'clock eighty were relieved from dntJ
for the day. They returned to thell
homes before the storm came.
The most reliable estimate tonight
places the number in the building when
it went down in the neighborhood of 175
and. as before stated, 100 of these were
rescued by friends or dragged themselye:
out Immediately after the accident. Ar
alarm for relief was Immediately SEN
out and in q short time thousands OF cit.
liens arrived to help out the dead anc
dying. The scene was a narrowing one,
and beggars description. The mill Is
situated near the foot of Mt. Penn,
high mountain overlooking the city
When the people arrived everything was
enveloped in darkness. Then huge bon.
fires were built, which cast a dismal
glare on the surrounding scene.
The fire companies left the burning
paint shop and assisted in the rescue oil
the dead and dying. The entire police
force was called out, the ambulance and
relief corps, and thousands OF people
we're in among the debris, carrying out
bricks, pulling away timbers, and assist
ing wherever they could, all at the same
time, but their work was slow compared
with the demand for rescue OF the vic
tins of the disaster. An Associated
press representative entered what was
once the basement of the building, and,
cropping his way through the debris,
noticed the bodies of five young girls
lying close together. He tried to pull
them out, but they were pinned down,
and it was impossible to get them out.
They were dead and beyond all human
aid.
Up to 1890 tonight probably the bod
les of q dozen dead have been taken out,
while the greater portion of the re-
mainder were still under the ruins:
The work of rescue will be pushed all
night, but it may be tar into the NOR
row before all the bodies are taken out.
The rescuers still have the greatest
hopes that those inside are still living,
and there is every hope for saving them.
All is chaos and confusion around the
mill. The managers are missing, and
the correct number is merely guess
work. It may not be over forty, and
then again there is a likelihood that it