The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-01-10
A PATH OF DEATH.
Reading and Pittsburg the Victims Of
a Cyclone.
Its Coming Heralded by a Rainbow in
the Sky,
Then the Wind and Darkness Hold
Their Sway,
While Fire Comes to Their Aid with
Deadly Result.
-Four Men Roasted to Death in a Read
ing Paint Shop.
A Crowded Factory Building COllapses
in the Same City,
And Nearly One Hundred Girls are Be-
lieVed to Have PeriShed.
Lives Lost by the Fall Of a Building
in Pittsburg.
Ontario Fast Bound Beneath a Coating
Of lee.
And Nearly One Hundred Girls are Be-
lieyed to Have PeriShed.
Lives Lost by the Fall Of a Building
in Pittsburg.
Ontario Fast Bound Beneath a Coating
Of lee.

READING, Pa, Jan. 9.-A cyclone swept
over the northern section of the city today
and laid waste everything within its reach.
with terrible loss of life. The most reliable
computation, at 10 o'clock tonight, is that
not less than eighty persons were killed out
right and 1C0 injured. The story of the
calamity Is as follows:
1t rained very hard all the morning, but
ceased almost entirely towards noon. At
about 4.30 the sun tried to penetrate the
clouds and rain bow appeared in the east
ern sky overhead. This continued an hour
and then the scene changed with sudden
ness appalling. The fieecy clouds gave way
to signs of a coming storm. Darkness and
gloom settled over the city and there was an
ominous stiffness. Then the wind whistled,
roared and tore in mad confusion. In the
West. tornado was seen approaching 2Co
feet wide. The effect was terrible. Persons
residing along the track of the storm say
they saw the first signs of danger in funnel
shaped maelstrom which seemed to gather
up everything within reach aud and cast 1t
to the right and left. Out in the country,
HOUSES AND BARNS WERE UNRoOFED,
out-buildings overturned, croops rooted up
and destruction spread in every direction.
The cyclone passed along the northern
border of Reading and first touched the Mt.
Penn stone works, cutting off portion Of
the roof as nicely as If done with a pair Of
scissors. Then the storm cloud scurried
across some fields and took off q. portion Of
the roof OF j. ii. Hembergh' rolling mill ana
unrO0fed number of other houses. IL hur-
ried across the property of the Reading rail-
road and crossed the track, overturning a
passenger car and scattering its splinters In
every direction. Meanwhile the rain poured
in torrents and the air became heavy and op-
pressive. 1t was almost as dark as night:
Directly along the track Of the Reading road
was the paint shop of the road, one story
building. 60x150 feet in size. Here about 80
men were painting nine passenger cars built
at the company's shop In this city at cost
of $1,000 each. The building was struck
square in the middle and bricks scattered
about as If they were playthings. The cars
were turned topsy turvy and the men buried
under the debris. Some of the bricks, were
each passenger car was already filled with
gas as they were ready to be taken
out ON the road in a few days. These
exploded one after another with report
like cannon, resounding over the city. Peo-
pie ran out Of their houses, thinking It was
the sound of an earthquake. A quantity OF
gasoline in the building added fuel to the
flames, and a sheet OF flame shot heaven
ward with a roar. Some 20 men crawled out
of the debris, but four were enveloped in the
embrace of the flames. Their cries were
heard for moment, and then were hushed
forever. The men were
QUICKLY ROASTED TO DEATH
The fire from the nine passenger cars lit up
the heavens for miles around. The fire de-
partment services were unavsiling. The
building and cars were consumed in fifteen
h,,A r,ad ~
smoking ruins. The men burned were:
John Kohler,
Albert Landberger,
Sheridan Jones,
George Schaefer.
1t is rumored that several others were
killed. Aaron Dewalt, another empl0ye, had
an arm broken George Knobb was injured
internally and no doubt fatally. The loss to
the railroad is $4,000.
The storm travelled on at the rate nf 100
miles an hour and unro0fed dozen private
residences. At the corner OF 18th and Mari
Oh streets stood the Reading silk mill,a huge
structure most substantially built, four st0r-
les in height with basement. The build
ing was nearly 80 feet long and $50 feet wide.
1t was surmounted by a massive tower, 100
feet from the ground. About IT'S girls were
working in the mill.
The funnel shaped storm-cloud struck the
building directly in the centre of the broad
est side 1t fell in pieces as II composed OF so
many building blocks, carrying down nearly
TWO HUNDRED HUMAN BEINGS
in the wreck. The walls gave way, the
floors fell down, one ON top of the other
and all went to the bottom. Amid the hur-
ricane and almost simultaneous
with the fall of the building,
the girls. with blackened faces, bruised and
broken limbs and clothing torn and tattered,
dragged themselves from the ruins. Proba-
bly, rs to 100 escaped or were dragged out by
their friends. These worked on the upper
floors and were thrown near the top of the
debris. At some places the bricks are piled
20 feet deep, and underneath are lying to-
night human bodies by the score. About
250 girls and young women are usually EN-
ployed in the mill, but at O'Clock about so
were relieved from duty for the day and re-
turned to their homes. The most reliable
estimate tonight places the number in the
building when it went down, in the neigh
borhOod of 175.
The alarm for relief was Immediately sent
| out and In a short time thousands of citizens
arrived to help out the dead and dying.
EVERYTHING WAS ENvELoPED IN DARK
NESS,
but huge bonfres we're built which cast a
| dismal glare on the surrounding scene. The
| fire companies left the burning paint shop
and assisted in the rescue of the dead and
dying. The entire police force was called
out with the ambulance and relief corps and
| a thousand people we're soon at work among
| the debris. Here young woman was taken
out all bruised and suffering with cuts and
bruises. One body was headless. Others
were in various postures. the living all suf-
| fering from terrible wounds. Up to 1890
o'clock tonight probably the bodies Of a
dozen dead had been taken out, while the
greater portion of the remainder still lay un-
der the ruins. The work of rescue will be
pushed all night, but It may be far into to-
| morrow before all the bodies are taken out
| The number Of dead will probably reach 80
THE DEAD.
At II p. M, the following bodies had been
taken out aud identified:
Henry Crocker, foreman OF the silk mill
married. aged %, head crushed in, neck anC
arm broken.
John Riber, engineer, head cut off.
Laura Kershner.
Eva Leeds.