Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-10
WRECKED BY MIGHTY WINDS,
Two Hundred People Buried I'm a FALL
ing Mill at Reading.

Ing Mill at Reading.
FROM SIXTY TO EIGHTY or THEM THOUGHT TO
HAVE PEBIsHED-sEvERAI LIVES ALSO LOST AT
PrrrsBURG AND HARRIsBURG-A SERIES OF
APPALLING DISASTERS
storm that was appalling in its results
swept over portions of Pennsylvania yesterday
afternoon At Reading silk mill was wrecked,
killing and iniuring large number of en-
pioyes. At Pittsburg a new building. not vet
finished. was blown down. and many workmen
and others crushed to death or fearfully man.
gled- At Sunbury the great chimneys of the
nall mill were blown over on the pudding de-
partment of the mill, crushing it and killing
two men and wounding several. AT Harrisburg
large school was unroofed causing a panic
among the pupils, three houses were unroofed
and other damage done. At Williamsport Car
Isle, York. Philadelphia. Camden NJ j.. and
brooklyn. y. Y. the effects of the storm. which
extended over wide area, were more or less
seriously felt
THE DREADFUL DISASTER AT READING.
The wind storm which wrecked the silk mill
at Reading followed rain which had been
falling all day. At4:3O the sky cleared and the
sun came out. Half an hour later the sky was
suddenly overcast again and a terrific wind
arose from the west. Then came a funnel
shaped cloud close to the earth. which swept
through the country, destroying everything in
Its path. Its track was not over 200 feet wide
Houses. barns and outbuildings were unroofed
and trees uprooted. The first building struck
in the city the Mt. Penn stove works a
portion Of the roof being taken off. Several
dwellings were also unroofed before the storm
struck the paint shops of the Reading railroad.
where the first serious damage was DONE
Here about thirty men were painting passe niger
cars. There were eight nine cars in the
IrTHt Iii lNU1lN
building was struck in the middle, the cars
were turned tOpsy-turvv, while the men were
buried under the debris. The chamber of each
Of the cars was already filed with gas. as they
were ready to be taken out on the road These
exploded with the fearful bang of a cannon
There was gasoline in the building. and this
added fuel to the flames. A sheath of flame
shot heavenward with the roar of musketry.
Some twenty of the men had a chance to crawl
out OF the debris. but four were enveloped in
the flames and roasted to death. Their names
were John kahler. Albert Landberger, Shriden
Jones. and Geo. Schaeffer. 1t was rumored
that others had been killed, but these are the
only ones who IL is known have lost their lives.
Aaron Dewalt. another employee, had his arm
broken. and Geo. knsbb was injured inter-
nally, no doubt fatally. The loss to the rail-
road company IL $4,000.
Meanwhile the storm swept on with fearful
velocity, its most deadly work yet remaining to
be done. Directly in its path, at the corner of
18th and Marian streets. stood the Reading
silk mill. in which about IT'S girls were work
ing. The building was substantially built four
stories in height, and had a basement besides
1t occupied an entire block and was nearly 800
feet in length and about $50 feet wide. 1t was
surmOunted by massive tower. The funnel
shaped cloud struck the building directly in the
center, on its broadcast side. which faced the
west 1t fell to pieces as if composed of SO
many building blocks.
A FEARFUL SCENE
At once cries of agony and horror arose from
the unfOrtunates who went down in the ruins
Girls with blackened faces, bruised and broken
limbs, their clothing tattered and torn, dragged
themselves from the ruins. SO probably sew
enty-hve TO one hundred escaped, or were
dragged out by their friends Those of
course. worked on the upper floors and were
thrown near the top of the debris. At some
places the bricks we're piled 20 feet deep, and
underneath these lay all last night scores of
human bodies. The alarm for relief was i'm
medlately sent out and in a short time thou
sands of citizens arrived. BY this time dark
ness had set in and huge bonfires we're built
The fire companies left the burning paint shop
and assisted in the rescue. The entire police
force was called ont as well as the ambulance
and relef corps, and a thousand people were
IN among the debris working with eager hands
to relieve the misery of the unfortunates All
nightthi work was kept up. but the best efforts
that could be put forth were painfully slow as
compared with the demands for aid that came
from every quarter. Up TO o'clock this
morning fifteen dead bodies and about eighty
five injured persons had been taken out OF the
ruins. Clerk Aulenbach stated at midnight
that he believed that fully eighty bodies were
in the ruins under the three floors. His list of
employees is lost. and owing to the confusion in
taking out the injured he was unable to furnish
list of the killed.
George Grimshaw, jr., one of the proprie-
tors. was IN the mill, upstairs, writing letter
He went down with the wreck He was badly
hurt about the back and limbs and received a
cash in the hand. He gave it as his opinion
late last night. that sixty persons were still in
the debris. A conservative estimate of the
killed is eighty. The latest report of the num-
Der of those in the mill at the time it collapsed
places 1t between 80 and 800.
THE STORY OF A SURVIVOR.
Augustus F. Rescup, foreman in the mill
gave reporter the following story: ''It was
about $40 o'clock when went to the second
story to turn on the electric lights. After
had done this / stood looking about the room
for about ten minutes Suddenly l heard a
loud, rushing noise which | thought was
cyclone. The building then shook L was
standing in the southern end of the room, and
before could look out of the window, felt
the building sink. Quick as lightning the por-
ton OF the room i was in went down. The
girls rushed about me crying and screaming
and calling for help. II seemed az if the CEN
ter OF the building was struck first. Our end
OF the building went down first, and while the
moor was SINKING IL seemed as II the girls In the
other part Of the room were on top of a hill
That was the way it impressed me. While we
were going down / saw the other
portion of the floor fall In two
minutes all over. The screaming
OF the girls was heartrending / was
knocked down under heavy timbers and held
fast by my foot. / could move every other
part of my body excepting my leg. i managed
TO reach down with my knife and cut the shoe
on my foot. In this way succeeded in arising
1 called TO the girls as loudly "a | could They
were all terribly excited. Many of them heard
me and worked themselves toward me. At
some places 1t seemed as If the floor was closed
as solid mass. and the girls would creep
around this. crawl over the machinery and
creep on their hands and knees until thew got
TO the opening where / was. The machinery
saved many from being crushed to DEATH and
left space between the floor and debris to
crawl out believe that fully 100 persons es-
capped with me-
THE PITTsBURG CALAMITY
At Pittsburg the storm came up with aston
ishlng suddenness. Suddenly in the center of
the city there was a terrible crash and the CEN
trial fire alarm bell sounded a call from Dia
Inond and Wood streets. Hundreds of people
hurried 70 the scene. when il was found that
the cyclone had caught the new building on
Diamond street, owned by Q. i. Wiley, and
hurledt to the earth, covering up two scores
of mangled human bodies. The building was
thirty-six by eighty feet in dimensions and was
seven stories high. The front of the building