, 1889-01-10
DEATH In THE AIR.
Reading and Pittsburg, Pa
Swept by II Cyclone.
SIXTY ARE KILLED AT READING
The Sadde.t Day In PennsylvaniS's His
tory--storm swept ON Both sidcs
of the AIleEhenies.

tOry-StOrb1 bwoPt VII DVth SVsV~
of the AIlsghenies.
READING, Pa, Jan. 8.--This was the
saddest night in the history Of Reading. A
deathlike pail hangs upon the city, the
result of the most horrible disaster in its
history. Hundreds of households are in
mourning as the result OF one Of the great
est calamities known in Pennsylvania.
A cyclone swept over the northern por-
tion of the city this afternoon and laid
waste everything within its reach. and
with terrible loss of life. The lives that
have been sacrificed and the number that
have been injured can only be estimated.
Most reliable computation ut 10 o'clock to.
night is that not less than
SIXTY PERSONS HAD BEEN KILLED
outright and 100 injured.
How this terrible calamity occurred is
as follows: 1t was raining very hard all
the morning. Towards noon it ceased
almost entirely and by 4 o'clock there was
every indication there would be an entire
cessation of the rain storm. Half an hour
afterwards the bright sun made every ef-
fort to penetrate the clouds. Tints of the
rain bow were seen in the Eastern sky.
There was clear sky overhead and this
continued for half an hour longer. The
scene
CHANGED WITH SUDDEN NESS
That was appalling. The aeecy clouds
gave way to ominous signs of the coming
storm. Dark heavy bands of clouds mar.
shaled themselves towards the town and
soon gloom seemed to have settled over
the city. Then the wind whistled. roared
and tore in mad confusion. The storm
clouds grew heavier STILL and louder
roared the wind. In the Western sky the
storm was seen approaching with thun-
dering noise. The swath 1t cut was mar
residing along the track of the storm cay
they saw the irst signs of danger in the
funnel shaped mielstrom OF wind and deb
ris which seemed to gather up everything
within its reach and cast 1t right and left.
In the country houses and barns were
unreofed. farm buildings overturned, crops
rooted up and destruction spread in every
direction. The track of this destructive
element was not more than
TWO HUNDRED FEET WIDE
and it is lucky it only touched the suburbs
of the city.
II came from the west. but passed along
the northern border of Reading. 1t first
touched the Mount Penn Stove Works.
Here the corner OF the building was struck
and portion OF the roof was cut OFT as
nicely IA If done with pair OF scissors.
Then the storm clouds scurried across
some fields and took off a portion Of the
roof of J S. Sternberger's rolling mill and
IL number of dwelling were unr0oted us
readily as ii their tin roofs were paper.
The storm thent hurried across the prop
erty of the Reading Railroad Company
and crossed the railroad. Here IL pas
seneer car was standing. This was over
turned as quickly rs if it had been a toy
tion. Meanwhile the rain poured down
in torrents. The atmosphere became
heavy and oppressive and it was
ALMOST DARK AS NIGHT.
Directly on one side of the track of the
Reading railroad was situated the paint
shops of the company. 10 was one
story building about 60x150 feet in size.
About thirty men we're employed in paint.
ing passenger cars. there were eight or
nine of these cars in the building. They
had been built at the company's shops at
a cost of $1,000 each. The building was
struck sauarely in the middle and the
bricks were scattered about as If they
were playthings. The cars were turned
topsy-turvey, while the men were buried
under the debris.
already filled with uas, as they were ready
to be taken out on the road in few days
They exploded one after mother.
bang! BANG! BANG!
they resounded over the city, causing the
IL was the sound of an earthquake. There
was considerable quantity of gasoline IL
the building and this added fuel to the
flames. a sheet of flames shot upward
with a roar like musketry. Some twenty
of the men mad chance to crawl out oi
the debris but four of their companions
WE'RE ENvELOPED IN TIE EMBRACE
of the flames. Their cries were heard fol-
moment by the terrified workmen, ant
then their voices we're hrshed forever
They were quietly roasted to death. Fire
for miles around. 1t was q beautiful
sight and would rave been en-
ioyed but for the awful calamit!
which accompanied it, In the meanti NE
the FIRE department was called out, ,u 6u
their services we're unavailing. IN
building and cars were consumed in II
minutes and nothing was left but tn
blackened, smoking ruins under which
LAY FOUR HUMAN BEINGs
burned crisp. Their names are:
John Roller,
Albert Landberger
Sheridan Jones.
George Shaffer
lt was rumOred that several others ha
bsan killed. but these are the only one