The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1889-01-17
A CYCLONES WORK.


n Wide swath Of Death aud DestrHc-
tion-Four Men Cremated at Reading.
Pain tho Same City an Immense SIX
Mill Is blown Down Burying 200 Pso-
pie In the Ruins - Eighty OF Them
Thought to Have Been Killed. and
Nearly All Of the Rest Injured-Seven
Lives Lost and over Thirty Persons
wounded by the Demolition Of Several
buildings at Pittsburgh-Loss of Life mt
sunbury : Tho Storms Work in Ohio,
Illinois aud Indiana.
READING, Pa, Jan. TO- "A cyclone swept
over the northern section Of this city
Wednesday afternoon and laid waste
every thing within its psth, with terrible
loss OF life. The number OF lives that
have been sacrificed and the number OF
persons injured can only be estimated.
The most reliable computation at midnight
is that not not less than sixty and perhaps
eighty persons have been killed outright
and 100 injured.
1t rained hard all day until about p.
M, when the sun shone for about half an
hour Then the scene change with sud
denness that was appalling The heecy
clouds gave way to the ominous signs OF q
coming storm. In the western sky the
storm was seen approaching with a
laundering noise. Persons residing along
the track Of the storm say that they
saw the first signs Of danger in funnel
shaped cloud which seemed to gather up
every thing within its reach and cast 1t
right and left. Out in the country houses
and barns were unroofed, farm outbuild-
ings were overturned, crops rooted up
and destruction spread in every direction.
The track OF the storm was not more
than 200 feet wide, and 1t lucky that IL
only touched the suburbs Of the city. 1t
ceme from the west and passed along the
northern border of Reading.
First IL touched the Mount Pom stove
works. Here the corner OF the building
was struck, and portion Of the roof was
cut of as nicely as If done by apair of
| scissors. Then the storm crossed some
| fields and took of portion of the root
of J. II. Sternberg's rolling mill.
A number of dwellings were un-
rooted as readily as IL their tin
roofs were paper. The storm hurried
across the property OF the Reading
Railroad Company and crossed the rail-
| road. A passenger car was. overturned
as quickly as II it had been toy, and its
| splinters scattered in every direction.
Meanwhile the rain poured down in tor
rents. The atmosphere became heavy and
II
| night.
On one side OF the track of the Reading
railroad was situated the paint-shop OF the
company. It was one-story building
| about 90 by $50 feet in size. Here
about thirty men were employed in paint
ing passenger cars The building was
struck squarely In the middle, and the
bricks scattered about as II they were
playthings. The cars were turned topsy-
| turvy, while the men were buried under
the debris. Some of the bricks were
| carried away. The chamber of each OF
the passenger cars was already filled with
gas, as they were ready to be taken out on
the road in a few days. They exploded
one after another with the fearful bang Of
cannon. Bang, bang, bang, they re-
sounded over the city, causing the
people TO run out OF their houses
thinking that 1t was the sound OF
an earthquake There was con
siderable quantity OF gasoline in the build
ing, and this added fuel TO the flames.
sheet Of fame shot upward with the roal
| OF musketry. About twenty of the men
had chance to crawl out of the debris,
but four OF their companions were en-
veioped in the flames Their cries were
| heard for moment by the terrified work
men and then their voices were hushet
forever. They were quickly roasted u
death.
The department was called out but it,
services were unavailing. The building
| and cars were consumed In fifteen minutes
| and nothing left but biackened, smoking
| ruins, under which lay four human being.
burned to crisp. Their names are:
John Kaller, Albert Landberger, Sherl
| dan Jones and George Schaffer.
| 1t was rumored that several others ha
been killed. but these are the only one
known to have lost their lives. Aaro
| Dewalt, one of the employees Of the paint
| shop had his arm broken. and Georg
| Knabb was injured internally, no doub
| fatally. The loss to the railroad compan.
is fully $4,000.
When this was going on the storm wa
| travelling with fearful rapidity. 1t mus
| have travelled at the rate OF 100 miles al
hour 1t struck some more private house
| and unroofed dozen private residences
| TIE huge sheets OF tin were carried half
| square away and deposited in o lot. Then tn
storm proceeded in its full fury. Directl,
| in its path, at the corner Of Twelfth ant
| Marion streets, stood the Reading sill
mill, one OF the industries Of the city IL
which the citizens took the greatest pride
| Here about 175 girls were working. Th
| building was huge structure, most sut
| stantially built, four stories in height, an
had q basement besides. 1t occupied a
| entire block Of ground. The buildin
| itself was nearly 800 feet in length an
| about 15O feet wide. 1t was surmounte
by o massive tower fully 100 feet from tn
| ground The funnel-shaped storm-clou
: struck tho building directly in the cente
| on its broadcast side, which faced the wes
1t fell to pieces as If composed 9
so many building blocks. Nearly e
a | human beings went down in tn
awful wreck Human tongue can neve
tell the terrible scenes of that hour. tn
walls gave way, tho floors fell down, on
2 on top Of the ether, and carried their grea
] mass Of human beings to the bottom Tn
bricks were piled up in the greatest COZ
Q fus on. Amid the hurricane, the whistlin
I and roaring Of the wind, terrible erie
4 for succor were sent up to Heayei
, 1t was moment that tried men
: souls. Girls with blackened faces, bruise
and broken limbs, their clothing iattere
! and torn, dragged themselves from III
y ruins So, probably, 70 to 100 escape
or were dragged out ly their friend
: These worked on the upper fiooi
a and were thrown near the top {
: The debris. At some places the bricl
Z were piled twenty feet deep and unde
:. meath are lying human bodies by tn
' score. About $50 girls and young wome
were usually employed in the MILL but
: O'Clock eighty were relieved from dui
u for the day.
y The alarm for relief was immedintel
sent out. and in short time thousands
d citizens arrived to help out the dead on
+ the dying The scene was harrowir
,. and beggars description. The mill
a situated near the foot of Mount Pen
! high mountain overlooking the cit
. When the people arrived every thir
was enyeloped in darkness. Huge DO
:, fires were built, which cast dismal gla
a on the scene. The fire companies 10
10 the burning paint.shop and assisted
b the rescue Of the dead and the dyin
The entire police force was calf
IN out The ambulance and relief cor