Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-01-17

A Terrible Wind-storm Demolishes q
Large SILK Factory In which Girls Are
at W6rk-Fearful Results Of the storm
Elsewhere.
LReading Pa) special.l
"A cyclone swept over the northern
section of this city Wednesday afternoon
the 9th inst, and laid waste every
thing within its path, with a terrible loss Of
Life. The number Of lives that have been
sacrificed and the number Of persons in
jured can only be estimated. The most re-
liable computation is that not less than
sixty and perhaps eighty persons have been
killed outright and 100 injured.
Il had been raining very hard all the
morning. Toward noon the rain ceased
almost entirely, and by 4 o'clock there was
every Indication that there would be an en-
tire cessation Of the storm. Half an hour
afterward the sun began to penetrate the
clouds, and the tints OF a rainbow were
seen in the eastern sky. 1t portended a
beautiful sunset. There was clear rky
overhead. This continued for half an
hour.
Then the scene changed with a sudden
ness that was appalling. The feecy clouds
gave way to the ominous signs of a coming
storm. Dark heavy banks Of clouds mar
shaled themselves, and soon darkness seemed
to have settled over the city. There was a
stiffness as of coming danger. Then the
wind whistled, the storm clouds grew
heavier, ard still louder grew the wind. In
the western sky the storm was seen ap-
preaching with laundering noise. Per.
sons residing along the track of the storm
say that they saw the first sign Of danger
in a nel-shaped cloud which seemed to
gather up everything within its reach and
cast IL right and left Out in the country
houses and barns were unroofed, farm
outbuildings were overturned, crops rooted
up and destruction spread in every direc-
tion.
The track of the storm was not more
than two hundred feet wide, and it is lucky
that il only touched the suburbs of the city.
1t came from the west and passed along
the northern border of Reading.
First it touched the Mount Penn stove
works. Hero the corner Of the building
was struck, and q portion of the roof was
cut off as nicely as il done with a pair OF
scissors. Then the storm crossed some
fields and took off portion of the roof Of
j. H. Sternbergs rolling mill. A number
Of dwellings were unroofed as readily as if
their tin roots were paper. The storm
hurried across the property OF the Read
ing railroad company and crossed the rail-
road. A passenger car was overturned as
quickly as il it had been toy, and its
splinters scattered in every direction.
Meanwhile the rain poured down in tor
rents. The atmosphere became heavy and
oppressed, and it was almost as dark as
night
On one side Of the track of the Reading
railroad was situated the paint shop Of the
company. 1t was a one-story building
abont 10 by $50 feet in size. Here about
thirty men were employed painting passen-
ger cars There were eight or nine of thoSO
cars in the building. They had been built
at tho company's shops in this city at
cost of $1,000 each The building was
struck squarely in the middle, and the bricks
scattered about as if they were playthings.
The cars were turned topsy y-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 we're
ready to be taken out on the road in few
days They exploded one after another
with the fearful bang Of a cannon. Bang,
bang, lang, they resounded over the city,
causing the people to run out Of their
houses thinking that 1t was the sound of an
earthquake. There was a considerable
quantity of gasoline in the building, and
this added fuel to tho flames. A sheet of
flame shot upward with the roar Of mus
kerry. About twenty of the men had
chance to crawl out OF the debris, but four
of II cir companions were enveloped in the
| flames. Their cries were heard for a mo-
ment by the terrified workmen and then
their voices were hushed forever. They
were quickly roasted to death.
The fire department was called out, but
| its services were unavailing. The building
| naH In ,..in
and nothing left but hackened, smoking
ruins, under which lay four human beings
| burned to a crisp. Their names are:
JOHN KALLEll
ALBERT LANDSBERGER.
| SHERIDAN:JONES.
| GEORGE SCHAFFER.
1t was rumored that several others had
been killed, but these are the only ones
known to have lost their lives. Aaron De
walt, one OF the employees in the paint shop,
had his arm broken, and George Knabb
was injured internally, no doubt fatally.
The loss to the railroad company is fully
| $75,00O.
When this was going on the storm was
travelling with fearful rapidity, and un-
| rooted dozen private residences Directly
| in its path, at the corner of Twelfth and
Marion streets, stood the Reading silk mill.
Here about one hundred and seventy five
girls were working The building was a
| huge structure, most substantially built
four stories and basement, occupying an
entire block Of ground. It vas surmounted
by a massive tower fully 100 feet high.
The funnel-shaped storm cloud struck tho
building directly in the center on its broad
est side. 1t fell TO pieces as IL composed Of
30 many building blocks. Nearly 200
human beings went down in that awful
wreck. Human tongue can never tell the
terrible scenes Of that hour. The walls gave
way, the floors fell down, one on top
Of the other, and carried their great mass
OF human beings to the bottom. Amid the
hurricane, the whistling and roaring of the
wind, terrible cries for succor were sent up
to Heaven. 1t was a moment that tried
mems souls Girls with blackened faces
bruised and broken limbs, their clothing
tattered and torn, dragged themselves from
the ruins. So, probably, seventy-h five to a
hundred 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 were
piled twenty feet deep and underneath
are still lying human bodies by the score
The alarm for relief was Immediately
sent out, and In a short time thousands OF
citizens arrived to help out tho dead aud
dying. The scene was narrowing and
deies description. The mill is situated
near the foot of Mount Penn, a mountain
overlooking the city. When the people ar
rived everything was enveloped In dark
ness. Bonfres were built, which cast a
dismal glare ON the scene The fire COM
panies left tho burning paint shop and as
faHf In he N<..