Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-01-11
A CYCLONE.
Reading, Pennsylvania, Visited by a
Destructive Cyclone Last
Evening.
Sixty Persons Killed and Over One
Hundred Wounded-Ter-
rible Suffering.
A Reading Silk Mill Blown Down and
One Hundred and Seventy Girls
Killed and Wounded.
Cyclone and Fire,

Cyclone and Fire,
READING, Pa, Jan. "a cyclone passed
over this city this evening, doing consider
able damage and killing more than fifty
people. A silk mill in which 250 girls were
employed, blew down just before the hour
for quitting work. Everything was in
confusion. The loss of life is probably
much heavier than at first reported. About
the same time was an explosion and fire in
the same neighborhood, by which eight
men were burned to death,
This was the saddest night in the history
Of Reading. Death, like pail, hang upon
the city as the result of the most horrible
disaster in its history. Hundred Of house
holds are in mourning as the result of one
OF the greatest calamities in Pennsylvania.
The cyclone swept over the northern Sec
ton Of the city this afternoon and laid
waste everything within it's reach with
A TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE.
The lives that have been sacrificed
andthe number that have been in
jured can only be estimated. The
most reliable computation at 10 O'clock
tonight is that not less than sixty persons
have been killed outright and 100 hundred
injured. How this terrible calamity oc-
CURED is about as follows: It was raining
very hard all morning and towards noon it
ceased almost entirely and by o'clock
there was every Indication that there would
be an entire cessation of the rainstorm.
Half an hour afterwards the bright sun
made every effort to penetrate the clouds.
TintS of a rainbow were seen in the east
ern sky. Itportended a beautiful sunset.
There was clear sky overhead. This
continued for half an hour longer, then the
scene changed with suddenness that was
appalling. Fleecy clouds gave way to
ominous signs Of the coming Storm. Dark,
heavy banks of clouds marshalled them
selves towards town and soon a gloom
seemed to have settled over the city.
There was stiffness as of coming danger
then the wind whistled, r0ared and tore in
mad confusion. Storm clouds grew heav-
ier still and louder roared the wind. In
the western sky the storm was seen ap-
preaching with laundering noise. The
swath it cut was narrow but its effect was
terrible. Persons residing along the track
of the storm say they saw the first signs of
danger in a funnel shaped maelstrom
which seemed to gather up everything
within it's reach and cast it right and left
Out in the country houses and barns were
unroofed, farm Outbuildings were over
turned, crops rooted up and destruction
spread in every direction. The destructive
element was not more than 200 feet wide
and it is lucky that it only touched the
suburbs OF the city. Coming from the west
it passed along the north side of Reading,
First it touched the Mount Penn stove
tta <>E %l
was struck and portion of the roof was
cut off as nicely as if done with
PAIR OF SCISSORS.
Then the storm cloud scurred across
across some fields; took off a portion of the
roof of j. 81. Steinberg's rolling mills and a
number Of dwellings were urrooted as
readily as if their tin roofs were paper.
The storm then hurried across the prop
erty of the Reading railroad company and
crossed the railroad. Here passenger car
was standing. This was overturned as
splinters catered in every direction. In
the meanwhile the rain poured down in
torrents and the atmosphere became heavy
and oppressive and it was almost as dark
as night. Directly on one side OF the track
of the Reading railroad was situated the
paint shops Of the company. It was one
story building about go by $50
employed in painting passenger cars.
There were eight or nine Of these cars in
the building. They were built at the CON-
pany's shops in this city at cost of $4,000
each. The building was struck squareiy
in the middle and the bricks scattered
about as if they were playthings. The
men were buried under the debris. some
Of the bricks were carried away.
The chamber of each of the passenger