Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1890-03-30
TOLD BY TRAINMEN.

Thrilling Descriptions by Eye Witnesses
or the Disaster.
CINCINNATI, March 29.-Conductor
r. B. Holbourn, of the Louisville and
Nashville train. which arrived at l1:30,
said to 4 reporter:
All along the line coming out of
Louisville telegraph poles. wires and
timber are scattered in all directions.
At Lagrange twenty-seven III lies out
OF Louisville. much damage has been
done At Emlnence. forty miles south
east of Louisville. several persons
are killed Tie whole country coming
out OF Louisville is one mass OF mingled
poles. timber, trees and other debris.
Train 80 :, over the same road. came
in at II O'Clock brakeman &. ricketts,
and Mr.. Williams were eye witnesses OF
the terrible storm. They said:
Ome aiass oil Ruins.
1T is beyond description. The CEN
ter oil Louisville is one mass of terri ole
ruins-all is woe and horrible dis aSter.
We were in the city at the time. he
electrical display was the g:andest spec
tacle of It's kind we ever SAW. The
was Simply awtul and by the iiyhtnings
rlare we could see for Jocks. All wa,
a mass Of runs. diving IiinberS, women.
children and inc.i rI.to!n-s Tor an. OF
seeking 10 In / trends who Eerc burlru
beneath huge masses . rams.
he stor.A stfii,.ii he Gig :rcin thv
southwest and ran in n az : direction
across the city. struck the zion dep u
ami jumped the river, striking Jeiscr-
-on,il!e. AT least nine o.! tn niorkn ci
that place were dee;;ore., lie orr
.eaying Yesterday noraias At U'ciocs
sky eight bodies wero taken from
Falls City hall where there were hun
dreds of people at the time OF the ac-
cident.
Pursued an Eccentric Course.
'The most destruction took place In
the main part of the city. The west end
rame in for a bio share. The awful tor
nado did not take straight course. but
jumped up one block and down another
and here and thaie."
Port Royal. Henry county, forty miles
from Louisville. is reported as being en-
tirely demolished.
At Pendeton. thirty-three miles from
Louisville, a $4,000 insurance policy
was found hanging on a bush near the
railroad track. The policy belonged to
a man in Louisville, and had been blown
all the way from the city. All sorts OF
clothing, pieces of timber and debris O.
all sorts were scattered all along the
line. y
As Seen from Street Car.
D. L. Lockwood, baGgagemaster on
the same train, was in the tornado. |
Said he: II was riding in a street car
on jefferson street, between Seventh |
and Eighth, when the tornado struck
the car. y heavy telegraph pole was
blown across the car, MASKING 1t and
nearly killing lady passenger, whom
l carried in my arms to a place where
she could receive medical aid. | was
uniniured, but the poor Car driver was
blown away and never heard of or seen
since. 1t was an awful sight. Scores
of people were killed and everything
was one mass of ruins.
Of Unprecedented Fury.
81 was in the Kansas City tornado
several years ago." said a passenger.
"but the horrible catastrophe of Thurs
day night was the most awful thing
ever saw. l saw dozens of dead people
being taken from Falls City hall, where
perhaps 100 or more were killed. The
Union depot was completely wrecked"
Said another: "a steamboat was
bodily lifted from the river and blown
out on the land quarter of mile. The
western part of the city seems to have
got the worst Of the storm.