Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-07-28
LEFT IL In RUINS.
The Cyclone Swoops Down on
an Eastern Town.
TWO SCORE OF DEAD AND INJURED.

Eight Killed Outright, One Fatally Hurt
and Many Others Less Severely Wound
ed-A Path 200 Feet Wide and Mile
Long Strewn with Wrecked Homes,
and 500 People Left Homeless-The Suf-
fersrs Principally Working Peopie-An
Idaho Town Wiped Out by Fire.
LAWRENCE, Mass, July % A cyclone
eaualing in destructive power those so
frequently reported from western COM
munities visited the suburb of South Law
renee at about 9:l5 o'clock Saturday fore
noon, and in fifteen minutes had killed
eight people, seriously injured from fif-
teen to twenty, slightly injured at least
twenty more, cut swath through a
thickly populated section 200 feet wide
and mile long, rendered 500 people home
less, destroyed or greatly damaged from
seventy-fve to 100 buildings, and entailed
a loss of at least 500. 600, all of which was
uninsured against damage by wind and
storm.
just Missed the Crowded Mills.
South Lawrence is a busy railroad juno
ton, and is occupied mainly by well-to-do
mechanics. The northern boundary of the
belt of destruction was but three streets
south of the lofty mills with their busy
throngs of thousands of workers, showing
| how narrow was the escape from more
appalling loss of life and property. 1t was
n veritable dog day. The air was hot and
| humid. Dark clouds scurried westerly
| through the heavens with an intermittent
rain Suddenly the wind veered to the
| west, an inky- black, coal-like cloud eemed
to drop from the cumulous mass hanging
in the southwest, and moving rapidly with
awful aspect toward the city.
| The Onslaught of the Tempest.
1t was accompanied by torrents of rain.
| In an instant the crash came. Buildings
were crushed like egg shells. Some were
lifted from their foundations and dashed
to pieces. Othere We're tipped over or
blown from their positions and more or
less damaged The air was filled with
flying debris. Most of those who met
death in the wreck were killed instant ly.
Many lay unconscious in the ruins of
their homes, groaning.
Work of the Wild Wind.
/ The cyclone demolished everything in
its course. In Union square over 500 trees
| were leveled. On Emmett street the wind
lifted house belonging to Thomas Evans
and threw il INTO the road-a complete
wreck Mr.. Evans wife and baby were
in the house at the time, but escaped with
out injury. One house was occupied by
James Lyons and family. On the ap-
proach of the storm Mr.. Lyons rushed
into the house, seized the baby from his
wife's arms and fed to the street Both
man and child escaped, but the dead body
of Mrs. Lyons was subsequently taken
} from the ruins.
: Working People the Sufferers.
Innumerabie instances of loss of life or
remarkable escapes occurred. The occu-
pants of the ruined houses were mostly
hard working mechanics and laborers
whose homes represented life time of
toll. The engineer on the $50 express
! from Boston saw the cyclone as he was
nearing South Lawrence and stopped his
train, thus probably saving the lives OF
his passengers. as his train was due In
South Lawrence about the time the cy-
I clone struck. A slight fire started in one
of the houses, but was promptly extin-
guished. But for the heavy rain fire
would undoubtedly have added to the
horror of the scene.
Names of the Eight Dead.
The following is list of the dead:
Michael Higgins aged So; Mrs. Mary
| O'Connell, aged "a; Miss Mary O'Connell,
aged II; Mrs. Elizabeth Collins; Annie
Collins, aged 6; Hannah Beattie, aged 9;
} Mrs Mary Lyons, and Helen Cutler.
Il The Most Seriously Hurt.
Most of the injured were taken to pri
waite houses but a number were conveyed
: 10 the hospital. The worst injured are as
follows: Andrew Hart, will probably die
, | Patrick Nugent cut on cheek; Lizzie
ellsworth, badly bruised; Bridget McDer-
mott, scalp wound; Mrs Campbell, LAGER
ated wrist; Mrs. Merriman, scalp wound
Ora Morgan internal injuries; Jimmie and
Minnie Mclaughlin, badly bruised; Mrs
Thibault, lacerated arm; Lizzie Morrissey
spine injured.
How One Man Found His Wife.
One man, who owned Il house a short
distance east of South Lawrence, hurried
home when he heard OF the storm to find
his place. His house had been blown oyeI
to the east, and while the leeward side
was all damned together the windward
front was lifted up fully ten feet in the
air. Fire was already beginning to blaze
among the ruins. He forced his way
through the timbers to his sitting room,
and there on the floor, under the piano, he
{ found his wife. A pile of bricks was OF
, top of the piano. At one end of the in.
strument was a big stick of timber; at the
other was all the flooring OF the room
above. But the piano legs were big
and strong. They held up under all the
pressure, and his wife twas rescued aliv,
> and well.
Singular Feature of the Storm.
What seemed singular about the cyclone
was the fact that some of the oldest anC
, most rotten houses stood the gale well
i while new blocks of brick and wood fel
! in masses of ruins. Houses which still
stand have all lost shutters, chimneys o.
[ windows. As soon as the agents of tn,
mills learned of the catastrophe they di
rected their carpenters, mechanics anC
other male employees who could be spared
TO repair to the scene with saws. axes ant
bars to assist in removing debris. Thu
work of the storm was so severe tina
streets in several places are impassabl'
for teams and even for pedestrians.
wIpEn OIlT RX FIRE