The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-04-05
DrMouRAT LOGAN ONO, SATURDAYS 1890.
mo building ,en Amerc handful of these c.

l
capped.
| On the same floor, Humboldt Lodge No. 1a6,
T. o. O, F. had gathered there being eighteen
| members In tho room. Bnt few OF these are
| alive, and the few who escaped are badly hurt.
A. j. Reed, Past Grand Master, I. o. o. f., OF
| the State was visitor at the Humboldt Lodge
meeting and was one to get on. alive. He was
! taken to the home OF John Blaes, on Twelfth
\ street. between Main and Market, where ho
was seen. 1.-THE meeting was just ndjourning,
and 1 was entering the hallway" said he,
| when the tornado struck the building Mt the
southeast corner.
| 'rrhere were several crashes and the structure
began to rock, whereupon the men and women
from the knights OF Honor meeting began pour
ing out OF their lodge room adjoining, shrieking
In terror. 1t was only for amoment though, for
the building collapsed, and found myself on
top of the great pile. was stunned and blind
| ed by the dust, but recovered myself and
| crawled out. The agonizing shrieks of others
we're terrible. was finally taken away by n
rescung party"
OF those in attendance at the meeting of Odd
Fellows IL is not known that any escaped.
Neither is 1t known how many we're present. 1t
is the lack OF such information as this that
makes 1t impossible to estimate the number OF
dead
The hat store of Louis Simms jr., adjoining
! the hall on the east. was utterly demolished.
Sfmms was not injured, but his wife was badly
hurt, while two young children lived but few
moments after being recovered, and two others
were taken out dead. As the children
were carried down the ragged pile by
stalwart men, in the light from big
bontlres, cheer after cheer went up
from the crowd OF watchers. They were
found within half an hour of each other, but
meanwhile the agonized father ran wildly about
begging the workers to save his little darlings.
| When the third one was lifted out, the father
ran up the pile and grasping the chds bare
IL, tfc 10 fact nra
| cold" and his anguish was heartrending.
The immensity OF the calamity ut this place
| made IL stand out from the surrounding chaos
and attracted attention at once. There was
| soon crowd of volunteer workers on hand, and
| quite number OF living and dead were recov-
| cred at once. Bonfres were lighted. tho
wreckage being used for this purpose. and made
the scene plain rs II 1t had been day. Dead
| and wounded were taken to the various places
across the street, the lower floors of which were
untouched. The Falls City hall was complete
| wreck, showing pile of brick, mortar and lath
| thirty feet high.
| Although. there was no head to the force at
| work. the men went ahead with energy and did
| heroic work. Smoke was issuing from the pile
and when an access into the center was opened
up by the removal of lot OF brick, the air
| rushed in creating n draught that famed the
smoldering fire into the flames, and in five min
| utes the whole top of the debris was burning
| tcrcely.
1t drove the women away and the shrieks Of
| the imprisoned were so terrible that the people
about were almost driven wild at their inability
| to do anything. Six lines of hose were quickly
brought and the water subdued the flames in
fifteen minutes. The work was then contin-
ued but under greater difficulties owing to the
heat.
Next to the Falls City Hall, interest centcrs
around the st. Johns Episcopal Church and
rectory. West Jefferson street, opposite Baxter
Park. 1t was impossible at the limited time at
commend to follow up the path OF the tornado
further south. In West jefferson street IL had
come tearing through the beautiful Park
square, uprooting trees, oyerturning fountains,
and dashing full into the face of the beautiful
church that lowered pro:ectingy above the rec
tory. Both were in the trough OF the storm and
both are dismantled wrecks. The rector. Rev.
:. T. Barnwell. had concluded the evening fam
lily service and all had retired to their sleeping
apartments. The following story is had from
one Of those rescued from the house:
THE rector and u little son were in the front
room on the second floor, and Mrs. Bnrnwell
and the Two other children were in the next
room back. The wife was very much alarmed,
and exclaimed: LYDIA, we are all going to be
killed. Then the awful roar came. There was
a crash, and down they all went in the debris.
Mrs Barnwcl and the servant were clinging
TO each other for protection. and were unhurt,
except for few scratches and their fright. The
youngest child was only n few feet away from
them, also unhurt. They had no time to look
for the husband and father. Flames were nj.
ready shooting up, and they supposed the father
and other two children had also escaped, AS
nothing was to be seen OF them. In few min
utes young Middleton Barnwell was seen max
ing his way down the pile of debris, also un-
hurt
by this time the flames were raging, and the
lremen had all they could do to keep them from
spreading. They were not finally checked until
there was almost nothing left to feed upon.
Meantime the fate of the faithful rector was
more and more in doubt. and finally it dawned
upon the willing workers as certainty that he
and his boy were in the ruins. They had been
seen TO start back tort four-vear-old son,
Dudley, named after Bishop Dudley, and the
father, true to his instinct OF fatherhood was,
after several hours OF anxious searching, found
charred almost beyond recognition beside the
young boy whose life he attempted so inenoct
ually to save
Another distressing accident took place at
the corner OF Sixteenth and Magazine streets,
where a most horrible cremation of the bodies
of three men occurred The building is occu-
pied as a grocery, with bar in the rear. The vic.
tins were in the bar room. The following ac-
count Of The awful affair is given by the propric
tor OF the place:
AT $40 o'clock we heard a terrible roar and
tearing sound, and then the house rocked back
and forth. Ben Schildt had just said thar he
was going home but he had scarcely said it
caught. tried 10 open IT, but could not. My
wife and children screamed, but ran safely out
the back way, but they had scarcely
gone out before that part of the house
was down. We tried the windows, but
just then the floor fell in. and Schdt,
sullivan and Dcemer went through To
the cellar. 1 clung to the side OF the house. and
escaped through broken window with the Two
other men. The screams OF The men were ter
rible TO hear as they were held in by the roof
and the building rapidly blazed and burnt. They
cried for help, but we could do nothing. We
tried, but II was IN vain. and crushed and man
ged they burnt TO death before our eyes. They
were soon burned 10 death and their horri-
BILE cries for help were stopped, but IL was Ter.
rible"
1t was three hours before the fire was stopped
and the wreck cleared away sufficiently 10 get
at the three men, and so black and charrcd
were they that their parents and brothers and
sisters could not identify them.
Next perhaps in magnitude and awfulncss is |
the wreck OF the cigar store, barroom and |
building OF Virgil Wright, adjoining The Louis. |
vile Hotel on the west The catas strophc pre-. |
cipitated itself upon the place with terrific |
force, and actually crushed II against The heavy
walls OF the.hote building Three men and Ave |
women were killed, but there was no fire to add |
TO the horror of the calamity.
Mr. Wright the proprietor. escaped The |
female victims were laundry girls at the Louis |
Vile Hotel, who lived on the second floor of the |
destroyed building. The men were. with the |
exception OF the bar.keeper. customers, one o: |
whom had but Just entered and bought ana |
lighted cigar. He C.. II Hathaway