Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-07-18
The Dreadful Cyclone.

Dispatches from st. Paul, Mimi,
tell the following heartrending story
of another great calamity:
A terrific cyclone, appalling in its
death dealing violence, hurled itself
like a twisting, .hrieking monster
over this section of the country Sun
day afternoon, and what were then
veritable flower gardens, waving grain
fields and pretty villages are now a
chaotic mass of ruins, strewn with
dead and dying and re echoing with
walls of despair.
How many persisted in the path of
the awful storm is not definitely
known, but when the returns are all
in the number, from present indica-
tions, will mount high up in the
hundreds. At the summer resort at
White Bear lake, Coleman's lake and
Lake Joanna the rage OF the angry
tornado was frightful, and hundred
victims are believed to have perish
ed
The storm tract was fourteen miles
long, and in the region swept for that
distance nothing remains standing.
The storm caught the excursion boat
Sea Wing, a small steamer with a
barge attached, in the middle of Lake
Pepin, with nearly two hundred souls
aboard. AS the little boat slowly
struggled to the north the wind bore
her toward the Wisconsin shore, and
as the clouds grew ominously black.
suggestions came to return to port,
but the Captain thought the storm
could be weathered Suddenly the
tempest descended. 1t was not a tor
nado, but fierce, straightaway wind
that piled the waves mountain high
and rent the forest Oh shore with a
portentous crush that carried dismay
to the crowded boat and barge. AT
the same time pelting shower of
hail began beating mercilessiy upon
the unprotected crowd in the barge
and driving the party on the steam er
to the seclusion of the cabin.
By some fatal error the cabin doors
were locked, and the affrighted
women and children were left TO
their fate. The storm rose with
greater power and the wind gained
force every second, but the crowd
stood pale and silent until suddenly a
voice broke out:
We're lostn'
1t came from pilot, and seemed to
break the spell The scene that fol-
lowed was one of frenzy, fear, and
despair. Cries, sobs, and shrieks
broke from every part of the boat and
by common impulse men and women
sank to their knees and prayed
aloud. The Captain was now
thoroughly alarmed, and committed a
blunder that cost many lives. The
Wisconsin shore was close at hand,
and he directed the pilot to run for it
and beach the boat. The pilot pro-
tested, and the Captain was induced
to cut loose the floating barge. An
order was given to put the women
aboard the barge, but in the excite
ment it was unheeded. The rope
was cut and the barge drifted rapidly
away and grounded. Thirty men
and women were aboard and were
saved.
Released from the weight OF the
barge. the Sea Wing tossed about like
cookie shell, and her head could not
be kept to the wind. Run for the
shore" commanded the Captain. The
moment the bow was turned toward
the east the wind caught the craft
amidships and whirled it clear around.
1t righted and seemed safe, but even
the bowling OF the storm was lost in
the wild and despairing shrieks that
| came from the doomed passengers.
Women chung to each other and to
their children, and the shril treble
of their cries and lamentations went
out and mingled with the deep dia-
pason of the wind, that was now blow
ing hurricane.
Men on the upper deck could scarce
ly hang on, and two women had their
exhausted hold torn away and were
swept off into the boiling waters
astern. A little lull came, and then q
wilder burst of the storm. The bow
of the Sea Wing was lifted into the
air. The broadside of the vessel
caught the force of the gale, and the
boat was lifted almost bodily out of
the water, turned over, and then
dashed down into the river. The up
per works were smashed to splinters
and crushed beneath the weight of
the hull, which was raised above the
river. Scores of women and children
sent up last agonizing shrek of ter.
ror and despair as they were hurled
into the water, the greater portion OF
them being carried underneath by
the suction. The water about the
capsized boat was soon dotted with
the heads of the stronger swimmers,
and in few moments some twenty
five or more were safely lodged on the
upturned bottom. Those first gain
ing temporary place Of safety assisted
the others in climbing up the slip.
perry surface, and in ten minutes all
the human beings in sight of the poor
creatures were on the boat and adding
their efforts to the united cry for help
from the shore.
Tba furv of tho stnr,n WAS soon