Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-29
WIND AND .WASH0UTS
Terrorize the, People Of Two States,
Doing Enormous Damage.
NEWARK VISITED BY A TORNADO
Cloud Bursts Carry Away Dwellings and
Destroy Railr- ads.
NARROW ESCAPES AND LOSS OF LIFE

O'Clock this afternoon, coming with fright
full velocity and without warning. The roof
of three-story building on the corner of
Bowery. and Lexington streets was torn
from its fastenings and whirled skyward
nearly 200 feet, doing considerable damage
by its fall.
The storm came up from the Southwest at
time when the sky was clear, with few
| light, gauzy clouds. One cloud somewhat
dense and dark came sailing along from the
direct: on in which the wind was blowing,
| and descended on the southeast section of
the city.
At Chestnut street it crossed the Pennsyl
vania Railroad tracks and first struck the
| Tomlinson Company's Spring Works,
smashing the two-inch thick glass skylights
and picking up heavy gate in the yard,
hurling it through the air.
.; THE STORM CLOUD LIFTS
Then the blast made a skip and did not
| alight again until 1t reached Oliver street.
| Facing it was an untenanted long three
story brick building, formerly used for
leather manufacture. First the wooden
| steps went flying, being torn to splinters
Then the brick front, for a width of 80 feet,
went in like an eggshell. After the brick
| AiVhb uOmu luC DldSb SUb uuuCi thO
| roof lifting it up and throwing it down
upon Reuben Trier's leather factory. The
| second floor was ripped up, wrenched away
and laid upon the wreck of the roof The
| tornado then wended its way to Passaic
| avenue, Bowery and Gross streets, below
| jackson street, cadsing skylghts and shut
ters to fly through the air.
AT first the wind was not heavier than
that which usually accompanies a thunder
storm, but ten seconds later the volume was
more terrific and swept over that section of
the city with force enough to tear off the
tin roofs like sheets OF paper, Bowery and
Gross streets are strewn with debris
Several persons were struck by flying
debris, but so far no fatal cases are reported.
The tornado covered a space about q mile
and quarter long and an eighth of mile
wide. No estimate of the damage has yet
been made. >'-.
wAsHoUTs IN NEW YORK.
From various parts of New York State
comes news of disastrous cloudbursts. A
dispatch from Berlin, N. Y, says: A cloud
burst over this town and the town of Pc
tersburg last night, which was followed by
flood that did damage unparalleled in this
vicinity. The rain fell steadily all day but
at clock in the afternoon the water fell
in torrents, lasting about an hour. Had
the disaster occurred after the people had
gene to bed, the loss of life would have
been awful. As it was, the wife of Thomas
Taylor was drowned in her home in sight of
her husband, who was outside bnt could not
get through the current to save her.
James Smith was found dead, standing in
mud up to his neck, horribly mangled, about
half mile from a barn in which he was last
seen alive.
The Lebanon Springs Railroad, between
here and Petersburg, about five miles, is
washed away into the meadows for many
rods. A large railroad bridge is also gone,
besides score or more of highway bridges.
The residence Of Charles Park was turned
upside down. The entire family was absent
at campmeeting.
PART OF A VILLAGE DESTROYED.
Part of; the village of Peterborough,
lying near Little Hoosick river, is completely
wsecked. A score of residences and work.
shops are washed from their foundations,
and large quantity of personal property
has been destroyed The loss to property
in that village will reach not less than $25,-
600.
The south-bound mail train on the Leb.
anon Springs Railroad left Petersburg
about s o'clock. After running about |
mile it came upon flooded tracks and was |
promptly run back to the station. Scarcely |
had it backed to place of safety before the |
entire roadbed in front of it, with the track |
for several rods, was washed away.
The loss in crops will be very serious |
matter. 1t is thought here that railroad |
communication to points north will not be |
resumed for several weeks.
A cloudburst occurred on the mountains |
surrounding Sand Lake at 2 P. NJ yesterday |
and extended over half mile of territory. |
The dotrn in farri6n h1ipdipnv /
sheets, and continued for several hours.
The mountain streams were soon like |
rivers, and rushed down the hillsides and |
emptied into Glass House Lake, with a roar
that drowned the noise of the thunder.
The lake soon overfowed its banks and
rushed over the new dam down into the
valley below. Everything was carried be-
fore the raging torrent. Whole orchards
were uprooted, barns and houses swept
away and carried from half to q mile
down the stream, which was fully half a
mile wide and 20 feet deep. The hotel
stable and glasshouse were swept away from
their foundations, and four horses were
drowned. Many dwellings were carried
away, the inmates barely escaping with
their lives. ~.
TWO DAMS GIVE WAY
The dam at Kaine's Mill was nearly all
swept away at the first approach of the tor
rent, and big corner of the mill was taken
from its foundation and carried away. Fif.
teen thousand dollars worth of made-up
wooden goods were soaked with the muddy
water entailing a loss of at least half that
amount
The next dam, several hundred feet below,
withstood the pressure for seven hours,
when, at 9 o'clock, it, too, gave way with a
terrific roar. The water poured through the
mill windows that had heen thrown omen for |
that purpose. 1t is believed that lives have
been lost. Three iron bridges were swept
away after the dam gave way, and were car
ried several hundred feet down the stream.
In the valley of Lebanon Springs Rail-
road the storm was equally extensive, and
at Berlin houses were washed away and
Miss Addie Taylor aged 90, and Charles
Smith, a boy. were drowned. Travel on the |
Springs Railroad was completely
by the washout, and it is feared
cannot be resumed within q week. The
Hudson and Hoosick rivers are very high,
and in the vicinity of Hoosick Falls many
ruined by the overfowing of mountain
streams A man named McChesney was
drowned at Peestenkill.
Owing to blockade of the New York
Central track near Albany, caused by a
washout, through trains of that road are run
over the West Shore to-day,
WILD ALARM AT BENNINGTON.
A dispatch from Bennington, VT, says
Yesterdays rains raised Walloomsae river
10 that at midnight Bennington people
we're called out of bed by the fire alarm
bells to find the streets flooded and danger
threatening on every hand. An exciting
night ensued, but fortunately the damage is
reduced to the minimum as no dams gave