Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-07-20
SUMNER IN THE MOUNTAINS.

T. j. Moran Tells of Terrific Tornado
In the Adirondack.
In a letter to a friend, School Clerk
T. ]. Moran, who is spending his vaca
ton in the Adirondack mountains,
writes:
SARANAC LAKE, \. ", July 10, 1898.
l arrived at the Rustic Lodge at p
IN. Thursday, after three days tiresome
journey. The day was beautiful and
the sail on the lake in the steamer Sara
nae was grand. The Rustic Lodge is an
old hotel, built years ago out of logs, and
is one OF the few places left to show the
people coming to the mountains what
kind of hotels they had years ago 1t il
situated on upper Saranac lake and
commands beautiful view of the lake.
Yesterday morning was bright and
clear but about noon it began to rain "a
little and the wind began to blow.
/ was busy writing a letter and when
| descended to the front veranda | found
| all of the guests assent led there with
| an anxious look upon their faces. The
guests stopping at the cottages a short
distance from the hotel. and those
living in tents had come to the hotel for
shelter. About AIS the tornado struck
us with all its force. We were right il
line of it. The wind blew a terrific gale
taking everything in its path. The roof
/ and front veranda were carried dis.
lance of thirty feet. and when you un
derstand that the beams and pillars OF
the front porch were heavy pine logs
weighing over 300 pounds each, YOU car
realize the force of the wind. The hal
stones were something wonderful. We
found one after the storm and il
measured four inches one way. saw
cat leave the porch to escape the hail
stones and the wind picked the poOI
thing up and carried her | know MOI
where. Chairs were carried from the
porch a distance of fifty feet and LANDED
in trees. l stood under the verands
until the biggest part of it had blown
away, and had much difficulty il
making my way to the rear of the
hotel.
| When the storm was at its height the
steamer Saranac was trying to max,
dock, but it was impossible to land il
such storm SO they dropped anchor
but no anchor could hold boat in tn,
gale and the vessel drifted toward tn,
rock. A part of the time we could Sc,
her from the hotel and then again thu
rain and hallstones were so thick it wa
impossible to see the boat. The seen,
on board as described by one of tn
passengers was awful. There wer
three ladies and five men on board an,
it was a sad sight to see the ladies faint
ing and praying Great credit is du
the captain for the skillful manner il
which he handled the steamer and pre-
vented her from going on the rocks.
The storm lasted twenty minutes an
one of the guides, Nate Woods, who ha
lived here forty-six years, says never il
, his time did he ever see anything like it
The hotel is a wreck. Most of tn
rooms were destroyed by water
the windows were nearly all broken an
, after the roof had blown off the raj
went down through the rooms. l wa
very fortunate as my room did not ge
; wet. The rear of the hotel was nc
damaged much so the guests were trans
! ferred to that portion and carpenters ar
at work on the roof now repairing il
After the storm had ceased we wen
into the woods to see the tall pine
which had been blown down. 1t wa
wonderful to think tree measuring fou
and six feet through the center wer
snapped off and others pulled out by tn
roots. Several were struck by light
ming. There was very little damag
9 done anywhere on the lake except here
have often read of tornados and hav
seen some few hailstones, but neve
E have witnessed such a thing before"
1 T. J. MORAN.