The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-03-27
Bounding Like a Ball.
A Cyclonic Wind Strikes Au-
gusta Several Blows.

tulo I1OiolhS U0eo vac 'ioAtNN "
the most destructive wind storm or
cyclone since 1878. The cyclone
came from the southwest with but
little warning, and in less tl.au a
minute had passed over the city into
South Carolina.
In it's track there lay destruction,
and houses were utterly wiped from
their foundations and sent in all
directions over housetops that were
not touched by the bounding circular
wind. Strange to say there were no
fatalities, though in many instances
roofs were carried away while the
occupants were left unhurt.
The majority of the houses ruined
were small one-story ones, as the Sec
ton of the city over which the
cyclone passed is that for the most
part inhabited by the poorer class of
whites and negroes. The path of
the cyclone is about a mile in length
fsom the first place it struck to where
it finally rose and passed over. The
path was in the shape of an u.s." and
the cyclone struck about every
quarter of a mile, making four
descents and rebounds, but the
second one was perhaps the worst.
This was on GWynette Street, be-
tween Eighth and Ninth Streets.
The first two houses blown down
were two small ones On the outskirts
of the city. The cyclone then rose
and came down again on Gwynette
Street. The house Of Willie Sims,
the great cclored jockey, which is a
rather ~pretentious one, was the first
to suffer 1t was twisted about and
the chimneys carried away, doors
blown from their hinges and window
sashes forced in. Across the street
five small houses were so completely
demolished that there was no trace
of them except a few bricks from the
chimneys and foundation posts. A
square further, at the corner of Sum-
mer and Eighth Streets, a small
house had the entire end taken out,
leaving the interior exposed like a
scene in a theatre. Persons were in
the house at the time eating
breakfast, but they escaped unhurt.
Outhouses in the yards were lifted
and carried off several squares.
Three hundred yards further OF is
situated the large -four mill Of Miller
& Co. 1t is an enormous four-story
building, covered entirely with sheet
iron. While the mill was not hurt
by the wind itself, it proved a target
for the flying bricks, shingles and
rafters from the ruined houses. A
small clubhouse from a yard a quarter
of a mile away came %sailine through
J the air and struck the side of the
mill. The force of the missile shat
tered the iron, and the little house
was driven into the side of the larger
one. Scantlings and boards also
pierced the iron sides of the mill
till it had the appearance of a
frontier fort after an attack by
Indians.
In front of Miller & Co.'s mill an
electric light pole was blown down
and the wires were crossed will tele-
phone wires, which grounded and
struck a mule, instantly killing him.
Several hundred yards further to the
northeast the wind came down again
and demolished one-half of the
round house Of the Central Railroad.
One of the locomotives in the shop
at the time was badly damaged, and
the tin roof of the remaining portion
of the building was stripped like an
orange peel The roof of the
Perkins Manufacturing Co. was also
carried away. Across Calhoun
Street from this two small houses
were demolished On Fenwick
Street, near the Southern Railway
yard, a house in which FIVE people
were was blown away, leaving moth
ing but the flooring, and yet no II
was hurt.
In all, about forty houses were
badly damaged, and twenty utterly
destroyed. The loss is variously
estimated, but it is conservatively
placed at 10000.
Augusta seems to be the only
place struck by the wind. Persons
who saw it say it looked like a whirl-
wind, and that it rose and fell like a
rubber ball. The noise was like that
of many freight trains running over a
long bridge. The width of the path
was not over fifty yards.
The great cyclone of 1873 passed
over part of the territory covered by
this, but did far greater damage.
Perhaps seventy-five people were
rendered homeless by this mornings
wind The State