Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-07-30
SWEPT BY AWFUL. STORM.
Much Ruin Wrought Last Evening In the
Vicinity Of PlttSburs.
FIFTEEN COAL MINERS DROWNED.
The List of Those Killed and
Injured.

lnJGF6Os
Pittsburg, Pa, July %. The fuii
extent Of the damage wrought by last
nights hurricane was not known till
daylight. when rack and ruin was
apparent on all sides. Steeples were
blown from churches and adjoining
buildings crushed, houses were up-
roofed and trees were broken off and,
in some cases, torn up by the roots,
while the havoc caused BY the heary
rainfall of last week was repeated.
with many outlying districts to hear
from, the result was two lives lost, SO
persons injured and property damaged
10 the extent Of sl06, O00 The list Of
killed aud injured, as far as reported,
is as follows;
Dead-Jacob Affelter. aged 50 years,
and John Figus. aged 22.
Sendtz and family Of six, A. al.
Bennett and two children, George
Miller, Thomas O'Connor, Jacob
Metz. Charles Cosaick. Harry Haddel,
Henderson Richie, Sidney Gebhart
and Will Parenjtt. Twelve others were
slightly hurt by lightning shocks or
flying articles
Three meteorological records were
broken yesterday. The Thermometer
mum point for the year. The rainfall
years, over third Of an inch Of rain
falling in that time. yeritable cold
wave passed over the city during the
ct In -,
fell from 80 to III degrees and then
went back TO s4. The sudden change
caused, to certain extent, the
electrical display that continued with
out intermission until midnight. After
an hour s'jntermjssiop the storm broke
out again, but the force OF it seemed
to be in the country districts back of
the South Side hills.
Reports coming in at a late hour con
taineu the information that much
damage had been done by Lightning
and an exceptionally heavy downpour
OF rain. This storm crossed Silvor
Lake and the dam, unable to stand
the strain of the flood behind 1t. gave
way. turning Finley's Hollow into q
raging torrent and swelling Negley's
Run into river.
az bfduuoCh udii huufu 10 Iub
damage and when the hurricane
reached Turtle Creek it assumed the
awful proportions of cyclone, doing
untold damage. In the oil fields der,
ricks were blown down, particularly in
O'Hara township. Sewiokley. Cora,
opolis, Bellvue and McKee's Rocks
suffered severely.
The damage to property is general
and various. The wind nnroofed dozens
OF houses, while others were damaged
by water washing their foundations
away. Still others were struck by
lightning. The traction lines, as
usuaul, were compelled to suspend
operations. Great heaps OF dirt and
debris from the previous floods, piled
near the tracks, were washed down
again and the only lines which escaped
serious delays were those on the South
Side. In the Penn avenue mill dis
trict two large smoke and draft stacks
were blown down, buildings we're un-
rooted, trees were uprooted and scarcely
a house passed through the storm in
tIt
Butler got repetition OF the storm
Of July 10th and persons who suffered
property loss on that occasion had the
same experience yesterday. The East
End got its first herd touches of the
year. Trees aud telegraph poles went
down under the wind. Fences and out
buildings were destroyed and large
buildings suffered the loss of roofs and
windows
FIFTEEN MINERS DROWNED.
During the storm a boarding house
near Cecil, Washington county, was
washed away and the occupants, Is
coal miners, were drowned. The men
were all foreigners and were employed
in the mines Of W. P. Rend, near Me-
Donald. The house stood on the banks
of Painters Run. The water rose
rapidly and swept the structure from
its foundations, carrying 1t down
stream. Five bodies have been re-
covered.
dispatch received from Cecil at
noon says seven bodies have been re-
covered and eight are still missing.
This unfortunates were not all foreign
ers, as at first reported. Among the
bodies that have been recovered are
those of Higgins Wilkinson, Mrs. Nc
Kenney, the keeper of the boarding
house. James Mckenpey, Jennie Holmes
and an unknown man.
Pittsburg, Pa, July 20. Tales of
death and devastation from the awful
storm which swept over Western
Pennsylvania Monday night, continue
to pour in. Four more drownings are
reported and another victim Of the
Sugar Grove accident is not expected
to survive the day. This will make
the death list 10, including the seven