The Republican journal., 1899-07-27
A Tornado at First Hand.
Personal Experiences and Observations OF
~ Missouri Authof.

Personal Experiences and Observations of
" Missouri Author.
Gin the Whirl of the Tornado" is the
title under which John r. Musick des-
cribes, in the August Century, personal
experience at his home in Missouri, last
spring.
To stand quietly for even ten seconds
and watch the rapid approach of inevita-
Bile doom, to look utterly helpless into the
face of devouring monster, and specu-
late on the chances of being swept into
eternity, is enough to turn white the hair
of youth. Old soldiers-veterans of two
wars and heroes of scores of battles
assert that they would rather storm we'll
defended fort, or lead forlorn hope,
than meet one Of those monsters Of the
air inaccurately spoken OF in the United
States as cyclones.
1t was my good or ill fortune to be an
eye witness Of one of the devastating tor
nadoes that often sweep American soil.
About half-pas six on the forenoon of
April 27, $780, left my house in Kinks
vile, Missouri, to post some letters. The
day had been rather remarkable, alternat-
ing between suffocating heat and the chill
illness of early spring. Dense black clouds
occasionally rolled across the saffron sky,
and showers of rain alternated with bursts
of sunshine, while the winds had been
capricious, at times bowling in gusts and
gales, to be followed by a dead calm. 1t
needed no barometer TO indicate an i'm
pending atmospheric disturbance, for
every one could feel it.
At the time | started from my house a
gentle shower was falling, and | took my
umbrella with me. AS l stepped from
the west door upon the veranda, con-
tinuous roaring off to the southwest burst
on my ears, and my house being on high
ground, | had an excellent view in that
direction.
In the southwest, at the extreme limit
of my vision, hung a lowering, dark
cloud, from which occasional peals of
thunder issued. Just below the cloud,
seeming to rest upon the earth, was a
whrling monster of vapor, dust, and
smoke, coming apparently toward me,
with an incessant and steadily increasing
| roar. The first appearance was that of
huge locomotive emitting black smoke
and steam, and coming at a tremendous
speed. The tornado seemed suddenly to
tear itself loose from the black storm
cloud and to advance at increased speed,
rotating from right to left.
At the same moment | discovered that
the course of the tornado was changed,
and that it was sweeping in a northeastly
direction through what is known as
Fibles Addition to the city. | ran east
in the direction of the tornado. 1t had
now grown to such gigantic proportions
that it seemed to extend from the zenith
to the farthest limit of the eastern hori-
zon. When it struck the densely popula-
NJ E1Nf+ |, No Il,
ing and tearing of houses was added to
that incessant rumbiing and roaring, max
ing an awful sound which swelled in vol
ume until the earth trembled beneath our
feet. The air was filled with flying debris.
Doors, shutters, roofs, and even whole
houses were sent soaring and whirling to a
height of three or four hundred feet. I
saw the wheel of a wagon or carriage and
the bodies of two persons flying up into
the storm cloud. One house was lifted
upward to a height of over one hundred
feet, when it seemed to explode into a
thousand fragments, which went soaring,
whrling, and mingling with the other de-
briS.
On it swept in the answering north
east course, great black monster, OBJ
securing the eastern sky; a raging, baleful
thing; a hateful, devouring devil, tearing
up houses to their foundation stones, roar
ing rumbling, crashing, laundering in its
awful rage, and yet the most terrifying
spectacle man ever gazed upon, until it
swept out of sight, leaving a path of
smoking ruins in its wake. -. =.
An old man was found dead or the
wreck, clutching his pocket book, in
which were nine hundred dollars. His
wife, who lay dead at his side, had
twenty five hundred dollars sewed mp in
the skirt of her dress. A woman was
found dead, holding in her arms hel dead
child. Another was found dead, holding
in her arms an uninjured infant, and
when the men who found these removed
the boards and timbers covering them, the
babe looked up and smiled as if grateful
to it's deliverers.
Or