The sun., 1899-08-03
TORNADO HITS ELIZABETH.
1000 O-FOOT-WIDE TRACK FILLED
WITH WRECKAGE


-,, s., A.
i"f
Two i"o"' 'eu NN""S an" 'iany
Houses DamaRed-Graves Uncovered by
the Uprooting of Trees. and Telegraph
and Telopboue Wires Torn Dovp-No,v
~ E.o,,.. h,t ~, m. ,,,
ELIZABETH. N. j.. Aug. "A tornado swept
into the southwestern corner OF this city at two
minutes past O'Clock this afternoon. moved
along path l,OOO feet wide in northcasterly
direction. bowled down three church steeples.
swept away portions OF the roofs Of two thea
tres. twisted one house quarter way around
on it's foundation. uprooted trees and laid bare
the bones ot skeletons In one churehyard did
about Sl5Q,OOu worth OF damage and passed
out at the northeast corner OF the town. still
looking for new towns to conquer SO fierce
storm Is not recalled by the oldest inhabitant,
and yet. with all the damage 1t did. not single
life was lost. and so far as reported up to a late
hor this evening no one was injured.
At 2:45 o'clock there was hardly cloud in
the sky to obscure the midsummer sun. At
2:55 o'clock. on TO the southwest OF the city.
small black cloud was seen. Five minutes later
the cloud. moving toward the northeast, had
expanded itself 80 thatth sun face was hidden
and twilight came over the city. Two minutes
after this everybody In the vicinity Of Broad.
Jersey. Jefferson. catherine anG William streets
and Madison avenue knew that tornado had
struck tho town. Everything movable was
n;.ht. 1s,. .i. a Wv anu sec',ohs
OF things ordinarily stationary were picked up
in the teeth Of the wind and scattered hither and
Won ,,ong tbs D,tb which II mad. tor ;toI,
Jon ai1ns .ne pa.n "n.n =, liaue ior i,sei.
me FIRST Fresovterian Chureh stands on the
street The church in some form or another.
tion Around the original structure w years. 1,Ju aro
was bull, the present brick edisce. tbovs ,bo
@ or e 'front.' end OF the cSrcb
OS Proad nsh
of this church. the tornado struck the
stseple Just above the belfry. The motorman
otatrolley car which was passing at the time
says that the steeple swayed from north to
south moment and then toppled over. At
900 o,.,ool, a. ~, III. a., - nv
S'oZ oock' tne hour oelnG nxed by dozen
merchants in the vicinity OF the church. It COL
~. d "',D .d..toninaah 100, Vi 'ini-
oels anu ueu,ehins crash
church s,sanIs succsssIon -, ~. ,"ins ol ens
i.,.'H heard from many parts Of the town. Super.
ne N4d tho come hs More ORE folk
town had been swept away 1 in the % pa.S s,S
of the storm. Yet no one cared to
venture out TO- ascertain the extent of the
0 on As the oses OF the Tnd subsded
had ths been seen for many year while the roar
Wind and the noise Of the falling buildings;
tbsn IN inc ram came nrst M IN great drops and
% sme 05 sa s s'sd Gny shGr she
sun sun was SHINING again. After the storm was
Sst eyer y Tas 81 stated at the local weather bureau
n,a soc soon as stizens thoyght /, safe to venture
eo nd out s' !hat aH mae 2Sd
Gseh ISS done tS great mass Of wooden timbers
First PresSSteran churah s TSsst safS wss 81 'hH h
" %hG ,bs Should ba know said that hundred feet
ue uieh cnurcn edlnce Is the churehyard. filled
marx the ana 1ba Which
The ehIurehySrd presented an uncanny sight
a5 Sop.s ss hsa
rbbai55ssetly Directly oPpo2sits the church Is The LyGenm
9 ss F2S % R .aes
sssst: ss. at the corner Of East Jersey street and
The roof OVER whaf stafuS 'ne e1,s Sfar dheetre;
S try fhd about half rrnG the main roof
oa.en 'nio rrrntaIe wore rlpPeu OH, carried
az. aSS.oss mcoster street ana deposited at
ne ,he entrance to the Central Baptist Church on
t the east sde OF Jefferson street; good por-
SnrSb TSn ot the vest side OF the Central Baptist
SnuIcn was damaged: and almost at the same
moment that the roof OF the theatre struck tho
,ch enu.ch tho storm struck the church
splre ana toppled it over into East
CbSrcyb s,res we IhS r99t OF the nave Of Christ
SnutGGn ,G was carried on ana the nat roof OF the
stteepie 10 tho Third Presbyt ter an Church was
Ipp lI,ppeu up carrying 700 feet along and across
Jersey street and deposited in front Of the
mouse OF Mrs. Hess. All OF these buildings
M nao thelr interiors seriously damaged by rain
aitet me roofs were torn of.
,Lea'lhg the churches and the theatres the
uprooted an3 oihorHteu hrht Mauisoh avenue Mtn
struck William street. Here It played
all kinds Of pranks with the houses. Patrick
CIarks barn was blown into smithereens.
and ". F. Huey's house was lifted from its
foundation and twisted a Quarter way around
More than dozen houses In this section Of the
town were unroofed and otherwise DAMAGED
more careful examination Of the wreck
made at the First Presbyteri.n Chnrch
showed that the weather yane at the ton
street and into A teIs1ranb nole Wbspe