Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-24
9TH INSTAlLMENT

~ n INS INIL"GNI
Thursday Morning, May &c, 1852
Since the last issue we have received
full accounts Of the terrific storm which
recently passed over the western and
southwestern portion Of our district.
In every instance they confirm our
statement, and in many places the idea
we have given comes far short of the
reality. We take the following para
graph from a letter dated at Blllock's
Creek, May goth. The reader will re-
member that the storm occurred on The
18th.
Il see that you have given toler-
ably correct description Of the storm
that laid waste out section Of the coun-
try last Sunday night. You are incor-
rect, however in stating that 1t ex-
tended to the west Of Bullock's Creek
church. This locality is on the western
border Of the track, and the sufferers
are those living east Of the church. The
old lady who was killed was Mrs. Mel
ly Aloerson; and Mrs. Sarah Hender-
er, had her leg and skull broken. The
attending physician, DR.. Feemster, re-
ports that she cannot recover from her
injuries. Since the storm, it has been
raining every day, and farmers cannot
do ANYTHING toward. d.re-planting. There.
is yet plenty Of ice, in places, from one
to two feet deep"
Another correspondent from the same
section, where the tempest seemed to
have ragged most severely, writes thus
under date Of May 18th.
Yesterday evening, about 9 o'clock.
we saw a black and threatening cloud
rise in the direction Of Kings Noun
tain. 1t came rapidly in southwark
ly direction, but after time changed
it's course towards the southeast; the
in-hail-thunder and light
ming combining to make the most ter
rife spectacle I have ever seen. A
neighbor describes the roar 20 be near
er than anything else like a thousand
wagons and teams running away in g.
crowd The lightning was constant,
and the whole heavens appeared to be
an intensely burning sheet of flame.
When the cloud came overhead, it
appeared to be about mile and half
in width; though the storm spread
more moderately to width Of from
three to four miles. So rapid was It,
that in half an hour from the time the
cloud appeared, the destruction was
complete, and we could only hear the
roaring Of the elements far ahead as
their fury passed away.
"In an instant, almost, the branches
were swollen into creeks and rivers; q.
solid sheet Of water and hail covered
uplands and lowlands, and added it's
irresistible force to the power Of the
other elements. The land is washed
into gullies; the fences were all float
ed for hundreds of yards; the timber is:
strewn over the fields and forests, lit
orally stripped of foliage more COM
pletely than ever by the frosts Of win
ter for the evergreens are as bare as
ests present the appearance Of a new
ground after the timber has been dead
long enough for the leaves to drop, and
the birds to pick away the bark; and
the underground is as bare Of leaf and
bark as willow basket.
'1n the bottoms great RATS have lode;-
ed which in depth and size are to be
compared to a mansion-house. And In
these drifts, as we'll as in the bottoms
elsewhere, there remain perfect noun
tains Of hail stones; measuring in
places ten feet in depth! OF course,
the growing wheat is literally beaten
growing beautifully, almost in an in
stant present the appearance Of stub
BILE field that has been severely pastured
for month after harvest. You can see
but little sign of the straw: it is cut up
and mixed with the soil. Corn and cot
ton, too, is ruined. Passing today, you
could scarce tell what has been plant
ed in any field. The plants were all cut
down by the hail, and then washed
away.
"The section have passed over today
has thousands Of wagon-loads Of hail,
scattered in every direction; and the
appearance presented is like that Of
dead winter, when the ground is COW
cred with sleet drifted into heaps to
the depths Of q to 3 feet. l did not
measure it, but riding horse 16 hands
high, easily lifted up a handful of
hailstones without dismounting. They
were then not larger than a partridge
egg, but must have decreased in size
since falling.
"The house from which Mr.. John
Conn removed some time ago, near the
Chester line-a log building Of consid-
cradle size-was blown down upon six
persons: Mrs. Nelly Alberson, an old
lady, who was instantly killed; Mrs.
Sarah Henderson, who was dangerous
ly hurt; and her daughter, the younger
Mrs. Alberson, with her three children.
The entire family were overwhelmed
in the ruins, and how any Of them were
rescued is past my comprehension. The
parties themselves cannot explain their
escape which, as the whole house Is