Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-07-07

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 whirling monster of va
por, dust and smoke, coming apparent
ly toward me with an incessant and
steadily increasing roar The first APP
pearance was that Of a huge locomo-
tive emitting black smoke and steam,
and coming at tremendous speed.
The tornado seemed suddenly to tear
itself loose from the black storm
cloud and to advance at an increas-
ing speed, rotating from right to left.
quickly entered the house, call
ing to my wife and children to fly for
their lives. My youngest daughter,
aged 16, had gone to the second story
to secure some windows, and, evil
IDENTITY alarmed at my call, was for
moment dumfounded with fear.
Bounding up the stairway l met her
coming down, and my wife took her
and our eldest daughter into the yard
west of the house, where they sought
safety behind some cedars.
Having placed them in what l
thought the most secure place avail
able, l once more turned my attention
TO the storm, which l found much
nearer. The great funnel-shaped
cloud, expanding and extending up
into the vault of heaven, seemed to
extend over the entire eastern no.
rizon. 1t was a dark, steamy cloud,
from which were emitted evanescent
flashes of electric light.
My next care was for my mother
and two sisters, one Of whom were
blind. Their cottage is on the same
street, just opposite my own house,
AS l started across the street l shout
ed to a neighbor, who, with his wife
and child, stood motionless on the
veranda, calling to them to fly for
their lives. By this time the tornado
was so near and its roar so loud that
my voice could not be heard, though
they saw my frantic gestures.
In the west wing of my mother
cottage were north and south Win
dows, and l could see her standing
quietly at the south window, gazing
in awe and silence upon the fearful
phenomenon, so terrible in its splen-
dor that she was spellbound and inca
pable of motion. l shouted as 1 ran,
but my calls were undecided. She
stood like a marble statue, her slight
form and white hair silhouetted in the
dull gray twilight that enveloped the
scene, while the roaring, expanding
monster continually was drawing near
er and nearer.
Suddenly there came a report as If
shell had exploded at the window.
The noise broke the spell which
chained her to the spot, and with my
sister and a servant girl she ran from
the house.
All that | have described could not
have occupied more than 10 or 10
seconds. The street is only 60 feet
wide, and l was but half way across
when the report came from the cot
tage. At the same moment l dis
covered that the course of the lorna
do had changed and that it was sweep
ing in northeastern direction through
what is known as Fible's Addition to
the city. Fibles Addition is built up
chiefly with frame houses, one or
two stories in height, which are oc-
curi,u mainly by students, laborers
and small merchants. \ large brick
building stands just southeast of the
addition and to the east of the storm
path, while the North Missouri State
Normal school building is just beyond
the western limit l knew that at this
hour nearly all the people would be
at home at supper and the tornado
would burst on them without a mo-
ment's warning. a great crushing
feeling of horror and grief supplant-
ed the awful dread that only Il mo-
ment before had stilled my heart.
Shouting to my wife that we were
safe and directing her to telephone
for surgeons l ran east in the direc-
ton of the tornado. 1t had now grown
to such gigantic proportions that it
seemed to extend from the zenith to
the furthest limit Of the eastern no.
riZon. When it struck the densely
populated part of the city the con-
tinual crashing and tearing of houses
was added to that inceSsant rumbling
and roaring, making an awful sound.
which swelled in volume 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 Il height of 800 or 400 feet. l saw
the wheel of a wagon or carriage
flying up into the storm cloud. One
house was lifted upward to height of
more than 100 feet. when it seemed
to explode into thousand fragments,
which went soaring, whirling and
mingling with the other debris.
The wind two blocks away as it
crossed our street pulled down cedar
tree in my front lawn and a huge
plate glass of the house adjoining
was burst outward by the pressure of
the air within and shattered into Il
hundred fragments. During the few
seconds that the tornado took in
crossing our street no one WAS in sight
and continued my flight toward the
scene of disaster without meeting or
seeing any one.
ON it swept in its unswevcring
northeast course. Il great black mons
ter 0bScuring the eastern sky: Il rag
ing. baleful thing; Il hateful. devour-
ing demon tearing up houses to their
foundation stones. roaring. rumbling,
rushing. laundering in its awful rage.
the most terrifying spectacle man ever
"aZed upon, until it swept out of
sight. leaving path of smoking ruins
in its wake.
About 80 minutes after the tornado"
had swept over the city. Il black.
angry cloud rose in the west and