Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-10-01
TORNADO

:IOKNADO
Continued From First Page
found in trees and underbrush
200 yards from where the home
had stood.
Searchers earlier found the
bodies of Erving Morris, sr.,
seen rushing into the house
just before it was blown to bits;
his wife Frances, 40; their
son James, 10, and daughter
Ruby, IS.
Other victims in the same
household were Frances Gene
We've Morris, 10. the wife Of
Erving Morris. jr.;; their
18-month-old daughter Peggy
Jean and 7-month-old son
Michael; George Morris, 40,
q brother of Erving Morris.
ST., and Wilmer Morris, Is, a
cousin.
81 Chimney Kills Woman
Another victim was Mrs.
Raymond c. Bruce, 46, who
was. killed when the chimney
of her home toppled a hundred
yards distant from the Morris
home. %
In the University of Virginia
Hospital at Charlottesville were
another Morris daughter,
Frances Ann Morris, S, who
suffered a punctured trachea,
in fair condition; a son. Her.
bert Morris, 8, head cuts and
possible internal injuries; ErV-
ing, Morris, jr., fractured left
afM and fibs.I S
Persons in the area believed
they already had experienced
the force of Hurricane Oracle
when the big blow came. Two
hours earlier a smaller wind
hit Ivy, knocking down trees,
cutting off electric power and
flooding roads.
But the crueleSt stroke came
when the twisting force, not
uncommon in a hurricane con-
dition, roared in.
Raymond Bruce, who had re-
turned to his home sadly today
to, collect what possessions he
could, told of the moment. dis
aster struck.
Sounded Like Train"
IT was standing on the
porch," he said, when I heard
q big wind sounding like
E-z-z-z-z. Soon it sounded like
O train roaring through the
orchard.
.'I went into the house and
Joined my wife, sitting near a
hue. I saw Erving Morris run
ming toward his house, then the
roof started coming of my
boise. The roof went up about
60syards.
s@~Then the chimney came
down. Some of it fell on my
leg, but more of it hit my wife
than me. She died in the hos
pItal."
1.-TWO sons Of the Bruces were
ilicky. One, Claude Bruce, IS,
was uninjured in a rear bed
room. Another son, Leroy
Bruce. "a. was in Richmond at
the time. j.
'sMr. Bruce was treated at the
Charlottesville Hospital and
released. 4
80 Bodies in Debris e.
There are four houses strung
dong one side of the road, g.
miles west Of Charlottesville, on
the orchard farm of w. E.
LAndsay.
s~Dne of them was the Morris
Nome. When the first Of eight
afabulances finally reached the
scene, rescuers found nothing
bat debris and bodies scattered
oyer a 400-yard area.
%The flooding was so bad from
the binding rain that, ambu-
laices were pushed through
iAId holes by hand.
: Boards were driven through
what remained Of the family
car. Some bodies we're found
ahuarter of a mile across the
Ipad, in a maze Of twisted and
ten trees. Dead chickens lay
around the farmyard. This
morning rescuers encountered
the inevitable mewing cat.
several Of the dead were
blown about $50 yards away
tosthe home of Mr.. and Mrs.
Robert Bruce. This home was
completely lifted of. its foun-
cation and strewn over a 100
yaFd area.
Eortunately, Mr.. and Mrs.
BlaIce and their daughter Jean
Gere away from home.
80
Furniture Smashed
lit was hard to find q recog-
6zable. apiece of furniture at
The Morris or either Bruce
r3srne. At the Raymond Bruce
home, q doll, its head missing,
lay in the twisted wreckage.
Tia tornado's force was