Decatur Daily Republican (Decatur, Illinois)
May 19  1884

THE ROARING CYCLINE

It Struck Decatur Sunday Afternoon and Caused a Big Scare

Full Details of the Damage Done – Antics of the Blow

It has long been the notion of many Decatur people that our fair city could not be assailed by a terrific cyclone, such as has caused loss of life and laid waste many unhappy towns in various parts of the country during the past few years. The fact that Decatur got a touch of a howling cyclone of the regulation funnel shape, proves that we are not exempt. It came Sunday afternoon at a few minutes past 3 o’clock, in the midst of dense darkness and driving, whirling fall of rain. Parties who were watching the gathering storm, and had the nerve to stand before the forked lightning and heavy crashes of thunder, heard the roaring noise which always precedes a cyclone, and they describe the demon of destruction as a large funnel-shaped affair, bounding and whirling 200 feet in the air as it passed quickly over the city. It struck the town at the end of West Decatur street at the Joe Foster place and continued its rapid flight northeasterly to the corner of Wood and Union Streets, when it veered to the east and went on a straight line to the corner of Wood and Water streets, half a block south of the Republican office; then dashing slightly north it passed onward over the corner of Power’s lot and over the alley between Wood and East Main streets to Priest & Co.’s mill, over the Midland depot to Cassell’s hill. Then bounding upward it went on its whizzing course to the block in the fifth ward west of the new school house shook up a few houses in the rolling mill addition, and bade the city good-bye, traveling eastward through the country at a terrific rate of speed. The time occupied in its passage over the city was less than four minutes, but that limited period seemed an age to the scores of people who knew of its coming and heard its frightful roar. The excitement among those living on the route of the cyclone was at a high pitch, and bordered on terror among the families, many of whom took to cellars for safety. Luckily, there was no loss of life, and so far as can be learned no one was injured; but there were at least two narrow escapes. Frank Cassell, engineer at the Republican office, resides at No. 1104 E. Prairie street. His wife went to the coal shed, at the rear of the lot, just before the storm came, and rather than get we she concluded to remain in the shed until the rain ceased falling. The shed is nine feet wide and eighteen feet long but has no floor. Mrs. Cassell heard the roar of the cyclone, and held fast to the closed door. In less than a second the shed was lifted bodily from its foundation and whiled from over the head of the frightened woman and landed in an adjoining lot, leaving Mrs. Cassell standing alone among the coal in a dazed condition, but without receiving the slightest injury. Frank, who witnessed the flight of the shed from a rear window of the dwelling, hurried out in the storm and assisted his wife to shelter.

At the Thomas House, on East Main street, a son of William Lake went into an out house, but hearing the uproar caused by the cyclone, he hurried out just in time to escape with his life, for in a less than a second the house was picked up and carried away fifty feet and dashed into the ravine, torn into splinters. The boy lost his hat in the blow, and got into the house without injury.

The Damage done

As stated above, the cyclone struck the city from the southwest at the end of Decatur street, but fortunately the whirling visitor roosted high, and but comparatively little damage to property was done. Joe Foster’s barn was partly destroyed and his house shaken; Mr. Whitehead’s roof was damaged slightly, and along the route to Dr. J. Brown’s residence, at the corner of South Edward and Macon streets, shade and fruit trees were more or less damaged, while weak fences toppled over. Dr. Brown’s buggy was run out of the alley by the wind and turned over into the street, but not broken. At Andrew Rothfuss; place, 305 West Wood street, a high board fence was laid low, and barns in the alley were more or less shaken. East a block, at Frank Shafler’s place, a large new chimney was knocked off the family residence, and another went down from Shafler’s tenement house adjoining, the tin roof of which was also lifted in places, and the ladders standing about went dancing about the yard. On Main street, half a block east, several shade trees were blown down, and a couple of windows in the south side of the Palace hotel were partly demolished. At Justice Albert’s place trees were stripped of branches, and small houses were tipped over. An awning in front of J. G. Starr & Son’s store, west side of the old square, was torn off. Bounding over Main street, the whirling end of the cyclone ripped about 50 feet of the tin roof off A. Culp’s wagon yard stable, blew down several sections of the high board fence and carried sections of the tin two blocks east on Wood street. At the county jail the ventilator pipe was blown off the top of the building and Sheriff Foster’s big Newfoundland dog, running about in the yard, was picked up and carried through the air a distance of 40 feet. Chimneys of J. M. Clokey’s residence near the jail were demolished, and on South Water street several shade trees were laid low. The high board fence at the southwest corner of S. Powers & Son’s stock stable lot was blown flat, and dancing over State street the cyclone blew down a corner of Allen Scott’s fence, and thence went east to Henry Hummell’s lot, where a shed adjoining a stable was shattered and the stable itself was moved from its foundations. One hundred feet east W. H. Shorb’s stable was moved several feet east on a straight line, and the roof of the dwelling house was ruffled slightly. An outhouse at the rear of the old place occupied by Mrs. E. A. Davis was dashed into the middle of the street, as was also the outhouse at the gas works. The fence at the rear of this enclosure was torn down and loose lumber scattered about. At George Priest & Co.’s Mill, the cyclone made Rome howl for a few seconds. It tore a part of the slate roof off one corner of the "Texas" top of the new mill, and jerked a wide section of the tin roof off the east end of the old warehouse building, throwing it into the street near the oil mill, besides knocking part of the fire wall off the west side of the old mill. The door of the engine room of the mill was locked and latched on the inside. The wind made a dash at this door, and shattering the lock it was burst open quick as wink. Fifty feet north of this door was another standing open and held by a 20-pound weight. This door was blown shut by the whistling wind, and the panels shattered and blown out several inches; but no damage was done to the engine that stands in the room. Pieces of the lock of the outer door were (?) inside and on the outside of (?) of the mill stood a small coal car on the narrow gauge track. The wind gave it a start and dashed it through a pair of doors which were fastened on the inside with an iron bar. The coverings of the openings in the gas works coal shed, near the mill, were blown off into the mud. There are about 10 of them, and each weighs about 40 pounds.

     Leaving the mill the cyclone tore a chimney off the Midland depot, broke the glass of a gas post standing in front of the building, lifted the roof off the temporary engine house at the coal shaft, 150 feet north of the depot, and then went howling over Cassell’s hill, where many trees were stripped of their branches and some were blown flat to the ground. No further damage was done until the whirling fiend reached the corner of East William and Illinois streets in the fifth ward, where the shingles were torn off one side of John P. Meister’s dwelling. Near by the roof of James T. Bentley’s residence was partly wrecked, the shingles of both sides being sent whirling in the air. Some of Larkin Houck’s apple trees were torn out by the roots and his fences went down. Charles R. Johnston’s residence, at 1249 East North street, was also slightly damaged. The roof of Emanuel Clatfelter’s residence, 313 North Jasper street, was torn off, part of the sheeting going with the shingles. All these people had to get old carpets and put on the roofs to keep out the rain, which went streaming through into the rooms. $100 Damage was done at Bernard Brinkman’s floral garden, corner of North and Jasper streets. The cyclone played sad havoc with the glass in the conservatory, doing damage to the extent of $100. Trees and shrubbery were torn up, fences dashed to the ground and other damage done.
     On the opposite side of the street trees were blown down in the fifth ward school house yard, and many houses in that vicinity were shaken before the cyclone went scudding out of the city toward the northeast, leaving with a snort of triumph. A wagon was blown out of a yard on North street, and J. A. Brown’s buggy went scudding about near his stable, whereat he became considerably alarmed.
     Near Priest & Co.’s mill a long section of the wooden sidewalk was lifted and thrown across the street, a distance of 40 feet. The above is about all the damage that was done within the city limits. It didn’t amount to a great deal in dollars, but our people are thankful that it was no worse, and hop that we will never again receive such a visitation.
     Just a year ago Sunday, May 18, a cyclone swept through the northwest corner of Macon county, in Austin township, and destroyed considerable property, besides injuring many persons.
     Inquiries made of farmers northeast and southwest of Decatur give the gratifying information that no damage was done by the blow in the country except to forest trees. Ald. A. N. Diehl saw the cyclone whirling 200 feet in the air over Jackson street before it reached Priest & Co.’s mill. He says it looked like a monster funnel, and that when he first saw the thing it had the top of a tree in this swinging arms. The tree top was dropped in the ravine near the mill.