Newspaper Extractions

     This county was visited by a cyclone about 7 o’clock Saturday evening.  So far as our present information goes the first work which it did was across the Appanoose county above Unionville where a house and barn belonging to Mr. Hicks was blown away.  Crossing into this county it tore a house and barn down for Mr. Creech and blew Mr. Morrison’s house and contents to pieces and carried them off.  Mr. Henry Bailey’s house and barn, about 1 ½ miles southwest of Drakesville were entirely torn to pieces and three members of the family were hurt.  Mr. Bailey and his family and Mr. John Rogers were in the house when the storm struck it.  Neither Mr. Bailey, Mr. Rogers nor the 14 months-old baby were injured.  A six-year-old boy received a serious wound over the right eye which cut through both eyelids and burst the eye ball.  A boy three years old received an ugly gash on the forehead and Mrs. Bailey was struck on the back of the head and otherwise bruised until she has been unconscious the greater portion of the time since the storm.  Her recovery is uncertain.  The little child was found about one hundred yards from the house under some boards but not hurt.  Continuing eastward, the storm did more or less damage until it reached Ab Downing’s farm southeast of Drakesville where window lights were blown out and the side of the house burst loose but not blown in.  At Mr. Teese’s, northwest of this city about 1 ½ miles a log barn was blown down crippling four head of horses and further east about ¼ mile Allen Berry’s house was moved off of the foundation and partially turned around, his smoke house was literally torn to pieces and carried away.  The roof was blown off of John Wishard’s barn and Clay Martin’s large barn just across Fox was unroofed, the doors were blown off of Mr. Frasier’s barn, also a corn crib and some sheds blown down on James McCuitian’s farm, and a part of the roof was taken off the barn on the old Willy farm about 5 miles east and north of the city.  Further than this we have not heard but it is believed that the force of the storm was about spent when it reached the latter point.

     All along the course of the storm a great deal of damage was done to timer, orchards and fences.  It was a genuine twister and performed the freaks ordinarily attributed to cyclones.  At Mr. Bailey’s between the house and barn a road cart was standing which had not been moved in the least while the wire fence only a few feet from it was torn away and the posts pulled up.  We count ourselves luck that the storm passed about one mile north of the city.

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      Since writing the above we are informed that the storm was much more destructive than we have indicated.  It seems to have originated near Centerville where it did some damage then going northeast it tore down three houses for the Hyatts and one for Mr. Miller before it reached the house Mr. Hicks.  After reaching this county it tore down several houses near Bunch.  A full report of which we are unable to give.  So far as we have learned there was no loss of human life.

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This storm struck the Appanoose County location of Main Station sometimes called Ray on May 6, 1894 killing the grgrgrgrandmother, Julia Sweezy McDanel, of the contributor Pat Howk.  She has the Moravia Union clippings relating the storm in that area.

Bloomfield Democrat

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