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rain, and very dark. It lasted about ten minutes, when it shifted asrain into 

 the south, (this -w^as one mile from the track of the tornado.) AVe had had two 

 or three thunder-showers in the fore part of the night, and it continued to rain 

 till morning, when we began to hear of the destruction it had made. We had 

 no rain for some time befoi'e, except a light shower the day before. The 

 tornado struck the end of a house through the middle. It then took n^ a 

 granary, with one hundred bushels of wheat and one hundred and fifty bushels 

 of oats, without spilling it, carried it sevei'al rods, and. then scattered it to the 

 four winds. It next came to a poor widow's house, which it took from thfi 

 ground and whirled it to atoms, carrying some of the timbers forty rods or 

 more. About a mile from the widow's it tore up an orchard by the roots, and 

 struck another house, which it appeared to smash to atoms on its foundation, 

 as though a great weight had fallen upon it. Some light things were carried a 

 distance of four or five miles, in a NE. direction, where it hit the agricultural 

 college and moved it several feet. From here we h»-,ard but little from it, until 

 it reached Indiana. The width of the track was about five rods.-^ — J.JE^Uswonh. 



Chester, Illinois. — A terrible tornado passed over the town of Chester about 

 2 o'clock on the morning of the 9th November, resulting in great loss of life 

 and property. Some twelve or fourteen houses were blown down and com- 

 pletely demolished, burying the sleeping inmates in the ruins. The storm 

 seems to have come from the southwest, and passed only over the southern 

 portion of the town. — Newspaper. 



Sparta, Randolph County, Illinois. — The 8lh of November, election day, 

 was very warm. Thermometer, at sunrise, 62 degrees, rising to near 80 degrees. 

 Towards sunset heav}', lowering clouds, in masses gathered, and at ] o'clock 

 a. m. of the 9th one of the most dreadful tornadoes that ever visited this section 

 of country swept over the county from southwest to northeast, levelling every- 

 thing that came in its way, trees, barns, houses, churches, killing and wounding a 

 considerable number of persons. It first, in this county, struck the steam ferry- 

 boat on the Mississippi river, at Chester, blowing all but the hull, boilers and 

 engine right up the bluff; then over the county, in the direction named, about 

 a third to hulf a mile in width, destroying and levelling everything in its course. 

 By the time it reached the central railroad its force seemed to be spent. — Wil- 

 liam Addison. 



Winnebago, Illinois. — November 9. — At 4^ p. m, the barometer, corrected, 

 stood at 28.090, the lowest observation on record at this point, being two-tenths 

 of an inch lower than on the 28th December, 1863, and nearly an inch lower 

 than its normal height at this point. 



Waverly, Illinois. — November 8. — A thunder storm set in at 5 p. m., and 

 continued with slight intermission through the night. There was not much 

 thunder, lightning, or wind, but an unusual amount of rain fell, measuring full 

 four inches. 



Tiskilwa, Illinois. — November 8. — Thunder and lightning between 6 and 

 7 o'clock this evening: in the south and southeast ; lio;htning diffuse. 



Ottawa, Illinois. — November 8. — Rain, accompanied by diffuse lightning, 

 and distant thunder. 



Ottawa, Illinois. — November 9. — This day witnessed the severest blow wc 

 remember ever having experienced in Ottawa. A storm had been raging from 

 the east until this morning, when the wind veered round to the southeast, and 

 and for four or five hours blew so strongly that a number of chimneys were 

 thrown down and other damage done. — ISewspaper. 



Sjiiceland, Indiana. — November 8. — Three inches of rain fell to-day. 

 9th. — Nearly an inch of rain fell between midnight and day, and nearly an 

 inch about noon. Instruments nearly stationary between 2 and 6 p. m. From 

 6 to 9 p. m. the barometer rose 22-hundredth3 of an inch, and the thermometer 

 fell 13 degrees. 

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