

NCE 



lEntered at the Posi -Office o£ New York, N.Y., as Second-Class Matter.] 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



Eighth Year. 

 Vol. XVI. No. 390. 



NEW YORK, July (25,' 1890. 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 3.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES SINCE 1872. 



A GOOD many rather imperfect lists have been published 

 from time to time, vphich have not had sufficient care mani- 

 fested in their collation. There are several peculiar difficulties 

 which one meets in this work. For example: each of three 

 different men at three towns makes a report of a tornado, 

 presumably in the town. One makes the property loss |25,- 

 000, and the number of killed, 8; while the second makes 

 these 1100,000 and 9, and the third $200,000 and 12, respec- 

 tively. Fortunately a request was made for the names of 

 the persons killed, and it was found that 8 of them were the 

 same in all three reports, showing that the same tornado had 

 been described. It would have been a very easy matter to 

 have considered the loss of life 29, and of property $325,000, 

 if these had been regarded as different. In another case 

 there were found four tornado lists, two of them containing 

 over 2,000 in each list. One of theise was given as occurring 

 near Erie, Penn., on July 26, 1875, in the afternoon. The 

 condition before the storm was "very sultry," and after it, 

 "chilly;" the destructive winds had a motion fi.rst from 

 "south-west," then "north-west, west, and north;" while the 

 rain was given as falling "after" the tornado. One hundred 

 and thirty-four lives were lost, and property valued at §500,- 

 000 was destroyed. This whole account was so circumstan- 

 tial and straightforward, that it was very remarkable to find 

 no mention of such a destructive storm in the Weather Review. 

 After a search of a good many days, it was at last found 

 that this loss of life and property occurred from a flood near 

 Pittsburgh, Penn., on July 26, 1874. 



The Weather Review has been appealed to in determining 

 what storms should go into the list below, as it does not ap- 

 pear probable that any notable tornado would be overlooked 

 in that. The criterion for destructiveness has been not en- 

 tirely the loss to structures, but the violence of the storm, 

 the loss of life, etc., have entered into the estimate. It is 

 not expected that this list will prove entirely satisfactory : 

 in fact, it has already been changed slightly since its first 

 preparation in June, 1889. The utmost pains have been 

 taken to make it reliable, and, if there has been any error, 

 it has been in the line of allowing too much loss rather than 

 too little in any individual case. 



(1) Nov.. 22, 1874. Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Ala. (scale 



3). — Struck the town at 6 p.m. ; nearly half the town 

 of 1,400 inhabitants destroyed; 10 persons killed, and 

 30 wounded; 100 buildings damaged or destroyed; 

 loss, $100,000 (estimated). 



(2) May 6, 1876. Chicago, Cook County, 111. (scale 3i.— 



Moved from south-west to north- east, accompanied by 



rain, thunder, and lightning; bounding like a ball, 

 it apparently reached the ground but two or three 

 times; loss, $250,000. 



(3) June 4, 1877. Mount Carmel, Wabash County, 111. 



(scale 3-|-). — 200 to 400 feet wide; great destruction 

 of property; 16 killed, 100 wounded: loss, $400,000. 



(4) July 7, 1877. Pensaukee, Oconto County, Wis. (scale 



3). — Moved from north-west to southeast, lasting 

 about 2 minutes; 8 killed, many wounded; loss, 



$300,000. 



(5) June 1, 1878. Richmond, Ray County, Mo. (scale 3). — 



Entered the town at 4.5 p.m. from the south, sweeping 

 every thing clean ; heavy sills 18 inches square and 

 16 feet long were swept away ; path through the city 

 750 feet wide and 1 mile long, in which space not a 

 single house was left; 13 killed, 70 wounded; 100 

 buildings damaged or destroyed; loss, $100,000 (esti- 

 mated). 



(6) Aug. 9, 1878. Wallingford, New Haven County, Conn. 



(scale 3-}-). — At 5.45 p.m. a dark cloud approached 

 from the west; "electricity of the most terrific kind 

 filled the air;" "straight rods of fire came down from 

 the sides of the cloud to the earth ; the debris of 

 houses was scattered along in parallel lines, as though 

 a mighty river had passed; the greatest destruction 

 occurred in a path 400 feet wide and half a mile long; 

 34 killed, 70 wounded; 40 dwellings, 50 barns, 1 

 church, and 1 schoolhouse were destroyed or badly 

 damaged; loss, $200,000. 



(7) April 14, 1879. Collinsville, Madison County, lU. (scale 



3 — ). — Struck town at 2.45 p.m. ; nearly every grave- 

 stone in cemetery was levelled; 1 killed, several 

 wounded; 60 buildings destroyed; loss, $50,000. 



(8) April 16, 1879. Walterboro, Colleton County, S.C. 



(scale 3). — Rainfall after tornado, which struck at 

 3.45 P.M., was unprecedented; wind on north side 

 had a downward crushing tendency, on the south 

 side an upward lifting action ; 4 people saw balls of 

 lightning running along the ground; 16 killed; 50 

 buildings destroyed; loss, $200,000. 



(9) March 4, 1880. Indianapolis, Marion County. Ind. 



(scale 3 — ). — Moved from south-west to north-east 

 with a zigzag course through the city; loss, SlOO.OOO. 



(10) April 18, 1880. Fayetteville, Washington County, 



Ark. (scale 3).— Struck town at 8.30 P.M. ; not a build- 

 ing escaped in its path, 90 feet wide, through the 



