616 Tornadoes of Kansas and Missouri, [September, 
The Irving tornado had its origin probably as far west as 
Ellsworth county, Kansas, and crossed the Saline river at 
the mouth of Twelve-Mile Creek, where it did its first 
damage. It travelled in a north-east direction, through 
Lincoln, Ottawa, Clay, Riley, Marshall, Nemaha, and Brown 
counties, and passed into Richardson county, Nebraska. 
The same general storm touched Cawker City and Beloit, 
Mitchell county, Kansas, at about 2.30 p.m., unroofing at 
the latter place the tent of a circus which was in full blast, 
blowing down a number of houses, and twisting large trees 
in pieces as it passed down the Solomon river ; this storm 
being, perhaps, an outlier or feeder of the main tornado. 
The Irving tornado passed about four miles south of Delphos, 
which has since been almost destroyed by another tornado, 
June 9, 1879. 
After passing the Solomon river, the Irving tornado 
seemed to increase in violence and destrudtiveness. Some 
describe its appearance in its approach as “ cloudy pillars ” 
resembling smoke, afterward assuming an inky blackness, 
all rolling, dashing, and clashing with each other, as if 
engaged in a furious battle. The tornado struck Stockdale, 
Riley county, doing some damage, whence it passed on, 
crossing the Blue river, lifting all the water out of the bed 
of the stream, and scooping the water, it is said, out of a 
well. 
The people at Irving saw, just before 5 p.m., a dark mass 
of clouds gathering south-east of the town. A deep roar 
was heard, when the clouds began to lower and spin like a 
top, advancing upon the town and destroying one small 
house in the outskirts. This seemed to be a prelude, fol- 
lowed by a calm. Suddenly the heavens turned a greenish 
hue, and, with an awful roar, the tornado burst upon 
them, leaving the southern portion of the town a mass of 
ruins. 
The tornado then swept onward, with a path from one- 
half to three-fourths of a mile in width, and when within 
two miles of Frankfort it passed up the west fork of the 
Vermillion river, in a north and north-east direction, a 
distance of fifteen miles, near Axtell, where it turned again 
upon its normal path and passed on near Sabetha, and into 
Richardson county, Nebraska. About fifty houses were 
blown down in the vicinity of Frankfort, and fifty families 
left destitute. 
During the passage of the tornado neighbouring towns 
received more or less damage. Vermillion suffered slightly, 
some of the houses being started from their foundations. 
