Destruction

The indications of a storm yesterday were not particularly noticeable until 10 o'clock, when, with startling suddenness, heavy black clouds gathered in the west, south, and north. It soon became dark as night — so dark that one could not see to read in a car or room. The roar of the coming storm was simply deafening. The falling trees, flying fences, branches, and the trembling grain, before the storm reached one, constituted a scene that was well calculated to startle the strongest nerves. The terrible roaring could have been heard for miles. Nothing like it was ever before heard in this part of the country. The rain did not seem like any other storm that we ever beheld; it was more like water rushing over a precipice. It came in great sheets, and when near the earth the wind caught them and hurled them in wild, maddened confusion. How anything could live under the pelting of such rain and that terrible tornado will always remain a mystery to us. But we must not waste time in preliminaries.

Up to this time we have only heard of the storm's ravages from Green Lake and Hartford, in Green Lake county. It took in the whole of Fond du Lac county, being over twenty-five miles, but was much severer in some places than others. The chief force of the storm seemed to be on a strip of country reaching from Green Lake to ten miles east of Fond du Lac, and ranged from four to ten miles in width.

The destruction along the track of the severest portion of the storm is very great. Houses and barns in large numbers were injured. We run no risk in saying that no less than one hundred and fifty barns were more or less injured in the western part of the county. Miles upon miles of fence were blown away. Thousands of trees between here and Ripon were uprooted, and as many more were broken off, some about the middle and others near the branches or the roots. In some groves nearly all the trees were blown down. A large proportion of the farm houses west of us were surrounded by shade trees; the tornado blew or tore up by the roots many of these trees, and in many instances threw them upon the dwellings. By this means many dwellings were injured, some slightly, some seriously.

The grain was whipped to the ground as [...]. It may be too early to give a safe opinion.

The towns of Rosendale, Ripon, a part of Eldorado, Springvale, part of Lamartine, part of Oakfield, and part of Fond du Lac, in the western and southwestern part of this county, suffered severely in damage to barns, dwellings, fences, grain and forest. We cannot pretend to give individual losses at this time, for the number is too great. We shall give particulars as fast as we get them.

The terrible storm struck the city about twenty minutes past ten, and with great fury. Men rushed to their homes that they might be present to allay the fears of their families. Everybody sought shelter with all possible haste. There is not a street in the city without its blown-down tree. Not less than two thousand trees were blown down within the city limits. But the damage to the trees is not the most serious, though that is very great.

The Hope Mission church, on Hickory street, owned by the Presbyterians, was about the first structure injured. Half of the roof of the building was blown off and carried some distance. The building was lifted from its foundation and carried about fifteen feet, coming to rest with a corner resting on the fence.

Mr. J. Williams' new house, on the corner of Blakey and West Division streets, was blown from its foundation, and damage done to a considerable extent. Trees blown down from elsewhere made large holes in the roof. Williams' loss will reach $900.

A dwelling on Butler street, belonging to [...] Fritz and occupied by [...] M. Marshall, was lifted from its foundation, moved about five feet and left in a partly tipped-over condition.

Many other buildings in the extreme western part of the city were moved, and a few barns and smaller structures were blown down and shattered to pieces.

U. K. Moore's two buildings on West Division street, the first on the left hand side of the bridge, were torn from their foundations and set down in the mud and dirty water. Both of these were occupied by families. The furniture, dishes, etc., were badly smashed.

The next to feel the fury of the destructive element was the Millers' elevator. Nearly all the roof was taken off, giving the pouring rain a chance to reach the wheat. The damage to the Millers' elevator will not fall short of $1,000, and it may be more; just how seriously the grain is damaged is not yet known.

The smoke-stack at the La Belle works was thrown down, and that and a considerable share of the roofing, wadded in all shapes, sat in Forest street, near the bridge.

The damage to those works is quite serious, aside from the loss of the roofing.

The barn on Hon. Edward Pier's farm, just south of the city limits, was lifted up and partially turned around. This is one of the strongest barns in the county, and is the same one that was unroofed and moved from its foundation in 1840. The head stones and some trees in the family burying ground on Mr. Pier's farm were blown down.

Col. G. K. Pier's horse and carriage barn was unroofed. His woodshed and farm workshop, 20x30, was blown away. Many of his fruit trees and considerable fence was laid low.

All kinds of grain is down. All over the town are buildings that were destroyed or injured.