Great Disasters and Horrors in the World's HistoryGodbey, Allen Howard
History
Great Disasters and Horrors in the World's History
Godbey, Allen Howard
Disasters
Passing through Louisville and crossing the river, the cyclone struck
Jeffersonville, on the Indiana side. Here, upwards of eighty houses were
seriously damaged, and quite a number totally destroyed. Two days later,
the press gave the loss at $500,000--probably a great exaggeration, as
the particulars given did not tally at all with the general statement.
Singularly enough, not a life was lost, and only one or two persons were
materially injured.
[Illustration: CORNER WALL AND FRONT STREETS, JEFFERSONVILLE.]
The damage was mostly to roofs and top-stories, and the people were
doubtless indoors and below. This, however, does not account for the
deliverance of a number of persons in buildings which were completely
destroyed. Possibly some of these may be accounted for by sudden
explosions of buildings, such as has been noticed heretofore. The
fragments would be much more apt to injure persons just outside than
those within. The largely increased percentage of damage done to roofs
and upper stories only shows how rapidly the storm was weakening. It
could not go very much farther with its devastation. The old Orphans’
Home was wrecked; one old lady injured; a pastor’s house demolished,
while two men in the upper story in some mysterious way escaped unhurt.
At the foot of Front street, a shanty occupied by a man with wife and
three children was lifted bodily and thrown into the river. The family
would have been drowned had not some car-works employes rescued them, at
the peril of their own lives. A number of guests, and some who came for
shelter, were in a house at the corner of First and Spring streets. The
shock of the tornado was followed by a hail of bricks and tumbling
walls, but no one of the entire assembly was seriously hurt.
[Illustration: WRECK AT JEFFERSONVILLE.]
The average American worships no god but Mammon. He may go to church and
bow his head to Jehovah, but it is Mammon who keeps his heart. Between
his devout amens he is thinking of the main chance. He can be converted
and made religious; it is a great deal harder to make him honest. He is
willing to sing the praises of the Lord, but he doesn’t like to foot the
bills. Amid the sorrow and bereavement of a stricken city, the American
was true to himself. Those who had lost house and friends, were asked to
pay ten dollars for a carriage in which to follow the corpse to the
grave. As about thirty victims of the storm were buried on Sunday, it
may be inferred that the carriages in each procession were none too
numerous. A sad sight was that of the four laundry girls, and the
chamber-maid, all being borne together to their long home. Hardly less
impressive was the burial at half-hour intervals of ten members of the
I. O. O. F., killed in Falls City Hall. It was a profitable day for
undertakers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account