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1873 Tornado
THE TORNADO IN
WATERTOWN
Watertown
Democrat, 07 19 1873
If the
people did not get up much of an excitement here on the 4th of July, the unruly elements did.
The
morning dawned tolerably fair, with only a few floating clouds in the sky. Though no general arrangements had been made
for an extensive celebration, still there was to be an assemblage and
proceedings on the Sharpshooters' grounds,
and the Fire Department was to parade in full
dress.
About
9 o'clock the inhabitants of the surrounding towns began to arrive, and by 10,
when the signs of the coming storm first appeared formidable, the streets were
full of men, women and children moving restlessly about trying to see what was
going on. A little before 11, the black
and flying clouds commenced rolling and lowering, the rain to pour in torrents,
and the wind to blow violently from the northwest, swaying and whirling around
the tops of forests, prostrating fences, and beating to the ground the grass,
grain, and in some instances, fruit and shade trees. The thunder and lighting
were not unusually severe or startling, but there were dense and blinding waves
or gusts of mist stirring in advance, enveloping and shrouding everything.
The
streets and roads were quickly cleared and deserted by a lively scramble for
shelter. The tornado fiercely flew
across the river, striking the corner of Smith
& Bennett's Machine Shop (editor’s note: sw
corner First and Wisconsin; same as 600 S First) in the First ward, tearing off
the roof and carrying beams, rafters, boards and the long, wide and heavy
strips of sheet-iron with which it was conveyed two or three blocks away,
before they fell on the earth. The
smoke-pipe on the engine house, in the rear, was also blown over. Nearly the whole roof, on both sides, was
lifted up and borne away on the wings of the tempest. The tall smoke-stack on Mr. L. Doering's flouring mill (note: Louis Doering,
proprietor, Eagle Mill, S First, between Western and Milwaukee), which was
fastened on one side to the roof of the machine shop, was blown over and in one
place separated. It can be easily
restored to its position.
The
piles of lumber around Mr. O'Mayer’s carpenter shop
(note: Christian Mayer, near First and Milwaukee), nearby, were scattered about
in all sorts of confusion, but no loss, except picking up the boards, will be
sustained.
The
hurricane pursued its course, dashing across Mr. S. Baird’s garden (note:
Samuel Baird, lawyer, sw corner Second and
Wisconsin), knocking down one apple tree, and covering the ground with dying
boughs, when a little beyond it came in contact with the tall and stately
cottonwood trees in front of Mr. J. B. Gillett’s lot, on Second street (note:
James B Gillett, cooper, nw corner Second and
Milwaukee), and in a moment's time it twisted and snapped off the largest
branches, strewing the road, walks, and the yards of Mr. F. Miller’s (note:
Frederick Miller, e s Second between Wisconsin and Milwaukee) and Mr. C.
Daniel’s dwellings opposite, with a thick covering of huge stems and
foliage. Two or three of Mr. Gillett's
largest trees were so completely stripped and demolished, that little more than
bare trunks are left standing. Onward
the whirlwind rushed, turning swiftly on its axis - for it went with a
revolving motion - snatching away here and there the leaves and limbs from the
shade trees in it pathway, until it reached Mr. J. T. Moak’s
residence (note: s e corner Fourth and Milwaukee), where it broke off one good
sized soft maple on the sidewalk, and another hard maple in the yard. The blast slightly raised the roof of the St. Paul Depot building, but it fell
back to its place without doing much harm beyond loosening a few bricks and
brackets.
In the
Seventh ward, the roof of the brick house belonging to Mr. Michael Krakow, was
raised from the walls into the air, carried across the road and dropped into
the middle of a rye field four or five rods distant, shattered and smashed into
pieces.
In Mr.
John Richards’ grove, a German Sunday School Picnic was being held. A crowd of parents, teachers and pupils had
gathered together, and were enjoying themselves finely, when all at once the
heavens were darkened, the rain descended, branches flew through the air, and
trees came crashing to the earth. The
party hurried from the woods into the middle of the road for safety, where they
shiveringly endured, "the pelting of the pitiless
storm," until its fury was spent.
They were a disappointed looking set of pleasure-seekers, their
cheerfulness all gone, their fresh wreaths of blooming flowers drooping, their
gay dresses soaked and dripping wet, but in these respects they were no worse
off than many others, caught in a similar dilemma on our glorious anniversary
of liberty -- the 97th this year, we believe.
These
are the main incidents of devastation in the progress of the gale through the
city. Everywhere trees, shrubbery,
sheds, and chimneys were more or less damaged, and no doubt in the more open
country where it extended and had freer play, grain, com and grass fields have
been injured.
The unroofing of the machine shop, at this busy season, is a
serious delay and embarrassment to its enterprising and meritorious owners,
Messrs. Smith & Bennett, who were actively engaged in finishing several
threshing machines, and making other implements, which they manufacture. On Saturday morning, however, they were vigorously
at work to repair, as soon as possible, the damage their building had
suffered. In a few days they will be in
a better condition than before to carry on their operations, though at a
considerable outlay.
This
was the fiercest tornado recently experienced in this region. The old settlers tell us that some
twenty-five years ago, a destroying whirlwind commenced in the town of
Farmington, and spreading about a mile in width; swept with resistless rapidity
through the town of Ixonia, uprooting the forests, hurling away fences,
overturning buildings, and carrying ruin and havoc along its entire course,
until its rage was exhausted. This
summer, so far, these dreaded and mysterious land cyclones have been frequent
in the west. Ours was slight in comparison
with others that have desolated portions of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and
Nebraska, but it was sufficiently awful and threatening to give us a vivid idea
of the mighty but concealed power residing in these sudden and unaccountable
commotions of the elements.
We
know not by what means they collect and combine their wild, gigantic,
overwhelming strength -- how they form, concentrate and evolve their vast,
impelling energy -- whence they come or whither they go -- sometimes suddenly
bursting out of an apparently calm atmosphere, ravaging a region, and then
sinking back into repose, leaving behind as traces of their angry presence and
lurid passage only wreck and calamity -- but we do know it is best to keep out
of their way if we can, and that they are capable of inflicting the most
fearful disasters and terrific losses on man and his works. Life and property,
homes and temples, the labor of ages and the monuments of art often perish or
vanish at the dissolving tough of theses titanic agencies of nature.
Cross
references:
July
20, 1898 / A Bounteous Fall of Rain
We
were blessed with a bounteous fall of rain yesterday afternoon and evening,
something that the growing crops and vegetation generally was greatly in need
of. In some unaccountable manner a
report reached Milwaukee, and was liberally distributed from there, to the
effect THAT WATERTOWN HAD BEEN VISITED
BY A CYCLONE and great damage done.
The report was a canard of the first order, for the storm was certainly
not destructive, but on the contrary a great blessing. The Milwaukee Journal last evening, under flaring
headlines, had pretty much of our city destroyed by wind. WR
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin