Herald Of The Times

The city of New Brunswick was the scene on Friday afternoon last, of a most desolating tornado, which swept over its western section, causing much destruction of property— and, we regret to add, deprived several individuals of life. On the receipt of the intelligence here, we immediately proceeded to that place for the purpose of ascertaining the particulars of this melancholy disaster, and now present our readers with the result of our inquiries and observations:

As far as we were able to learn, the whirlwind or tornado first made its appearance with a falling of ice in the township of Amwell, near a place called Ringgold's, and taking an erratic zig-zag course, spent its fury over Staten Island, in the neighborhood of Rossville, and on the bay, by another fall of large irregular shaped pieces of ice. Its first approach to New Brunswick was from the north west, passing over Middlebush, about three miles from that place, where the dwelling and barn of John French were laid prostrate with the earth. It thence passed over the farm of David Dunn, about two miles and a half from New Brunswick, whose dwelling was unroofed, and the barn and other out-buildings were razed to the ground.— The out-houses attached to the premises of J. G. Wyckoff, in the same vicinity, were also destroyed. The next building which felt its effects, was the dwelling of Theophilus Holkham, about one mile from New Brunswick, the roof of which was blown off. The barns of James Fisher and Abraham Blauvelt, in the outskirts of the city, were next blown down, and a small dwelling belonging to Mr. Prevost was nearly destroyed, and the wife of Tunis Silcocks badly injured. The tornado had now reached the hill where, according to the New Brunswick Times, "it remained apparently fixed for a minute or two, presenting the appearance of a pillar of fire—its base resting on the earth, and its top reaching a mass of black clouds. It then took an eastern course, threatening Albany and Church streets, but suddenly changing its direction, swept across the town lot towards the dwellings of Mr. B. Myer, Mrs. Deare, Professor M'Clelland, Rev. J. Croes, L. Kirkpatrick, Esq. Mrs. Kirkpatrick, and Rev. Dr. Janeway, tearing the roofs off some, making literal wrecks of the barns and out houses, and either uprooting or twisting off the largest trees—in some instances carrying the latter twenty or thirty paces. It then crossed to the buildings at the head of Patterson, Liberty, Bayard, and Schureman st's., unroofing the house of Mrs. Harrison, levelling the store of Mr. Little, and burying beneath the falling timbers, Nicholas Booraem, Esq. and his eldest son Henry. Both were extricated a short time after—the son in a dying state, in which he lingered until 9 o'clock, when death relieved him from his sufferings—the father is not dangerously hurt.

A young lad about 8 years of age, son of Capt. Baird, was also killed near this spot, a rafter from the blacksmith's shop having struck him immediately above the eyes, and almost severed his head.—The tornado now swept with increased force across George street, down Liberty, Schureman and New streets, crossing Nelson to Burnet street, a quarter of a mile distance, down to the river, unroofing or tearing off the tops of the houses, and sweeping the lower doors and windows from their fastenings.—Schureman and Liberty from top to bottom, may be said to be a complete mass of ruins, as is likewise part of Burnet street. The Methodist Church, a brick edifice, is damaged beyond repair, having been unroofed, and the eastern and southern walls blown down; and the rear walls of the Catholic Church, also of brick, is drove into the body of the building.

The course of the tornado is accurately described above, and we now proceed to give a more particular account of the injury sustained by the principal sufferers, together with their estimated losses, and also the names of all whose property was more or less affected. [Here follows a long list of the sufferers, which we have not room to copy.] From the above details, we feel safe in stating that the number of buildings destroyed and injured, cannot fall short of one hundred and fifty, and that the loss of property may be estimated at one hundred thousand dollars.

Besides those who lost their lives, as above recorded, several persons were seriously injured, and many others slightly.

Among the extraordinary occurrences, which took place on this melancholy occasion, the fate of the son of William G. Dunham, (a small lad) was the most singular. He was taken off the Piazza of the house corner of New and George-streets, carried in the air a distance of three hundred yards, and landed on the wharf at Burnet-street, having only sustained a slight injury in one of his arms. On being questioned as to his feelings, he stated that he recollected passing through the top of a willow tree, and that the sensation produced by being carried up in the whirlwind, was like that of being pulled in contrary directions.

A bedstead was taken from the third story of a house in Schureman-street, carried a distance of two hundred yards, and landed in Burnet-street, without having sustained the slightest injury. A carpet bag and some bedding were carried from the garret of Dr. Janeway's house to the river, a distance of nearly half a mile. Some of the roofs were conveyed across the river and canal into the woods, where they were collected together by a party of Penobscot Indians, who were living there, for the purpose of erecting shanties. A cow was killed in the street, which a woman had been milking a few seconds before.

After leaving New Brunswick, the tornado passed down the river a short distance, then took a course across the river, and passing over the farm of James T. Dunn, tore up several trees by the roots, laid all his out buildings in ruins, without doing the slightest damage to his dwelling. It then passed down to the farm of Joel Randall, and carried away part of the roof and gable end of his dwelling. Thence its course was over Piscataway, a small town, containing about a dozen houses, situated two miles from New Brunswick. Here, every building except two, in the place, including the Episcopal Church, was demolished. We regret to add, that Mr. Thomas W. Harper, of New York, was killed by being struck on the head with a beam. We understand that Mr. H. had just received the deed of some property, which he had been purchasing, and that his visit to Piscataway, was for the purpose of making some arrangements respecting it.— He was a silversmith, residing at 31 Rose-street, and has left a large family.

The tornado then passed on towards Perth Amboy, where one building was destroyed, and spent its fury on Staten Island, as stated above.

Having gone through with the details of this melancholy affair, we now present our readers with the remarks of a friend who was an eye witness of the whole scene, and which will enable them to form a correct idea of this awfully sublime spectacle. He says:-

The first intimation I had of the tornado's approach, was the wind blowing in from both sides of the house, in which I was sitting.— Immediately the cry of fire was raised—I ran to the corner of the street, and perceived in a westerly direction, at about half a mile's distance, a black column moving onward, not very rapidly, which had something the appearance of a smothered fire, and was mistaken for it. I saw what it was, and ran into the house and closed all the windows, before it reached us. The whole atmosphere was filled with fragments of timber, &c.—in a moment, the house opposite, was unroofed, as if it had been covered with paper. The house in which I was, being at the edge of the current, escaped uninjured, save that a rafter from the roof of a house, about half a mile distant, thirty feet long, struck the edge of the window, tearing away the brick work and demolishing the sash, and passed into the wall of the room.

The track of the tornado, was from north-west to south-east, and from a minute investigation of its effects, does not appear to have been of the nature of a whirlwind, ordinarily so called. The violence appears to have been produced not from a whirling motion, but from two currents rushing towards each other—at the same time having an onward motion. In the centre of the track, the force appears to have been upwards, with something of a whirling movement. The facts which substantiate this opinion, are these.— In the town, wherever a building has been moved, if it was at the edge of the current, its direction was inwards; if at the centre, onwards. But these effects are more strongly marked in the woods, where the direction of almost every tree, accords with this statement—at the extreme edge, the trees are nearly at right angles with the course, sloping more as you proceed towards the centre, where there is some confusion, but the direction is almost invariably with the current.

A gentleman of our acquaintance, who happened to be in New Brunswick during the tornado, remarked to us, that previous to its commencement, the atmosphere was unusually heavy, and respiration was with the greatest oppression. There was, said he, many a mysterious dread, or supernatural feeling of something unusual about to occur.

When the intelligence of the disaster, reached Princeton, several of the Professors of the College, immediately proceeded to the scene of devastation. They made a minute examination of the spot visited by the tornado, and will doubtless furnish the public with an interesting scientific statement, on the subject of this occurrence—the like of which has never before occurred in this latitude.

As some persons may be disposed to doubt the account respecting the lad, Dunham, we will merely state, that during a whirlwind which occurred in Burgundy in 1755, the particulars of which are given by Abbe Richard, it is stated that "two men were enveloped in the whirlwind and carried to a distance, without experiencing any injury; a young shepherd was lifted high in the air, and thrown upon the banks of the river yet his fall was not violent, the whirlwind having placed him on the verge where it ceased to act." The case of the shepherd is precisely similar to that of young Dunham, and in fact the whole account of the above mentioned tornado, which took place in the town of Mirabeau, bears a surprising similarity to the one we have just related.
THE

The New Jersey Advocate, published at Rahway, twelve miles east of New Brunswick, furnishes the following particulars of the destruction occasioned by the tornado of Friday last:-

Piscataway.—The roads, fields, &c. leading from New Brunswick to the village of Piscataway (two miles from the former place,) were literally covered with fragments of boards and shingles, and on nearing the village a scene was presented which nearly baffles all attempts to describe. Houses, trees, horses, cattle, &c. lay in promiscuous heaps; the neatly painted cottage and blooming garden are now alike prostrate.

Piscataway village contained from twenty to thirty dwellings, with out-buildings, all of which, with the exception of about five or six are entirely destroyed. From the residence of Mr. Dann, through the village, the ruin and devastation are immense.

There was a vendue held at the Inn of Major James Gilman, at the time of the tornado, which had called together a number of the inhabitants; to this circumstance is attributed the saving of so many lives, which would have been lost had the workshops been occupied as usual. The appearance of the atmosphere in the direction of New Brunswick caused many to think that a fire had broken out in that city—but a few minutes had elapsed before a sudden gust told them that the besom of destruction was following in its wake. In an instant, all retired within the house, and closing the doors and windows, remained secure while the whirlwind continued on, prostrating in its course, houses, workshops, barns, sheds, trees, fences, in short, every thing expansive enough to catch the breath of the desolating leveller.

Several waggons, & other vehicles, remained at the door of the Inn, which were whirled about and injured—the horses attached were found unhurt.

The tavern house of Major Gilman received trifling injury; a barn belonging to him was blown down and five horses buried beneath the ruins; they were extricated without being materially maimed. His other out buildings were more or less injured.

We noticed several very large trees carried several yards from the spot where they were uprooted.

An orchard belonging to Major Gilman, containing about fifty thriving apple trees, is entirely laid waste, not a single tree left standing.

The Meeting House and School House are in ruins, not a vestige of them scarcely remaining to tell their former useful appropriation.

For a mile and a half from the banks of the Raritan this side of the River, towards Red Root Landing, in a straight direction about 400 yards in breadth, every thing is prostrate.

Some men at work in a field at the time, informed us that the tornado, on reaching the river, at Red Root Landing, raised the water to a considerable height, leaving the bottom of the river, for a short time, plainly visible.

A Mr. Harper, (the owner of a small farm in Piscataway,) a resident of New York, was in the road, but before he could gain a shelter, was struck on the head by a timber from the meeting house, which fractured his head to such a degree, that no hopes are entertained of his recovery. He was alive on Sunday at 4 o'clock.

Mr. Jeremiah Sofield had his leg dreadfully shattered. His daughter, Mrs. Perry, together with her husband and child, on hearing the roaring of the tempest, hastened from their dwelling to seek, as they thought, a safer shelter, but ere they reached the field Mrs. Perry received a blow from a falling tree which broke her arm and mangled her side.—Mr. Perry and his son were carried some distance in the air, but sustained trifling injury.

The following farther particulars are from the Gazette of this morning:-

We regret the necessity of being compelled to record more disasters caused by the tornado which produced such dreadful havoc at New Brunswick.—A gentleman arrived yesterday from Gravel Hill, Warren county, N. J., informs us that it passed within a mile and a half of that place on Friday afternoon, about half-past 5 o'clock, prostrating every thing in its course. He says, that when first seen there appeared to be two currents of air, one of which came from a little south of west, and the other from about north, and after meeting they passed off a little east of north. The extent of the tornado was about half a mile in width and about five miles long. After passing through a thick wood, prostrating every tree within its limits, it reached the farm of Jacob Harris, unrooting his house and injuring his wife very severely. The next farm in its course was that of John T. Snover, whose barn was unroofed and three barracks blown down. It then passed through his orchard, and out of three hundred fruit trees, only four or five were left standing. Thence it went through the woods prostrating every thing, until it arrived at the farm of Andrew Dennis, about three quarters of a mile from Snover's. His house and barn were unroofed and barracks blown down, and in his orchard of two hundred trees, only four were left standing. It then passed through another piece of woods, levelling every thing till it came to the farm of William Shusler (three quarters of a mile.) His house was unroofed and barn blown down: four or five large rock maple trees were twisted off or taken up by the roots, some of which were carried a distance of 60 yards, and fell upon a cow which was killed. Thence it passed through another piece of woods to the farm of Adam Warner, (half a mile) whose dwelling was unroofed, and his barn, barracks and out-houses were blown down. It passed on about half a mile farther, destroying some out-houses and one dwelling, and then terminated abruptly.

Our informant adds, that all the grain and fences in its course were destroyed, as were also all the large trees. Mr. Shusler found a large apple tree on his premises, which had come from the orchard of Mr. Dennis, a distance of three quarters of a mile.