A TERRIBLE STORM AND RAILROAD ACCIDENTS

Main Street, Cortland, on a good day.

The Cortland Democrat, Friday, October 2, 1896.

A TERRIBLE STORM.

High Winds Continued for Two Hours.

FATAL WRECK ON THE D. L. & W. WHERE A COAL TRAIN STRUCK A FALLEN TREE.

Buildings Unroofed and Blown Over, Trees Uprooted and Numberless Chimneys Taken Away—Wind Amounted to a Tornado.

   For the second time in the history of Cortland a devastating wind storm has wrought great damage. The first time was in 1890, when many buildings on Main-st. were unroofed and a few factories suffered considerable damage, but that storm simply swept through a single path and went on.

   Tuesday evening a heavy rain storm set in accompanied by a high wind but before midnight things seemed to have quieted down. About 3 A. M Wednesday, people began to be awakened by the wind which was becoming stronger with every blast and within half an hour, there were lights in most every house and the inmates were up and dressed momentarily expecting their home to be left roofless or completely torn from its foundation. Many remained for an hour in the cellar. The storm covered the entire town and the surrounding country, and wrought destruction which thousands of dollars will not replace.

D. L. & W. RAILROAD WRECK.

   As the train of empty gondolas, which left Cortland at 3:34 A. M. Wednesday, was rounding a curve about three fourths of a mile south of Messengerville, the headlight showed engineer Carpenter, of Great Bend, a tree about eighteen inches in diameter laying across the track about 300 yards ahead. At that place the roadbed is cut into the side of a hill which raises over a hundred feet from the west side of the track, and on the east side of the track the bank drops about 15 feet to the edge of the river which curves up to the track at that place and then away again.

  The engineer immediately reversed and applied the brakes but just behind the locomotive were two cars loaded with gravel and as they were on a slight down grade it was impossible to stop before reaching the fallen tree. When the crash came the tree went into the river and the engine and four cars kept on for about five rods, tearing up and twisting the rails, then toppled off the bank. The engineer and fireman did not jump because of the rocks on one side and precipice on the other, so when the great locomotive went over and landed nearly bottom side up both men were inside the cab.

   The fireman was crushed about the chest and right hip and badly scalded. Death must have been instantaneous. The engineer, being on the upper side as they went over, was uninjured and crawled out unaided. The wrecking train from Syracuse arrived about 8 o'clock and the remains of the dead fireman, Edward Delanthy, aged 32, of Halstead, Pa., were taken to Marathon and made ready for burial. He was a single man and leaves a mother and sister. The track was relaid and the south bound vestibule passed over at 11:17.

DAMAGE AROUND CORTLAND.

   There is no section of town exempt from damage. The tin roof of the main building of the Cortland Mfg. Co., Limited, was torn up and left hanging over the side. Part of the tin roof of two buildings at the Wickwire shops was taken off and the Messenger house, Armory, Carriage Specially Co., Squires building, and Cortland Wagon Co. suffered similar damage. Among the residences which lost their roofs were those of Samuel Keator on South Main-st., Wm. McKinney on Hubbard-st., F. J. Doubleday on Port Watson-st., farm house of L. J. Fitzgerald on back road to Homer, brick tenement of J. S. Squires on Duane St., and a great many more were left partly exposed.

   Trees in all parts of town were uprooted and limbs torn off and many dwellings had narrow escapes from destruction by having trees fall on them. The large elm in front of the residence of Mr. C. L. Kinney on Port Watson-st. was blown over and brushed the side of the house, damaging the cornice and veranda. On Maple-ave. trees were over in all directions and several of the residences there had narrow escapes.

   In the Rural cemetery there were eight or ten trees blown over and the grounds were covered with broken branches but no monuments were injured. Nearly every street in town and the orchards all suffered the loss of trees, large and small. Two windows in the home of Richard Stark on Tompkins-st. were broken by a falling tree.

   Barns and out houses by the score were either unroofed, turned round or toppled over. Mr. Frank Miller on Tompkins-st. found his hens roosting on the bottom of his overturned chicken house at daylight.

   When the Forging Co. rebuilt they left the south wall of the old boiler house standing. This was blown in. At the fair grounds the grand stand is almost a total wreck. The south shop of the two old buildings which stand opposite the gas house was lifted off at the top of the first floor and set down on the north side of the other building which was uninjured. The Baptist church lost much slate from the roof and a large number of windows were broken. It is feared the steeple is left out of true. The entire front of O'Leary & McEvoy between the villages was blown in. A singular freak of the wind was the taking out of a window casing from the the brick building at No. 14 Port Watson-st.

   The large water tank on top of Prospect hill was crushed in on the upper half of one side to a little past the center. It is 40x40 feet in size and made of heavy boiler plates five feet wide. Just shove the fourth row is a break about a foot long through which the volumn of water which was above rushed out. Unless the portion which is bent in can be drawn back to place, it will require and outlay of from $1,000 to $1,500 to replace the bent plates. Meantime the pumps will keep the twenty feet of tank full of water so we are in no danger of the supply being cut off.

   Telephone, telegraph and fire alarm wires were down in all directions. The Western Union got one wire working Wednesday afternoon. The line was broken on the D. L. & W. north of Cortland and on the Lehigh Valley no trains were run till near noon for it was impossible to tell where trains were or had started anywhere on this branch.

   The local telephone and fire alarm wires are being put in shape as fast as possible.

   Reports of serious damage all through the neighboring country are constantly coming in. Trees and farm houses have suffered as did those in town.

   It would be impossible to give a detailed statement of the damage done even in town, for almost everybody has suffered. When no more serious damage was done the chimneys were blown off, and in many cases heavy chimney caps were lifted and the chimney left otherwise unharmed. The many curious pranks of the storm would fill a volume but from the foregoing a rough idea may be gleaned of the hurricane which visited Cortland on Wednesday morning.

   During the same storm the steeple of the Methodist church in Marathon was blown down and the church otherwise badly damaged.

   The building of the Nichols Mfg. company was nearly destroyed. The roof was blown off from the Mansard block and from a large portion of Dunphy's tannery.

   More than fifteen barns in Texas Valley and Freetown were either unroofed or totally destroyed.

TWO RAILROAD ACCIDENTS.

Both Fatal. One on the D. L. & W., the Other on the Lehigh Valley.

   A special train which carried several officials of the Lehigh Valley ran into and killed Mr. Taylor Bryant on the long trestle near the alms house last Friday afternoon. Mr. Bryant has for several years been an inmate of the county house. He was quite an old man and rather decrepit and had always been allowed special privileges. Friday he had asked permission to visit a friend near East Homer and as it was nothing unusual the permission was granted. Why he chose to walk the track is unknown, for it would have been more direct by the carriage drive. When the engineer saw the man was on the trestle he reversed and applied the brakes, but could not stop in time to save the unfortunate man. Though the whistle was repeatedly blown Bryant did not seem to hear or be aware of the approach of the train till it was nearly upon him and too late to save himself by jumping to the ground. He was struck while facing the engine and his body made almost a pulp and thrown to the ground below the trestle. Death must have been instantaneous. He leaves no known relatives.

   Saturday afternoon Edward Welch was found stowed away between two cars on the accommodation train on the D. L. & W. which leaves Cortland at 2:34 P. M. A brakeman put him off, but just as the train started Welch made another attempt to get on. He missed his hold on the ladder on the end of a box car and fell, striking on the rail. The balance of the train from seven or eight cars passed over him and when put in the ambulance his legs had both been run over and the side of his body torn open. He died just after reaching the hospital where Father McLoughlin performed the last rights of the church. He was a single man, but is survived by his parents, three brothers and two sisters.
   The funeral was held from St. Mary's church Monday morning and the remains laid in the Catholic cemetery. The coroner decided no inquest was necessary in either case.

William J. Bryan.

William McKinley.

Washington Letter.

(From Our Regular Correspondent.)

   WASHINGTON, September 28, 1896.—A straight bluff is what the announcement that the McKinleyites had fused with the gold democrats for the purpose of making a raid upon the South is regarded to be, and it is not receiving the serious attention of anybody interested in the management of the campaign of Mr. Bryan. It is not believed that the gold democrats can poll enough votes in any Southern state to affect the result, and it has been known from the first that the entire movement was solely in the interest of McKinley; therefore the announcement that fusion between the republicans and the gold democrats in some of the Southern states had been agreed upon has not caused a ripple in Bryan ranks.

   It is confidently expected that the South will again be solid this year. There was some doubt about Kentucky and Maryland a short time ago, but the fusion between the democrats and populists in Kentucky is regarded as having made that state sure for Bryan, and the assurances of Senator Gorman that Maryland will go democratic have removed all fears for that state. If the McKinleyites wish to spend some of Hanna's enormous campaign fund in the south, they will have no difficulty in finding men who will exchange the most glittering promises for it, but Mr. Bryan has more chance to get electoral votes in New England than McKinley has to get them in the South,

   Notwithstanding the efforts of the railroads to lessen the attendance at the Convention of Democratic Clubs to be held at St. Louis by refusing to give a lower rate for tickets than a one and one-third fare for the round trip, the convention promises to be a big success. Among those who will address the convention are Mr. Bryan, Mr. Sewall and Vice-President Stevenson. That the railroads intended to discriminate against the democrats is shown by their having sold round trip tickets to all the other National Conventions for one fare.

   Some amusement has been caused in political circles by the report that President Cleveland had been informed that Gen. Fitz Lee would be in great danger from the yellow fever if he remained in Cuba during the next five or six weeks. Everybody understands that if Mr. Cleveland has had any such information it was given him by the gold democrats of Virginia who hope to be able to stem the Bryan and free silver tide which is sweeping over that state by the influence which might be exercised by the personal presence on the stump against Bryan of Fitz Lee. It is well known that Fitz Lee would much rather face the danger of yellow fever in Cuba, than to take any part on the gold side of the present campaign in Virginia, and interest is expressed as to how he would receive a hint from President Cleveland that he ought to come home and take the stump. It will not make the slightest difference either way. The republicans are virtually acknowledging themselves beaten in Virginia by claiming that their meetings are being broken up and their speakers intimidated. Neither parties nor individuals ever gain anything by pleading the baby act.

   A prominent Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper man now in Washington said: "Ohio can fairly be classed as a doubtful state. In every nook and corner of it there is the strongest sort of sentiment for free silver, and the feeling shows no sign of weakening. Coercion and intimidation will be used to drive the wage earners to McKinley's support, but a good many of them, while apparently submitting to the dictation of their bosses, secretly resent the attempt to control their suffrage, and will vote for Bryan. With hands off and every man left to vote as he will, McKinley would not carry Ohio."

   Ex-Representative Barnes of Ga. said: "The next delegation from Ga. in the House of Representatives will not only be solidly democratic, but solidly in favor of free silver. Messrs. Turner, Lawson and Russell of the present delegation, who are against free coinage, will each be succeeded by a pronounced silver man."

   The news which Hon. F. E. Belzhooyer brings from Pennsylvania gives a reason for the Republican claims of such an enormous majority in that state. He said: "It is no secret that intimidation is being practiced in Pennsylvania. For the first time in my experience, the railroads, mines, mills, and even the banks have gone into the business of intimidating their employes and scaring their customers. Men are made to join McKinley clubs and they are threatened with discharge should they openly support the Democratic ticket. In addition to this bulldozing, false statements are circulated as to the ruinous effects of free coinage. They are told that if Bryan is elected they will lose their job or have their wages cut down. However, while some of the laboring men may be deceived, they have too much manliness to be intimidated, and they will, I believe, vote their sentiment."

FROM EVERYWHERE.

   Gentry has broken the world's pacing record by doing a mile in 2:01 1/2.

   The little state of New Jersey has eight hundred miles of good stone roads.

   It is estimated that the heated term in August caused two thousand deaths.

   In the private schools of China a teacher is paid about one cent a day for each pupil.

   The population of Tioga county has fallen off 1,300 during the past twenty years.

   The assessment in this state shows an increase in value to the amount of $67,000,000.

   Geneva has bought out the Geneva water works company, paying $150,000 for the plant.

   Onions are worth 70 cents a barrel at Lyons.

   Buffalo will have the national encampment of veterans next year.

   Auburn's new directory just issued claims a population of 32,031, a gain of 1,380 since last year.

   Shoemakers state that cycling, tennis and other outdoor exercises are making the feet of women to grow larger.

   The manuscript of "Trilby" it is said was purchased for a large sum and is preserved in the rooms of the London Fine Arts Society.

   The six new buildings of the veterinary college at Cornell University are ready for use with the opening of the fall term. There are many noted men in the faculty.

   Emperor William has bestowed one of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts gold medals on the American artist, Jules Stewart, well known in Philadelphia salons.

   Queen Victoria's white Egyptian donkey, Jack, who for many years has drawn her carriage at Windsor and Balmoral, is dangerously sick and on account of his age is not expected to recover.

   The largest bell in France has been hung in the belfry of the Church of the Sacred Heart in Paris. It weighs twenty-eight tons, can be heard at a distance of twenty-five miles and its vibrations last six minutes.

   From present indications America will soon be outdoing France in the consumption of frog flesh. The city of New York alone consumes 600,000 "hams" of frogs during the year. These delicacies are now sold in tin boxes like other conserved meat.

   The Lyons board of education has adopted the following regulation: "The board will not employ teachers who insult or terrorize their pupils by the constant or frequent use of provoking, irritating, snappish language. Their children are their pupils, not their menials; for the time being, their subjects not their slaves."

HERE AND THERE.

   Barnum & Bailey's big show closes the season at Chicago on the 31st of this month.

   Cherry jam thinned with hot water and lemon juice is a splendid sore throat or cough remedy.

   Dr. E. O. Kingman recently put down a well on his premises near the river and struck sulphur.

   The foot ball game last Saturday between the Normal and the Central school teams resulted in a victory for the former by a score of 32 to 0.

   The annual meeting for the election of officers of the City Hospital will be held in the rooms of the board of managers next Monday evening.

   The Ithaca sewer system opened last week with the exception of the South Hill section. The cost has been $170,000. It is estimated that the cost of maintenance of the system will be between $5,000 and $10,000 annually.

   Reuben Bryan of Cincinnatus is an uncle of William Jennings Bryan, the boy orator. Few people are acquainted with this bit of Bryan family history. Reuben Bryan and his brother, William J. Bryan's father, lived originally in Onondaga county.—Homer Republican.

   P. J. Callahan and Dan Donnegan have opened an upholstering and furniture repair shop in the rooms over Mrs. Pomeroy's millinery store in the Dowd block. Both of these gentlemen are experienced workmen and solicit a share of the public patronage.

Board of Trustees.

   Attorney E. E. Mellon came before the village board in behalf of the provision dealers of Cortland last Monday evening, asking the board to prohibit the sale of green vegetables and fruits by outside parties upon our streets.

   Geo. French 2nd Asst. Chief of the Fire Department appeared before the board and requested an increased appropriation for the present year. After some discussion it was voted to give the Hitchcock and Emerald hose companies an appropriation of $175, and the remaining companies $100 each. The board also agreed to audit coal bills to the amount of $25.00 for each company.