As it neared the town of Camanche, the appearance of the storm was awful beyond description. The light of day was blotted out and the roar of the elements stilled every voice and blanched the cheek of the bravest. No escape seemed possible. Many families ran to the cellars, while others huddled together and clung to each other in their terror. The fury of the united tornadoes struck the village at seven o’clock in the evening. One who visited the ruins the next morning gives the following description of the sights:
Thirty-nine business houses were totally destroyed, beside two churches and two hotels. Forty-one persons were instantly killed, and more than eighty lacerated and mutilated in every conceivable form. Of the three hundred and fifty dwelling houses in the town not fifty were left uninjured, and eight hundred and sixty persons were homeless. Crossing the river the tornado struck Albany, on the Illinois side, swept on eastward through the entire State, killing eleven persons, wounding more than fifty, and destroying an immense amount of property. Crossing Lake Michigan north of Chicago we last hear of it in Ottawa County, Michigan, where it had exhausted its de-