Storm At Harpers Ferry

A correspondent of the REGISTER at Harper’s Ferry sends us the following account of the work of the storm at that place:

Friday, December 4th, will long be remembered by the citizens of this place. Early yesterday morning the wind was blowing very hard from the east, and a loud crash told us that the span of bridge over the Shenandoah river had been blown down and part of it carried some distance. The other spans had been taken away by the flood two years ago. Between ten and eleven o’clock the storm increased so much that people became alarmed. Slates were flying off the houses, and windows were breaking in in every direction. Captain Doll, mayor, seeing the chimney on the house where we live reeling and swaying like a drunken man, sent for our family to come to his house for safety. We had hardly reached his door when the wind became so violent as to tear off part of the roof of Hotel Conner, and then a dreadful crash came and a large back porch was torn down from the house. We all thought the hotel was coming down. I never heard anything to compare with the roar of the wind at that time. Another crash came and the roof on Mrs. Julia Walsh’s large and beautiful dwelling and store-room came tumbling down. It was carried some distance up Shenandoah street. At this time the street was full of boards, bricks, and tin roofs, and there seemed danger of the house falling. The roof is off Mr. Ames’ house, Ditmyer’s coal-shed is badly damaged, a house on High street lost its roof, and many others were damaged, but none so badly as Hotel Conner and Mrs. Julia Walsh’s. Her house to-day presents a sad appearance. About 1 o’clock a dark cloud hung over the Ferry, and fears were entertained of a cloudburst. The rain poured down in sheets, and the poor people without coverings on their houses were in distress. As soon as the wind quieted down, which it did almost as soon as it commenced raining, kind friends, as soon as they could get on Mrs. Walsh’s house, stretched oil-cloths, boards, and everything they could over it to protect her goods from the rain. Large bags of sand were carried and placed on the covering to keep it from blowing off. It was an awful thing to witness from first to last. I pray I may never see another storm like it. We didn’t get in our house until 3 o’clock. In the evening the sun came out and cheered the hearts of the poor, frightened ones, but it will long be remembered as a “black Friday” for Harpers Ferry.
V. M.