The Cyclone At Mt. Clemens

One day last week, the writer took a istroll over tüie path of the eyclone that visited JXt. Ciomen3 recently, and so'nio tliings of what he saw may interest the readers of this paper. Iü the fir.st place it may not be out of place to mention the ease with w hilen tmavelera fro'nii this sectipn may visifc this city of mineral pringa and innumerable smells. Take any M. C. train, and stop frohi tne station in Detroit to the fetreet car track and a rapid transit car will te iound ttoat leaves every half lucrar for Mt. Clemens. In a little over an liour after leayhig Detroit you will le landed in Mt. Clemens. The ride is anespecially d-eliglitful one at this time of year. Open cars or closed cars, eithcr ome, may be had, and although the country is level with no hill or dales, yet the beautiful iields, and tlxrifty gardens - a.nd there are hundreds of tiiem - are pleasant to gaze apon. Juist as you enter the city of Mt. Clemens tlhe cars pass the path of thie terrible cycloae ttiat did so much damasc and of which you probably have read. over and over again. But even then one gets a email conception oif wliat the elenient3 really did. The path of tho storm varied from a few rods to about a half a mile wide, amd tlhe freaks oi the wind were very peculiar. A few instances : In one place two two-story houses were standing side Ty side, not over ten feet apart. One of tliem was not injured ;i, partiële, the other was wrocked and smashed to pieces. One tree in an orchard Nvould I0ok as though nothing had touched it, while all around it the trees would b ecompletely destroyed. Ths pile of debris whieh was once the home of the womaa Hrs. Polil, who died the day eucceeding the storm, was so flattened to tho earth that not any portion of it was' over two or three f eet above the suriace. It did not seem possible that any human being could have come ïrom under the pile either dead or altre. One orchard of twenty acres, all line, young, thrifty trees, was completely destroyed, not a tree being left. Here is killere the dainage comes in that can not be ostimated in money valué. Houses can be rebuilt, but fruit, shade and ornamental trees can not be replaced íor years. To show the peeuliarities of the storm : In one place severa! rods of au old four foot pla.nk walk was sucked up into the air slick and clean, not oven one oL the old stringers being left. To realize the force or power It took to do this o.ie has but to mak the attem)t to p ry up an old waak with a lever. He invariably iinds jt a pretty difficult ta.sk. Sometimes a house would be left unscathed except a patch of shingles siome two or three feet acro'ss being taken out of the roof. One house was noticed with the walls all standing except the front wall, and with the roof gone. Two brotliers lived no:ir tógether. THe Ixouise belonging to oue 'was torn all to atonas, not a veetige being left. The o'thef öiie was acarcely injured. S'ome bcdlcUnga looketï as though they liad been pickeil up bodily into tbt air and then dropped. These instances were quite disastrous to the comfort and pleasure of the people iixside. Tho trees suffered greatly. There was onO tostance where the wind ji-.niped over a ma,n's hous-e r.nd 'leítroyed a number of old oak trees, ttoat stöod there. They were large natural grawth oaks. and reatly prized. The singular thing about this instance is tnat this place was some forty rods irora the path of the storm. Ome man has attempted to save his shade trees that were simply cvertuind, by digging a hale on fche side tarn out, pullijng the tree ,back by means of rope and tackle. The experiment bids fair ta be a nuccess. This man is credited witli iïaylng : "I rather my luouise would have been destroyed than my trees, for thie h-ouse could te rebuilt. These trees can not 'be replaced ,in a lifeifcime." Of course the worst evidences of the storm had 'been cleared away. New vaots were to le seen all aloug íor a nüe ar two. Some of the houses bad been straightened up, re-rooied, and ready for Uhe plasterers once more, trihue the family occasionally Üvèd ia a tent. Others -vvere prolally disheartened, and being in debt -wUl let the land that 13 left be forecloised by the mortgagee. Had t.hO path öi the storm been a half mile further to the northeast, Mt. ClemeBs wo-uld to-day have been a sorry city. So that they appreciate th efact that after all It was not as tad as it miglit have beoa. ■. The people of M t. Clemens are doing nobly. They havo raised some $5,00L and Trill take care of their own sufferers without any outside help. Oí oourse fbey can not place the people back wliere they were, but they will put thiem on their íeet again and start íhem on their journey of liíe once more encouraged to go ahead. The lotes here runs up into many thiou'sands of dollars, and the people of II b. Clemens are deserving of the greatest praise for tlieir prompt and generous response for lielp from these poor people, ma-ny of them having: lost all of their savings. Mt. Cl 'i: -, ís a city oí about 7,000 inliabifcantis, but they appear to be tlxe right sort of people. The city has beon growlng of late year. Tlie springs a mi mineral ■water, of course have made it, but they have 'Jone the job in a substantial manner. 'Itis oíd Frentíh settlement -vhich ,slept a contented sleep for years and years, 9ias sprung into activity. It has electria street cars, electric lights, water vorbs, sewers, and all the city luxuriës. There are large hotels and eummer resorfc club houses on the lake slioire about two miles away, and the electric cars run to them [rom the city every hall liour. The lake boats also come to their docks making a Igreat pleaisure resort for the people. Sundays the rapid transit cars, and the railroad cars as ,well, have all the passengers they can carry from Detroit, the trip being one that the city people delight to take. Instead of liurting Mt. Clemens this olectric raad with its cheap f are of. 25 cents, is helping to build up the city. New hotels, new buildings, new residences are to be seen every where. As the limit lines of these two cities are only a'bout 18 miles apart, with a thickly settled street lying between, it is thought that the greater Detroit may sonie time in the not dlstanf future sawllow her little suburban neighbor in regular Chicago style.