The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-07-18
LOSS ESTIMATED AT HALF A MIL.
LION.

|
prairie decapitated, head not yet found; son of
Mr. Warner, aged IA years.
Killed in the the town of Severaace-Martin
| Frank; Joseph Kulubo, wife and three chill
dren, one child badly wounded, the sole sur
| vivor of the family.
West Newton Child of Mr.. LOOMS; an old
| gentleman, name not known, who was found
with his arms clasped around a tree.
| Wounded in New Ulm-John' Palmquist;
Mr.. Luesch, wife and child, probably fatal; J.
Kuntz. arm and leg broken and cut; George
Fogle and wife. seriously; Carl Krubel; M.
Reitz; Jacob Miller, leg brokn; Mr.. Warner
and wife, serouy; Mr.. Nelson. slightly; VIM.
Sharpans. internally, very seriously; j. Schue-
lenger, badly cut by glass.
Town of Milford-J Pffeiffer, seriously;
| three persons names not yet ascertained.
The county is peopled almost wholly by Ger
mans, most the whole of whom were in Mimi
eapolis at the time attending the funniest, and
none of them knew of the catastrophe until to-
| day, when they left Immediately for their
ruined homes, with no knowledge as to wheth-
er they would find family, friends or property.
Another Account.
MINNEAPOLIS, July 16.-The following tele-
| graphic account of the disaster at New Ulm,
| Mimi, has been received
Shortly before five Friday afternoon a cy-
| clone Of very terrific violence struck this
town, demolishing over 100 buildings, killing
| and wounding upwards of thirty persons.
| Though other towns in the vicinity felt the
shock to a greater or less degree, the full force
of the cyclone vented itself here. According
| to the evidence of eye witnesses two tornadoes
met right over this place and the work of de-
struction was accomplished in less than fifteen
minutes The course of the cyclone could be
| distinctly dscerned, and seemed to be moving
in separate volumes from the north and south.
| At 430 O'Clock black clouds gathered with
great rapidity. The thunder and lightning
was terrific and the wind blew hurricane
! while the rain descended in binding sheets.
| There was moments lull and then the cy-
clone struck the town almost destroying it in
minute. At the end of that time it disappear
| ed az Suddenly as it came. Its effects are al
| most indescribable. Some houses were struck
| by lightning. others were lifted up bodily by
| the violence of tina wind, and others demol-
ished by flying debris. Scores OF dwellings
and stores were entirely destroyed. A very
few escaped uninjured, bus many had roofs
| blown off or were so badly injured that they
will have to be pulled down. The storm was
most destructive in the north end of the city,
| where whole blocks OF frame buildings were
swept away. Hardly barn or stable escaped
and over hundred borses and cattle were kill
| ed. The roof of Merchants Hotel was carried
for blocks through the air and hurled against
| Jacob Miller house, which It completely de-
molished, but fortunately the Miller family escap-
ed before the crash came. Mayor Rudolph
| estimates the total loss at $500000 The low
| est estimate is $350,000.
None of the property destroyed is insured
against accidents of this kind, and many lost
| their all. The citizens. however, without ex-
| ception, met the disaster bravely and are TAX
| ing prompt steps to repair the damage, though
| all agree that next to the Indian massacre it
| was the most disastrous blow New Ulm has
| ever received. Streets are filled with debris
of shattered buildings, and on every hand evil
dences of wreck are visible. IA large brick
| meat market was entirely demolished. d.
| Weschekes two story brick drug store and res
| idenca was leveled. The Methodist and Luth-
| eran churches both substantial brick edifices,
were swept away, while the steeples of three
Roman Catholic churches were blown off and
| the buildings Quilted. One side of the brick
dry goods store of Redman & Schram was
blown down and the stock destroyed. The
| Dakota House, the leading hotel, was partially
destroyed, the roof the court house was lifted
bodily into the air and has not been seen since,
| the handsome residence of VIM. Rofender,
ex-State Treasurer, which stands on bluff
somewhat in the rear of the city, was COM
| pletely Quilted, though the inmates escaped
| unhurt, L. Bevenger's furniture store, Null
| lers hardware store, Poeser's establishment
| and Blacks machine shop were all destroyed.
| The sugar factory aud two public school build
| ings were destroyed, and the remaining school
| house is partly demolished. Lightning struck
| the depot three times but made no impression.
| Every livery stable in town is in ruins. The
| heaviest individual loss falls on j. Honenstein,
who had just completed brick brew
cry at cost of $4,000. The building
was entirely destroyed. The lightning struck
! the boiler room of the Empire flour
| ing mill, shattered the building,
letting out 10000 bushels of wheat
which are irreparably damaged. The Eagle
| Touring MILL which was just completed. IS
badly damaged. Many buildings were struck
by lightning and caught fire and the town
would have been destroyed by fire, but for the
| rain which descended in torrents. The only
| lumber yard in town owned by Miller & Scher-
er, was struck simultaneously lightning and
| the tornado and nothing has seen of it SINCE
| Eye witnesses state that the scene during
and Immediately after the shower was fearful
| to contemplate and beyond the descriptive
| powers of the most graphic pen. People who
were on the streets at the time were literally
| blown away and numbers were wounded by
| the falling debris. Whole sections of tin roof
| ing were sent sailing through the air and
| twisted like paper
| The Killed and Wounded.
| AS the victims of the catastrophe are scattered
| over comparatively large area, it is impossi-
| BILE to give an exact list of killed and wounded.
The following. however, is an approximately
| correct list of the killed at New Ulm and West
| Mentou:
Anna Loesh, Laura Rally, John Halloher,
wife and three children, John Kilsherick,
Martin Frank, Albert Eckert, recently of Min
neapolis, and six year old son, Bertha Web
ner aged II, little LEIGH child aged 6, Mas.
| J. Reits.
The following is correct list of the wounded:
J0ln HrlU6n, WIG ana children, DaQty IN
| iured in the head and back. two children of
| the same house also suffered internal injuries;
| Frank and Charles Hoffman wounded ON the
head and back by tumbling timber; Henry
| Fiddler, compound fracture OF the arm; ChaS.
| Spooner, broken jaw; Mrs. Katie Weston, dan
gerous cash in the neck Ida Finck, severe in.
| ternal injuries; VIM. Sperbouse, two broken
ribs and face shattered; j. Zerbrunner, inter
| nal INJURIES; j. Kunz, severe scalp wound; Mrs.
| Eckert, probably fatal internal njuries; Mrs.
81, n1yAIh xn ry0rty
Manson and son fractured skulls; Mr.. Reitz,
| ribs broken; Mrs. Reitz, arm broken; John
Leith, leg broken; Ole Cartoon, of the Sibley
Co, scalp wound; j. Maple, jaw broken; Mrs.
Frieby eye and foot injured.
| Besides there are are doubtless many others
who have been overlooked in the general con-
fusion In addition the damage to this city
large quantities Of grain were destroyed in the
nieghborhood.
AS soon as the the first shock was over the
citizens rallied grapdly and We'd with each
other in their attentions to the wounded Sub
| scriptions have already commenced to pour in.
Saturday evening a meeting was held here at
which Mayor Rudolph presided, and a relief
committee of ten was elected to devise means
for meeting the effects of the disaster.
ST. PAUL, July ia Pioneer Press CORES
pondent, who visited the scene of the disaster
at New Jim, gives the following description:
The first place where any effects of the storm
| were seen was about three miles west OF New
Ulm, on the hill. Here it tore down house
| and killed a number of cattle and horses.
From where the storm struck to the railroad
track the ground is lined with bedding and
furniture, wagon wheels, farm machinery, etc.
The wind west of New Ulm tore down the tel
egraph poles and the Gre ps are simply ruined
and the heads of the wheat cut off as clean
and smooth as though with a heading ma
chine From the place where the storm first
struck into New Ulm everything was swept for
width of milo. The sight is sickening.
Trees arc torn up By the roots and not house
or barn is left standing in the line OF the
Storm Gentlemen who stood on bluff two
miles north of New Ulua and witnessed the
cyclone say it was the grandest and most terri
bic sight ever witnessed. One cloud came
from the northwest and one from the northeast
When they met it appeared to be contest as
to which should have the right of way. The
storm struck New Ulm at 4.49 and lasted just
twelve minutes. There was a perfect blaze OF
FIRE balls. 1t would have been almost as
dark as midnight had it not been
for the continual flashes of lightning,
Senator Peterson, Col. Kringer and Mr.
Bubedks arrived last evening to secure cotilnS
| and other necessaries and to visit the Govern