The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1881-07-22
FRIGHTFUL TORNADO.

NesV Sif1ifs' Mff2n.s Devastated by a Cy-
cIonc-Hfundreds OF strong Build.
ings (ut Down to the Ground and
MANY P5ople EEiIIed and Wounded
T.flA terrible tornado deya Stated New Ulm,
MIMI, . beautiful little, city of $500 inhabii
tants, on the afternoon of July Is. Six hunt
bred buildings we're more or less damaged,
some ST them being Totally wrecked, among
Chem the finest bf3sinesse blocks IN the city.
Thirteen people were killed Outright in New
JTIn, and some twenty or more sounded more
or i SIS. severely, several of them fatally. The
storm made its appearance at O'clock, and it
could be distinctly seen approaching in tive
L separate columns, one moving upward while
the other appeared to descend from the clouds,
lwIifhflg with terrible Espidity y h;t Bgu1
One instance is told of man and his wife
and child who #etB In his dwelling adjoining
hisaplace of business WhsH the storm struck
Both buildings were swept away, ana. when s
the nlsii found bis wife and child, twenty mini
utesafter, both her legs were broken and the
childs foot was crushed.
Ish,EunibeFs of buildings struck by lightning
caught fire, and the town would have been de-
stroyed III this way but for The rain, which de-
! seeided iii torrents. lie1q 10 gnayili. 4df
EFe7withesses state that the scene during and
immediately after the STORM was fearful to con-
template and beyond the descriptive powers OF
the most graphic pen. People who were out on
The Streets at the time were literally blown
away and numbers were wounded by the fly
ing debris. Whole sections of tin roofing were
sent sailing through the air by the fury of the
STERN, and twisted and crImbled up like paper.
There is scarcely building; public or pri-
vate that did not sustain some injury, while
many residences and business houses are total
IL,
and scattered oYersthe prairie. Not less than
100 horses were filed, many lifted bodily and
carried long distances. The farm machinery
depottwas totally wrecked, and the machinery,
including fifty self-bindihg feapers, were shiv-
cred into splnters. %" 81 's ID s~- 'h iv'iiaS'
Idf Anew two-story brick building was carried
away SO clean that not a Yestige remained ex-
cept the cellar and foundation walls. NihVd I
Iz9g A buggy was carried completely over the two
story stone Jail.
The county is peopled almost wholly by Ger
+ mans, forty-eight of whom were in Minneapolis
at the time attending the funniest, and none
of them knew of the catastrophe until next
day, when all left Immediately for their ruined
homes, with no knowledge as to whether they
| would find family, friends or property. iL35 -
| A correspondent who visited the scene of the
disaster gives the following description OF the
terrible ruin wrought iJUTQ ilF# ggA9llG /
l. The first place any effects Of the storm were
seen was about three miles west of New UIn1
/ Here it tore down house and killed a number
of cattle and horses The family saved them
| selves by going to the cellar before the storm
strNalss Krem ENheEe tho storm stlzlck tha,EGjI
road track the ground is lined with bedding
and furniture, wagon wheels, farm machinery,
! etc. All FqAIF0gUHu yi9yf}EERq1l09
The heads Of wheat were cut off as clean and
smooth as though done With heading ma
| chine From the place where the storm first
struck into New Ulm everything was swept fol-
q width of about one mile. The sight was sick
! enipg in the extreme. Trees were torn up by
J the roots and carried no one knows where, and
not house or barn was left standing in the
line of the storm from where it first struck UNI
til 1t reached New Ulm. a gentleman, whe
+ stood on the bluff two miles North of New Ulm
and witnessed the cyclone, says it was the
| grandest, yet most terrible, sight he ever Wit
/ messed. ole says aone cloud came from
the, northwest and one from the north
east When they met ii appeared tx
| h m to- be o contest as to which shoul(
have the right of way. The storm struck New
F! Ulm at 4:48 and lasted just twenty minutes
] and in that brief time not less than 5000
/ worth of property was destroyed, and a NUM-
! Der OF persons killed and many wounded. Dur.
/ ing the storm there was a perfect blaze of fire
! balls. 1t would have been almost as dark al
midnight had it not been for the continued
| flashes of lightning. rrfs gaftef a.r.,..
The storm extended through Nicollet county,
! through the towns of West Newton, rWeIling.
| ton and Severance, devastating a tract OF
| country mile wide and forty miles long. Sir
1 lives we're lost at West Newton and six at Vel
| ington. The property damaged at West New
ton alone was estimated at $500, 1000.
! A dispatch from New Ulm says the rebuild
ing of the town 90 is now under way, and every
! man, woman and child is taking part in the
/ q eat work of rebuilding. A great many5o
the buildings which were unroOfed are beng
1 repaired so as to afford protection to the hum
! dreds of citizens whose homes were entirely
| swept rom the earth.
Henry Willard has given 81, 500 to the rclief
fund, 81 900 has boen raised at Milwaukee, and
St. Paul and Minneapolis have pledged 5000
each. The number of deaths by the cyclone
has swollen to thi1ty-fouf. ;" '@ .'i''
i1G0 e0i ~ Z .ilDoo