The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-07-28
A TORNADO.

4 TORNADO.
The Town or New Ul.., MIMI. Wrecked bv
n Cyclone-West Newton sud Wellington
Also Devastated By the storn-lGany
Lives Lest.
81. PAUL, MIMI, July 10.
The Town Of New Ulm was wrecked by .
cyclone late yesterday afternoon. 1t seems
that two currents of air swept the valley
simultaneously, coming from different di-
rections. The scene was appalling. Stone
and brick buildings were RACED to their
foundations, and the air was full of debris
The town and its suburbs are now mass OF
ruins. West Newton, in the neighboring
County of Nicollet, was also visited by the
storm.
July II.
Eye-witnesses give many strange and
graphic accounts.
over half q mile and is still alive. Martin
Frank, Of West Newton, was found dead a
mile from his house, but not a piece of his
house or its contents has been found since
the storm. or the family of seven of Mat
thew Finley, of West Newton, but one re-
mains alive, an infant, which was badly
injured.
A family of five was buried in the ruins Of
= house near Fort Ridgley. Miss Anna
Leach was carried out of the house. Her
mother ran out after her, and she said,
ooh, mother, must die, - and Immediate
~ expired. Mrs. Leach was badly injured.
One horse had a scantling driven clear
through him. One man was standing talk.
ing to his wife, and the first thing he knew
his wife was gone and he was in the air him.
self. His house was carried away. He
found his wife several blocks distant when
the storm was over.
All the trees, shrubbery and fences in the
city were ruined, and fully one hundred
buildings are completely demolished, splin-
tered to kindling, or entirely disappeared.
One man who came from the country
bought five collins. Six lives were lost at West
Newton and six at Wellington. Much
damage was done to property at both places,
the exact amount of which has not been
learned. The damage to crops has neces-
sarily been great, but cannot be estimated
at this writing. The duration of the storm
was less than half an hour. The loss in New
Ulm and vicinity cannot be less than half a
million dollars, to be borne largely by the
poorer classes, who lost not only their
houses, but clothing, furniture and every
thing. Their little gardens were rooted up
and ruined.
A gentleman who was in New Ulm gives
the following graphic description of the ter
rible scene: "About 4:45 yesterday after
noon black cloud was seen approaching
this city from the nOrtI-a cloud of such in
tense blackness as to shut out the light of
day, and create the impression that the pail
| of night was falling upon the town before
its due time. Men, women and children
were affrighted, and, experimenting severe
storm, all set about securing their portable
property out of doors. Shortly after five
o'clock the storm cloud burst, and, with
the noise of a raging torrent, it 'urst upon
the town in the form of terrible hurricane
from the west. Darkness envcloped every
thing in its sable mantle, and it was impossi-
BILE for one to distinguish his most intimate
friends at a distance of ten feet. while the
large brick buildings on the opposite side
Of the street upon which your correspondent
was located could scarcely be outlined
against the inky sky. The first effects of the
tornado were felt In the northern part of
the town, among the modest residences of
the laboring portion of the community.
These were somewhat scattered. but in less
than two minutes were all carried off bodily
or leveled to the ground. Over a hundred
dwellings were absolutely swept away on
the wings of the wind, and several hundred
persons rendered homeless in the twinkling
of an eye. But the work of destruction was
not to be confined to the outskirts
of the town. On the ridge tc
the westward were situated the Ger.
man Methodist and the German Lutheran
| Churches, both of which were hurled to the
| ground in an instant of time. Scarcely .
vestige Of the first mentioned building re.
| NAMED to mark its site. The latter was so
badly wrecked as to be absolutely worthless.
After demolishing the structures on the
| ridge, the tornado struck the business cen.
ter Of the town, and in few moments tho
air was full of flying timbers and debris OF
every description. Fence-boards, fragments
Of roofing, wagons, window-sash, doors, and
all conceivable articles were flying through
the air, while above the roar Of the tenn.
pest could be heard the frantic shouts
Of men, the piercing shrieks of women,
and the agonizing wall of children. The
darkness was intense, and, though some
rushed hither and thithcr in blind frenzy,
the more collected awaited their fate with
calmness or sought refuge in the cellars Of
their buildings. The noise was deafenng.
Roof after roof was torn from its fastenings
and was carried away by the wind with a
deafening crash against the wall of some
h,,s1 f1,o 10 ~ .,
The crash Of falling walls was heard on
every side, while ever and anon the
scene, one Of terrible picturesqueness,
was lit up by lurid flashes of lightning for
several minutes-it seemed almost an age.
The play of the lightning was almost inces.
SAINT, and nearly a score of buildings were
struck and more or less injured by the
electric fluid. The terror of the scene could
not be heightened by any appliances con-
ceivel by the most vivid imagination. 1t
was a hades of darkness and lurid lightning
flashes-a babel of confusion of sounds. The
tornado roared with terrible fury for the
space of fifteen minutes, when lull came,
and the people Of the doomed city drew .
sigh of relief. The cessation was of very
brief duration, however, for almost instantly
. counter storm broke out, coming from the
east, and ragged with undated fury for ten
or fifteen minutes, nearly completing the
work of ruin that had already progressed 50
far. Walls that had withstood the first on
slaught of the wind succumbcd to the latter
blast Huge timbers were carried hither
and thither, now crushing through the
| fronts of stores, and anon breaking
the roofs of houses or barns. Cattle,
released from their corrals by the
action of the wind, ran believing through
the streets, and horses, tearing themselves
| from their fastenings, rushed wildly hither
and thither. Men seemed to have lost their
reason, and madly stampeded for places Of
refuge. Women with their children cling
ing to them vainly appealed for aid, while
above all was the crash Of falling timbers
and the bowling of the hurricane. 1t was
an occasion never to be forgotten by any
| that were present. Some Of the more SUI
perstitious believed that the end of tho
world had come Of a surety, and their wall.
| iugs were pitiful in the extreme. Others