Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-18
The New Comet That's Coming.
THE WEST.
Minnesota.

Disastrous CycIone-VaIuable Property
 Blown Down in the Wfnd-Heavy Fi-
 nancinI Losses.
 ST. PAUL, Minn., July IT. e graph lines are still down and the only way to get news from the scene of Fridays cyclone at New Ulm is by special messenger. Sena- tor Peterson, Colonel Keringer and Mr. Bable arrived here last evening to secure cof- fins and other necessaries and to visit tn 6 Governor and have him take steps toward rendering aid to the sufferers. A large force of mechanics with lumber will be sent to the place to repair the damages as best may be. The storm extended through Mallet county through the towns of West Newton and Sev- erance but owingto the absence of telegraph facilities the extent of the loss of life and property cannot yet be ascertained. Every thing in range of tae storm is leveled to the ground. Growing crops were shorn off as though with a scythe. It is reported that in Cambria several houses and barns were de- molished by the severe storm, but this cannot be verified. There is no doubt that further search will develop further loss of life, as some of those now missing will probably be found in the ruins. At Shirby, near Crookston, on the St. Paul & Minnesota railroad, the cyclone on Thursday night de- molished two elevators with capacity of 40, GOO bushels. Boards were found five or six feet in the ground.
 correspondent who has visited the scene of the disaster at New U1m gives the follow ing description: The first place any of the effects of the storm were seen was about three miles west of New Ulm on the railroad line. There it tore down 8 house and killed 8 number of cattle and horses. The family saved themselves by going to the cellar be- fore the storm struck. From where the storm struck the railroad track ground is lined with bedding and furniture, wagon wheels, farm machinery, etc. The wind west of New Ulm tore down telegraph poles. The crops are simply ruined The heads of wheat were cut off as clean and smooth as though done with a header machine. From the place where the storm first struck into New Ulm everything was swept for the width of a mile. The sight is sickening in the extreme. Trees were torn up by the roots and carried no one knows where, and not house or barn is left standing in the line of the storm from where it first struck until it reached New Ulm. A man who stood on a bluff two miles north of New Ulm witnessed the cyclone. He says it was the grandest yet most terrible sight he ever saw. He says one cloud came from the northwest and one from the northeast. When they met it appeared to him to be contest as to which should have the right of way. The storm struck New Ulm at 4:4S D. m., and lasted just twelve minutes, and in that brief time $3O,OOO worth of property was destroyed. During the storm there was perfect blaze of fire balls. It would have been almost as dark as midnight had it not been for the continued flashing of lightning. It would take columns to give the full loss of property, but the estimates of twenty men places the damage at $500, ,OOO. Three churches were completely destroyed and Tanner Hall was partly demolished. Glass fronts were completely ruined, and the whole town was utterly wrecked.