Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-08-31
4 Fearful Tuesday Evening which Sees
the Minnesota Town d Victim
.zsz5 of Cyclonic Wrath.
Hundreds Of Buildings Shattered, 26.
People Killed and so Other
. $ Unfortunates Injured. =: =. = 8
Five Hundred People Left Houseless to
I c=4 View the Melancholy Scene
~ IT,. ~ ** Of Ruin. -. -.5 >
Nearly all Public Buildings Damaged
and Loss of 100000
Inflicted.

Inflicted.
- RUINED ROCH ESTER.
HORRIBLE WORK OF TEE CYCLONE
/ ROCHESTER, Special Telegram, Aug. o.
The citizens of Rochester are wan cf cheek and
hollow-eyed, and well they may, since they
passed last evening as evil quarter of an hour
as ever fell to the experience of man, and to
this succeeded night Of horror, snoh as made
men used to the terrors of stricken field
vince and shudder. The storm first came at z
in the evening and lasted from twelve to fifteen
minutes Not until after o'clock were the
residents the least alarmed, which is
the strangest, when it is Remembered that
g month ago cyclonic fury vented itself
but few miles from here. By 7:1O the south
west quarter had assumed that sickly greenistr
tint which serves as drop curtain for such
dire work. In few moments the gree,
changed to copper, then to bronze, with
whitlsh edges and lateral lines of flying scud
athwart it in every direction. Next was noted
that dreaded aud dreadful inverted cone, with
height seemingly unreasonable and murki.
ness appalling. With the speed Of a cannon
ball it came down the valley of insignificant Sill
YER creek, and when within half g mile
of the devoted city, its roar could
be heard. Cellars were rushed to by almost
at points Of vantage near tho edges and wit
messed
TIE ATTACK OF THE REsIsTLEss MONSTER.
Full 300 feet in the air it rose and in its whirling
mass were trees and stones, animals and debris
of every conceivable description. The dome
of the court house melted from view though
touched merely by the hem of the wind
Trees snapped like CATO nlne tails, or stranger
still. were twisted as corkscrews in the
hands of a Titan, and lifted bodily into the
air with tons Of earth cinging to their roots
Animals were dashed against stoue walls,
and their backs and bones crushed to powder
The roar Of the fierce surge was like nothing
ever heard before. The atmosphere was
surcharged with electricity. and pellets of
rain and nail were driven vertically as if shot
from rife. Fifteen minutes of this terror,
and then silence. By o'clock the stars
were shining as peacefully as if cyclones were
unknown; but the silence was soon
broken by the groans of the dead, dying and
the sorely wounded The northern part of the
city, fortunately not the larger or thickly set
tied portion, had been changed from habit
able place to maze of mangled matter, a deser:
with signs of woe and terror scattered every
where. Not a house stood where 800 had
been at o'clock. Most Of the dwellings, were
fully tended and decorated houses. The
citizens on the South side quickly repaired in
crowds to the scene of tlirest disaster and went
to work. All night long by the ftful light of
lanters at first and later aided by the moon
they toiled
SCORES OF BODIES
mangled, cut torn and bruised, some breath
ing, some breathless, were taken ont By
sunrise those of this dead or wounded who had
friends were speedily borne to private houses
The majority were taken to Rommel's hall, a
large building on Broadway, where cots were
hastily prepared for the wounded. The dead
were taken away by friends or to W. II. sew
ards undertaking place on Broadway. Physi-
clans and nurses were soon to the fore, and
everything possible done to alleviate suffering.
The wounded were in q horrible plight, and a
walk through the hall where they lie,
syen now, makes one faint The
outs and bruises are generally about
the upper part of the body, and
childish faces are seen with wounds on them
so CHASTITY that even the physician shudders as
he uses sponge and needle. Into the cuts dirt
and even powdered stone were forced in many
instances. Cellsrs seemed of little or DO pro-
lection, since, while some of the houses above
them blew away, those TO the west were
crushed bodily into their depths. Think Of
two mothers, as late az noon to-day,
SEEKING FINANCIALLY FOR LOST CHILDREN,
seeing three who correspondent in size with
those they sought, but all go marred by dirt
and blood and wounds that eveu maternal love
could not tell whether to say "nine'' or not
TIE scenes around the demolished houses were
heartrending; mon, women and children cry
ing bitterly and almost bereft OF reason. An
absolute doubt exists in many cases
as to where the cite OF their
home was; ever dreadful uncertainty
and a haunting dread, and through it
all the breeze signing gently. the moon smil-
ing calmly and. men working brayely. The
rising sun showed the bitterness Of the desola-
ton Queer freaks there were, of course.
Here stands wall, and on it hangs an un-
broken looking glass, while heavy stove.
crushed into fragments, lies Oh the floor near
by. There, swaying to and fro in the breeze,
is the family rocking chair, while a few feet
from it . horse lies
MANaLED AND DEAD. 1885,. n
a feather bed yonder twisted like q rope, and
touchingi it's edge students lamp, with even.
the chimney intact. Down near the river
stands the large Cole mill, with a cyclonic bite
taken from it's western end To the south of
it is q train of eight loaded
cars turned aud twisted as if of straw, while
in the race ut the northern side arc two more
cars blow bodily from the track and into the
wafer. II Ne owner OF the mill was llIteo nItY
feet vertically and hurried againsta bank and
killed. Not a bone in his body was left un.s
broken. Rochester, az every one knows
was beautiful city, and as much on &C
count of it's trees as anything. J. 4
core OF years via not restore its pristine
loveliness in this direction. Some Of the
streets in the best part of the city are i'm
zpassable, and looking up or down them one
I sees nothing but 9 tangled mass Of
trunks and foliage .janamed # across the
roadway. Scarcely 9 residence Mr. Tan
Dusen's is about the only onethst has moi
r,nre, ~. Iaa.. and Is, =, 3, "a