Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1883-05-30


evening of the 18th inst. brought death
and destruction to many homes in the
city of Racine. It came from the south
west and was heralded by terrific thun-
der-storm. The dense black cloud that
marked the center of the cyclone first !.
struck the city at Wolf's gardens, in the
extreme northwestern portion, where it
leveled farm house and crippled six
of the i1 matee. Here it seem. to rise
from the earth, which was again struck
about half mile to the north
east and Mt the corner of St.
Clair and High Streets, where Lutz'
gardens we're situated. From here
it proceeded due east almost to the lake
shore, covering path Of nearly quarter
storm scarcely building remains in.
tact. The locality devasted consist ell for
the most part Of class OF poor houses,
but here and there was brick house of
substantial structure. Nothing escaped
the power of the cyclone. Tho. houses
lie in heaps of stones, boards and bricks.
In some places, where the houses wee
unusually close together, they bad he. n
blown in heap so large as to tfft ctoo
" blockade the streets. Every where
throus bout the portions of the city With
in the path Of the storm are heaps OF
rubbish.
All the houfes on the west sid. of
North Main north of English Street,
are demolished. Most OF thin are OF
wood, but one was large brick house,
owned by Mr.. Fisher. Fred Fa]k's
house on English Street was comple tely
wrecked. Mary houses on North Wis
consin Street were more or !; IS dam
aged. One house on High Street,
facing east, wae picked up and ap-
pesred to float in tie air twenty feet
above the earth, and when 1t aliyhte1 it
vas ia tolerable state OF PREF e1vatiop,
ard fac, d south. A barn on Milw ukee
Street was lifted into the air and it came
down underside up, presenting strange
appearance. Sidewalks in the track ol
the cyclone were drawn into the air,
trees torn up by the roofs, ard out.
houses. etc., were no more than
feathers waited by breeza.
Fourteen persons were in Petura's
saloon, on Douglas Avenue, and, though
the two story brick building in which II
was located was reduced to q mere pile
: Of bricks and mortar, no one was seri
ously injured. Beach's barn was taken
up into the air, and, after whirling like
top, alighted in good order on its side,
like ship on her beams. The faz
mills, the vinegar manufactcry, and the
brick yards Of William Baumaps shared
the common fate of destruction. The
roof of Bettroy's bakery was lifted off
and on the same street, s.. Clair, tht
cupola of Father Matthew Hall Wal
damaged. The 7:1O train from Chicago
was delayed a mile north of the city BY
house which had been picked up b.!
the cyclone and deposited squarely or
the rails.
The scene among the dead, wounded
and dying at the northern part of The
city was one painful beyond description
In: many instances surviving relatives
had lost all semblance of reason. Physi
clans were not numerous enough to Civ
prompt assistance and numerous bleed
ing victims were rolled up in blanket
while anxious relatives ran in. every di
rection to secure medical aid.
A feature of the result of the storm il
that the houses in general appear t.
have exploded. Those within the storm
center were in vacuum, and the pres
sure Of the dir from the inside acted a
an explosive. Some few houses wer
lifted and carried bodily for short dis
tarce, and here the occupants farce
better than those in the storm center
All the physicians in the city wer
called into service, and responded nob]..
to the call for help. AS fast as they wer
extricated from the debris the wounde'
were examined, and when their conditio!
permitted were conveyed to st. Luke
aud St. Mary's Hospitals.
Fully twenty five people were kille'
and as many as one hundred injured
One hundred aud fifty houses were de
molished, and had the cyclone struc
near the business center the damag
would have been incalculable. A
!, Western Union Junction, seven mile
westof Racine, many houses were ruined