Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-28
) ~;rds. The storm struck ths

h;cb Winds. The storm struck tins
northwest corner. blowing IN the
roof and the greater portion OF
| the walls OF the third and fourth
stories. The south wall, at the east ena'
was blown into the street and three per
sons were caught and killed. All others
succeeded in getting out OF the building
| alive. The Jail is located in the basement
of the building, and that portion escapeu
;ni,ry. Judge Slower had been holding
court on the third floor and had adjourned
ilst before the storm descended. A por-
ton OF the roof in falling struck the char
the Judge had just vacated.
Across tho street. on the northwest cor
ner OF Second and Main streets, stood q
two-story brick building erected in 1850
by the Santa Fe Stage Company, one OF
the oldest buildings in the city, from which
the stages formerly were started across
the plains in the stage-coachinS days.
The building has OF late years
been occupied by the United States
engineers. Adjoining that on the west was
Il three-story brick coffee and spice mill.
owned by Smith g. Moffatt. This building
was demolished, and, falling over upon the
| adjoining one, wrecked it also completely.
Frank Smith, the senior partner OF the
firm, was taken bleeding from the ruins
and died in a short time. Three Others
were killed. Mr.. Moffatt was badly hurt
and three employees were taken out badly
bruised.
The second span from the north end OF
the bridge across the Missouri, opposite
the CITY, was blown into the river. the
piers being left apparently uniniured. A
great number OF telegraph wires were car
ried down with the broken span. The
bridge is owned by the Hannibal st.
T.-.-l. ~~l ;c ,,sn1 hv that
road, the Wabash, the Rock Island and
Kansas City, ST. Joseph e. Council Bluffs.
The bridge owners say that they expect to
repair it in ten days. Meanwhile the rail-
roads will make temporary arrangements
for transporting passengers and freight.
The storm is generally considered a hur-
ricane, not q ornado or cyclone. 1t was
a tremendous gale of wind with flooding
rainfall. The telegraph and telephone
wires were FRUSTRATED to the extent OF to-
tai stoppage OF business for q time. The
Western Union had but one wire working
out OF the city until night, when several
more were obtained. Communication has
been resumed with Chicago and st. Louis,
Omaha and Denver, besides the South, but
work is carried on under great difficulties.
Meager reports are received here regard
ing the storm elsewhere. At Nortonville,
Kan, the Tines SPECIAL reports u total
damage OF about $40, 900. The depotand
f~iouring-mill were wrecked at Parkville. OH
the Council Bluffs road. The destruction
at Wyandotte, Kan, will probably aggre-
gate $40, 900. At Leavenworth several
buildings were unrooied; loss, 5000 or
Sc, 600. A merchant OF Odessa, Mo-, who
arrived here last night, reports the storm
very severe there, wrecking five churches,
two warehouses and several dwellings,. He
~, ~, %1o lD.a t1oua fro ~ ~ fnn IN. ,ur, I'D
HEAVY DAMAGE IN SOUTHERN INDIANA.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. May ia very Sc
we're storm, with violent wind, rain and
lightning, visited here last evening, doing
damage amounting to about $50, 600.
The African Baptist Church, a large brick
building, was crushed in and several
persons preparing for a festival narrowly
escaped with their lives. Sinzich's boat
store had the upper portion wrecked, AND
the roofs were stripped from a number @!
stores, causing great damage to goods.
Fences, trees and chimneys were blown
down by the hundred, The steamers, tugs
and other water craft on the river wealth.
cred the gale with difficulty and considera-
bile damage. A colored man named Dam
iels was struck by lightning and will die.
Two unknown men in a skiff OH the river
were lost. There are rumors OF loss OF life
and great damage in Illinois west OF here.
AT LEAvENwoKTH.
LEAvENwoRTH, Kan, May 12.-At eleven
O'Clock yesterday q fierce tornado struck
this, city and did an immense amount Of
damage to property. The Morse school
building, in which were a superintendent,
twelve teachers and 600 scholars, was the
first large building struck. Half OF the
roof was biown off, but not one per-
son was hurt. The gale then struck
the north end OF the new market
house, tearing a bout forty feet of the roof
away and scattering in every direction,
killing three horses, dangerously wound
ing one man, and damaging a stodl OF
hardware to the extent OF about 81, 900.
Two railroad bridges were washed away
ono at Easton, on the Kansas Central, and
one at Paramount, on the Union Pacific.
Eight barns were blown down in Salt
Creek valley, eight miles west OF here.
a DESTRUCTIVE STORM IN VIRGINIA..
PETERSBURG, Va, May IA fierce
wind-storm, accompanied by rain and
hail, passed over Dlnwiddie County and
into Chesterfield County yesterday, wreck
ing barns, houses and fences. Huge trees
were uprooted and their branches twisted
into every imaginable shape. The roar of
the wind was SO fierce that it created great
conformation among the residents Of the
localities through which it passed.