New-York tribune., 1886-04-26
THE MINNESOTA TORNADO.
IT'S HARVEST OF RUIN AND DESPAIR.

frROM ~ OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNE
ST. CLOUD, April 22.-The desolaiion here
Is almost indescribabc. The horror Of tho first day
two has passed-of the women AMI Children warderni
WecpnR through the ruins. OF the dead bodies beni
dragged from the debris OF the dazed htplessncss ant
dospair OF men suGdcnly brought face 10 face with des
tnton and bereavement. The acute anguish OF those
horrors OF the first stormy night and the frst cherries
day break mas gone happily; nut the sont wretcheh
ress and utter desoation which remain are hardly less
pathetic.
The rress pi the country has orea1y been literally
suppeI with facts and figures and Typographical de-
scIipions of the calamity But facts and figures are
powerless to measure the tepth and breadth OF the
misery. Seventy five people have been killed One
hundred and nity lie dangerously wounded in the
hosfital Two hundred families destitute All this
IL true and each fact necessary to a complete apprc
citation Of The work which thc tornado has Done. But
they all cannot within any reasonable distance OF
conveying complete appreciation OF it in Themselves
For that ia necessary walk through the ruins;
tie piled wreckage stretching in level surface
what was closely built town sites and 10 track 1.-THE
broad pathway, debrs-s,rewn, acros. the twenty
miles Of prairie which the storm swept after finish
ing the worst of It's crpel work.
The injury to st. Cloud was comparatively slight
Twenty two people killed it is But that is
small percentage OF city of 1000 people. The storm
here only struck the outskirts OF the town. shore on
Of the ragged fringe OF poor dwellings which spread out
over the prairie. The town Itself remains unnurt
In sauk Rapids IT Is diheron' Here scattered shred
or two Of the nsc Is all that remains The wi ole fabric
D the garment gone Three folr houses battered
rent and half thrown down. stand the ower South
end OF what once tie town. Twice many remain
intact at the other Bat the town itself has gone
wiped completely out OF existence. Not a single store
remains; place OF business bat hotel and a
shattered mat-house. For tie rest a wilderness of
broken lumber, spntercd lath ragmentary household
goods, scattered stocks from stores-wth over ali
ponotony of dust AMI pulverzed raster from the in
terors OF housess what romans The town lies lay
the left bank OF the Mississippi The main street ran
parallel with tie stream From there the closely built
blocks sopsd slowly upward t. a low ridge "buh ."
which ovorooks the country tAird OF milo back
from the river bank standing the road by the river
look up the gradual sloIe to the l-tOp
the debris, and find nothing to Obstruct the eye
higher than the ten foot emnence Of the vault over
which courthouse stood and the hali-rrined lower
story of what a brick bank building. Nothing
else in all the broad expnse rises more than two three
above the level OF tine plain. Then standing the
hill look down upon the river, to which from his
very feet lies the same level stretch OF wreckage;-
ragge il is Of course in ounc horrd with spnteied
and tsttered garments but nowhere is there
great inequality OF surface but that onchai OF
Office desk on tho top OF tumulas Of fragments
easily arrests tho eye. and dead horse a dead
serves a land mark There are-here in the central
rart OF the tornado half standing walls, houses
arty wrecked. The work ruthlessly complete.
complete that it Is impossible resist the suggestion OF
all intelligent malisnity having inspired 1t.
The very fact It's striking Sauk RaTds is cruelty
picable. Tne town did not lie In its direct path, for
it struck tie river fully nile below. travelling ap
roXimatey at right angles TO the stream. Had kept
its road tho very southern extremity of Sauk Rapids
wonll have been saved by clear three quarters o:
tornado deliberately swung out way
to attack the place; swee ing aboriously out OF its
proper up the I'LL II dir ectly
of the centre OF the town, and then turned once
(when another quarter mile OF deviation would have
rendered it harmess into its old road and smote the
town out OF existence. 1t all gratuitous so
want0n.
And the same thngs seen again in many places on the
praries. tho part the path which the storm
left fairly straight with clear edges, marked
prairie sections by the broad wake of scattered
wood and household articles and in the woodland by
clean swath cut through the standing trees But III
several places it has turned aside and unless to
grasp outlying farmstead whioh would otherwise
escaped Those who watched 1t say that the dark
pillar OF cloud passed rapidly open spaces and only
when it TO building did it Oiter. More than one
has described to your pondeht how when had
enveloped house it would STAY for a moment while,
usually, it sDatched IT up whole into itself then ground
pieces In the air and dashed it again IN fragments
to the ground. AMI what thorough work 1t made Of il!
That walls should be shatterel roofs splntered aIger
articles Of furniture broken pieces only
pected But how why did II demollsh every little
thngl There is nothing left whole. 1t seems to have
set Itself deliberately to leave nothing perfect in the
land Table knives snsI ped in two. forks have one
tire twisted Scissors haye their limbs apart keys
broken, every small box smashed In. There will bo
salvage sales, rebate the loss. And 1t is hard
to convince oneself that the Work was all blind and
IN eiligent.
Or tornado stories pentifu-taes OF the
strange vagares OF the storm and the paraity OF its
But such have been told before OF every |
OrnadO and at best they only cCnecturally true
Many curious freaks, of course 1t played sometimes
,wirliug away tine lower story wing
sometimes lifting loaded wheat from the track and
throwing thom half dozen rods to drop by the of
weight which Stands unhurt; sometimes tearing the
metals from the railroad trace aud leaving the wooden
plaukins OF platform unlnUved. Resistance see MS TO
nave been the surest prelude to utter demolition II
anything ESCAPED, II the and frai But this is
,ny true OF the skirts OF the path that swept where
he storm caught only with half It's strength In tho
entral Roadway Of destruction nothing is left OK
eption however should be made TO tins On the out
airs OF St Cloud stands Benedctine hospital Right
~ its doors wIeckage Is strewn. ON either side OF il
verythng has gone; but apparently through rem. IN
he midst of the clodd the hos ptaI passed untouched
There are now fty wounded lying enderiy cared for in
lie building who had it been wrecked would have been
likely To fare badly for treatment in their sickness
'erhaps the tornado had some ruth, after all.
You have heard doubtless OF the destruction OF the
Wedding party. have the house to-day-hslf a |
lozen logs piled together couple OF acres covered with
ebrs much spnered furniture chiI Of crockery (on
ghlch no doubt the wedding feast PREF ared ard
altered rags OF dresses OF what probably the brides
rousStdt There were thirty nine people at the we'd
-hcIudlng the principals. At 3 clock they knelt
pray Tor hold church the survivors who ara ALI
her Poles Germans called and they we're still on
ner knees, when without a DOuents waning. the
Ouse was snacled up TO be dashed down again leaving
ev"h corpses In it, ruins, and fourteen OF the
company so badli injured tdat hay since died and
" the others the doctors hesitate to give an opinion
some OF all the thirty nine escaped unhurt and among
lie dead are tie groom and the brides si,er The
ide widow herself is lying In with dsocated
'ukle "a broken collar bone and her whole person
bruised and SCARED. She prrt lace Of
transparent blonde type. with clear biue eyes an opep
'r,w In The COT opposite 10 her lies her father;
o him the brother OF tie bridegroom. Think OF all the
aia feast that historians poets have told oi-from
IerOdOus with The Persian lords stabbed each AT the
able by his neghbOr, TO sir Walter Scott with tho |
overs crumOng tine swellers In the feudal nall
md there L. OF them Dicturesquely rathetic
han this wedding parry at the Scholz homestead on tho
iiuncsOta prairie.
FELIX ADLER on PULPIT RRPORM
Felix Adler told n large audience at CHECKER
ng Hall yesterday what the pulpit wore IN