St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-08

storm occurred at the residence or the
late Capt. ]. NJ. Mccarthy The family.
sought shelter In narrow hole beneath,
the kitchen. The building was moved.
from its foundation, crashing down.
upon them, resulting In the death of
Jury of Mrs. Mccarthy. Mrs. Nc
Carthy tells the following story:
The Mothers Story.
About 2 o'clock, and during the
height of the storm the children
urged that the house would surely blow
away, and wanted to go to the coal bin
for safety. The bin was place cut in
the floor of a shed and sunk into the
ground couple of feet. The hole in
the ground was about even full with
COAL On the north side of this bin was
pantry about four or five feet wide.
Mrs. Mccarthy decided to 60 to this bin,
and accordingly laid carpeting on the
coal. Belle and Mamie went IN first
each holding younger child in her lap.
Mrs. Mccarthy entered last, the baby
laying her head on her lap. One other
child was ON the carpet between Mrs.
Mccarthy and the older girls. They
were necessarily huddled close together.
Suddenly the house was felt to
move, and in an instant every one of
the children were crushed to death pn-
der the pantry, the house having fallen
toward the south. Mrs. Mccarthy
found herself firmly pinned down by
the sill. which rested across her right
arm and both legs, and she was abso-
lutely helpless. She was held in such a
manner as to be almost doubled up, and
it was three hours before she was re-
leased. She felt her strength fast leav-
ing her when she heard the barking of a
dog, and, concluding that some one was
about, she screamed for help. 1t was a
man hunting for his cow. and he imme-
diately responded to her call and went
for help. She says that all but one of
her children died almost Immediately.
One of the pool little sufferers means
continued for an hoar or more before
death relieved it of its Sufferings. When
help at last arrived Mrs. Mccarthy was
| completely exhausted. 1t was. but the
work of moment to saw off the sill
that pinned her down, and subsequent
ly, by means of jack screws
and levers, the floor was
raised up, when the lifeless
forms of her seven loved ones were one
by one removed. They are all more or
less mangled. and the discoloration of
their faces seems to indicate that death
was caused by their being smothered.
The names of the dead were given
by Mrs. Mccarthy as follows:
Rose Isabella, nineteen years
old; Mary Alice. sixteen years;
Frances Anna, fourteen years; James
Francis. twelve years; Justin, six
years; Josephine, five years; Luella.
three years. The tin roofs of nearly
every business block in the city
Were Completely Torn Off.
| or so badly wrecked as to be worth
less. and in many instances great dam
age was done to lower stories
by water running in. All the electric
light towers were leveled to the ground.
Nearly every street in the city is filled
with debris of all descriptions inter-
woven and bound together by a perfect
network of telegraph, telephone and
| electric light wires, which it will take
| days to straighten out. No particular
| portion of the city seems to have
been exempt from the tornado
| but all suffered about the same. Build
| ings were moved from the foundations
and blown to pieces, roofs and portions
| of walls are gone, windows blown in.
and such other disasters as heavy wind
only can cause. Scarcely block
from west or north escaped with
out total or partial demolition
of its face. A singular freak
OF the wind was blowing of E. P. Sundt
barg's large plate glass from the Wess
front of the window. Its fragment,
were scattered from Davis block to
the rear of Shattuck & Bishops stables
and, although not a piece OF it was left
in the frame, there was not a trace OF
| water in the store. What makes this
seem all the more peculiar is the fact
that the wind was blowing from the
west, the very direction in which glass
was scattered. Among the buildings
| DESTROYED were the following: The
| Great Northern freight depot is i'll
| ruins. The walls collapsed and the
| twisted and severed structure set
tied down over the platform. 1t is g
total loss. The Northern Pacific anC
| Milwaukee freight depots are also sadly
demolished. The damage to the North
ern Pacific machine shops is estimated
at $4,000. Plymouth Congregations
| church was scattered to the four winds
of heaven, but the loss is covered by
| tornado insurance. The First Congre
gational church is wreck, and
Twisted Out of Shape.
| The Episcopal church is damaged tt
the extent of $4,000. From the sur
rounding country within a radius O
thirty miles reports of damage to grow
| ing crops come IN. Many places where
wheat was standing two to three fee
high, and heading out, reports
say it is badly lodged, and il
torn to pieces or broken off. Farm
houses. barns and outbuildingS in al
directions are reported leveled to th'
ground, and trees along the river bank
for miles in both directions from
this city were broken off entir'
or shorn of their limbs ant
foliage. Casselton reports bridges
in all directions washed out or blown
away. In Mapleton nearly every build
ing bears marks of the storm, and ;
number of persons were badly injured
At Durbin there was heavy hail storm
accompanied by wind. and great dam
age was done to crops of all kinds. Th
track of the hail storm was about tw'
and half miles wide and twenty mile
long. In Wheatland numerous build
ings were blown down, and the damag
to crops from hail is considerable. A
AYR, nine mules and two horse
were killed by one flash of lightnin!
which ran along the wire fence, strlk
ing the animals huddled together in
corner of field. Gen. Sargents barn
6Oxl25, was completely demolished
and it's contents, consisting of farm
machinery and utensils, scattere
far and wide. Wire servic
out of the city is so badly demoraliZe
that only meagre reports can be OF
tanned or sent out. From all direction
come about the same stories as above
The total damage wrought in Farg
alone is estimated at about $4,000.