Los Angeles herald., 1890-07-15
THECYCLONE'S HAVOC
Windswept Fields and Shores
Of Minnesota.
Particulars Of Sunday Nights
Awful Storm.
Its Terrible Work of Destruction at
Lake Gervais.
Huge Treos Torn From Their Roots and
Hurled Through the Air Like
Wisps of Straw
Associated Press Dispatches.

correspondent of the Associated Press
from st. Paul to the scene of the ter.
rible cyclone. No sign of the terrible
havoc was visible until the top of the
hill overlooking the little valley was
reached, where, on the side OF a hill, was
house belonging to Mr.. Harris, with
the roof blown off and part of the south
side blown away and outbuildings scat
tered around in a most demoralized con-
dition. No one was hurt at this point.
A quarter mile north the whole scene of
destruction lay spread before the eye.
Along the shore, at the point where the
storm turned and crossed the lane, stood
the houses of Schurmeir and Good, and
another house in which each had an
interest. All these were utterly demol-
ished. All trees in the neighborhood
were torn and twisted, stripped of bark
and limbs, and from the mangled
trunks of many hang articles of clothing
or bedding. In the lake are the bodies
of four horses, floating amid heaps of
boards and house timbers. Here,
probably, will be found the bodies
of the missing, as they could not be
found in the stacked up boards and the
furniture on the land.
The Force Of the Storm.
As illustrating the force of the wind,
an iron pump and twenty-five feet of
iron pipe were torn from the we'll in
front of the Good residence, twisted and
bent almost double, and deposited fifty
yards from the well. On the edge of the
water is pile of boards covered with turf,
lifted from swamp 200 feetaway Strewn
all about are pieces of furniture, books
and stoves. Wells and cellars are filed
with building debris, and in Schur-
meir's cellar lie the mangled remains OF
horse. The ground about these houses
has the appearance from distance oil
having been gone over with a plow
while from this point on to Galztke's
trees are blown down in vast numbers
and crops demolished.
At Lake Gervais.
At Lake Gervais the dead and missing
are: Peter Nielsen, George J. Miller,
Rev. Dr., Phaefle, of Brennan, Texas !;
Mrs. J. II. Schurmeir and Charles
Schurmeir.
Tonight it is ascertained that the num-
ber of seriously injured in the vicinity of
Lake Gervais is nine. Of these Mrs.
Lincoln Clarke, Miss Minnie Meiss,
Frank Melancon, Mrs. Melan-
con, John, Guenther and Simeon
Good wi die. Mr.. Schurmeir,
Mrs. Good and Mrs. Hubert Schurmeir.
while terribly injured, will likely re-
Pocidno fhaoa oh0,,f Nv, al
ers were painfully bruised and cut, but
not seriously injured.
The Sights Are Awful.
The sights about Lake Gervais are
awful. The sites of the Good and
Schurmeir cottages are marked only by
their foundations, while the ground for
a radius of an acre or more is strewn
with debris of all kinds. Near the cellar
of the Shurmeir house lies drive-well
with twenty feet of cast-iron pipe which
was literally torn from the ground, while
on the shores of the lake, fully 100 feet
away, is the piano which formerly stood
in the parlor OF the cottage. Huge trees,
some OF them three and half feet in
diameter, have been broken off close to
the ground and are scattered about in
all directions. Chickens without
feather on them litter the ground, and
articles of wearing apparel are to be seen
sticking in trees and bushes half mile
away. In swamp near the lake shore
are number of splinters and boards
sticking bolt upright like field of corn.
All along the road from Gervais to
Vadnais the houses have been more or
less damaged; some houess have the
shingles torn off the roofs, others have
the chimneys blown down, and others
whole sections of the buildings car
ried away.
Temporary Hospitals.
Nearly all the houses and hotels in the
vicinity have been turned into tempo
rary hospitals. At Paul Mellette's resi-
dence, at Little Canada, are Moses Mel
aeon, his wife and three children, all of
whom are seriously injured.
At Kohlmann's hotel are Minnie
Meiss and Joseph Bernard. Miss Meiss
is suffering intensely from wound in
her chest, made by an iron spike which
was driven almost through her body,
and her recovery is impossible.
A camping party was on the southeast
shore of Lake Gervais. They ran from
their tent and sought the shelter of an
overhanging bank just in time to save
their lives. The tent and all its con-
tents were swept into the lake.
The number of persons injured at all
the different points is large, and the list
is being made up slowly.
Mr. Schurmeir's Story.
Mr.. j. S. Schurmeir has recovered
sufficiently to be able to relate what he
knows concerning the storm. They had
noticed the storm brewing, and as it
came upon them he had risen to close
the window which the storm had blown
open. The next thing he knew he was
twirled about in the air at a rapid rate.
On coming to his senses he found him
self near the edge of the lake.
Making his way up from the
lake he came across the remains of
his son-in-law, j. G. Miller, and
afterwards those of 'Pete," his compan-
ion. He does not know anything OF
those in the cottage with him, after he
rose to close the window.
The storm struck the French settle
ment half mile north Of Little Canada,