St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-14


pearance. Mr.. Schurmeier's clothes
hung upon his body almost
in shreds. Clots of blood disfg-
ured his face and head. and he
looked and felt overpowered with nerv-
Gus exhaustion. Mrs. H. G. Schurmeier's
condition was even more pitiable. She
had been stopping at Lake Gervals for
the benefit of her health, and the buffet
ing she had experienced, in addition to
crippling leg, gave her the appearance
of being on the verge of death. The
female servant looked terror-stricken.
Her head was cut severely. MIR. Schur-
meier could not give coherent account
of the awful disaster which had over
taken his family. All he could say was:
Cyclone; Lake Gervais; four killed
and my mother missihg."
There was o delay in having the suf-
ferers conveyed to their home on Ra-
vine street, near Maria avenue, Day
toms bluff. DR.. Amoss, the deputy cor
oner, was quickly notified, as we'll as
half dozen other doctors. Capt. Hanft
and officers of the Margaret street po-
lice station accompanied the doctors to
the scene.
And what scene it was!
Two honrS before Nature looked re-
splendent in her own lovelinesS.
Now the shore of the lake was strewn
with wreckage, trees were lying about
on all sides, and a mass of wood, furni-
ture and mud was all that remained of
two beautiful summer cottages, which,
a few hours before, rang with the merry
laughter of light-hearted innocence.
There were several men about-pale-
faced men, excited and almost incohe-
rent in their speech. They were stand
ing on the ruins of the cottages occu
pied by j. III. Schurmeier and Emman-
uel Good. The cottages were situated
in little hollow on the side of the high
down to the shore, The cottages were
surrounded on both sides by groves of
large fOliaged trees, and straight across
the river could be seen Kohlman lake.
A few hundred yards away. at the top
of the bank, in the midst of a
thickly wooded grove, was the
farm house inhabited by Mrs. Mu-
lancy and her four children. There
were large number of visitors stop
ping at the Schurmeier and the Good
cottages. Mr.. and Mrs. Schurmeier, in
addition to their son Charlie, Hub G.
Schurmeier and wife, son-in-law George
Miller and wife, had visiting them Mr..
and Mrs. Pfaefe, of Brennan, Tex.
Mrs. Good was entertaining, IN addition
to her son-in-law, DR.. Eachus and wife.
Miss Minnie Miss. Miss Carrie Miss.
Gussie King, Simon Good and
party than the two families
and their friends could not have been
found. The lake reverberated with their
merry laughter. Danger was undreamt
of, and death thing of the future.
The present was too full of life and
hope for any such foolish thoughts.
But, alas! uncertain is the tenure of
life. The cottages which in the morn
ing were tenanted with buoyant, robust
life, in the evening marked the death
of four people.
The first intimation of the storm was
noticed about $50 o'clock, but no one
dreamt that it would be more than
temporary upheaval of the elements.
Danger? The bare thought was scoffed
at and dismissed in moment. Towards
o'clock the clouds assumed more
threatening aspect, but not sufficient to
damp the merriment of the young peo-
pie lOunging about the lake shore or
boating and fishing upon the lake.
But at half after there was a crash
which made many strong hearts trem-
BILE, and blanched the cheek of every
woman.
There was scurrying to the cottages
on Lake Gervais and Lake Kohlman,
while many hurriedly searched for pro-
lection under trees and behind hillocks.
A scene followed, which, as Attorney
Woodruff put it:
my dear sir, it battles all descrip-
tion.' -
The wind had first commenced to blow
from the northwest. Shortly after
wards 1t commenced blowing directly
from the northeast, and then, as if the
whole universe was to be swept Off its
feet, the cyclone. came from the north
west. The first instinct of those who
were unfortunate enough to be caught
in its whirl was to save their
life. Life! Everybody clung to it
with dire tenacity. Many quaked
with fear, but those who saw