River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-04-07
WOE IN KANSAS
cyclone sweeps Away Parts of Many
Towns-A Great Number of Lives Lost.


KANSAS CITY, Mo, April "A tor
nado of mad destructiveness swept
over Kansas Thursday night. Butler
county seems to have been the scene of
the greatest havoc The town of To-
wanda was entirely wiped off the face
of the earth and Augusta a few miles
distant, was buffeted out of all sem
blance to its former self
Not house or building was left stand
ing in Towanda. The town was asleep
when the storm swept down. RACED
everything in its path and left dead
bodies lying in its wake. Six dead
bodies have been recovered from the
ruins already searched. Twenty per-
sons are fatally hurt and forty more
seriously injured, besides large num-
Der more or less manned.
Towanda is a village of 800 inhabit-
ants, situated 10 miles west of Eldora-
do. The storm laid the whole town
fiat with the earth and left not single
house standing. OF the eighty families
composing the population there is not
one that is not either mourning for a
dead or dying member or sorrowlng
with the suffering The killed are:
james Bailey, John Blake Herschel Cupp,
William Barley, DIR. d. d. Godfrey infant
child OF John Blake.
At Sdlina, Kan, the house of NJ. A.
Brather was carried from its founda-
tions and wrecked. The family were
at supper at the time and all were more
or less injured. One daughter had
leg broken and was internally injured.
Another was hurt about the back and
also sustained internal injuries. Neither
is likely to recover. A young son was
badly injured and bruised about the
head, but not fatally. The house of
Samuel Buchholder was demolished,
but the family escaped without injury.
Mrs. Zimmerman took refuge in the
cellar of her house. The house was de-
molished and Mrs. Zimmerman was
fatally injured.
AT Kansas City, Kan, Arm Connors,
aged years, was thrown violently TO
the ground and had his hip crushed.
Del March, girl aged II, was struck
by piece of flying sidewalk and sus-
tanned injuries that may prove fatal.
At Augusta three were killed outright
Harmon Haskins, James Barnes and
little child of Will Rhodes, who was
blown out of his mothers arms and
dashed against a brick wall. Rhodes
himself is fatally injured, as is also the
wife of Harmon Haskins Fifteen
others were hurt more or less seriously,
according to present reports, but all
wires are down and it is impossible to
get any detailed account from other
places.
Wellington aud vicinity suffered con-
siderably and several people were
killed. William Little's house, south
of Wellington, was blown to pieces
and Little and his four children were
killed. Joe Walters house was picked
up and thirteen of the occupants were
more or less injured. Sam Butter
worth's house and its occupants were
carried 800 yards in the air, and some
of the family were badly hurt.
AT st. Joseph nearly every telegraph
and telephone wire in the city has been
torn down, numerous small houses de-
molished and many large ones unroofed.
Thousands of dollars worth of damage
was caused by the breaking of plate glass
in store windows. In the eastern part of
burying Tillie Bushnell. aged years,
and seriously injuring her. A transfer
wagon blew over on Third and Mesanie
streets and the driver, Lee Salisbury
suffered broken collar bone. Several
horses were killed and the entire city
is strewn with wreckage.
There is hardly house in the city
not damaged more or less, and many
barns, outhouses and fences are leveled.
The loss will aggregate $4,000. The
large barn of the King Hill stock farm
is totally destroyed, but all the val
liable stock was removed before the
building was swept away. The loss is
IS, 000
Specials from Hiawatha, Kan; Sene-
ca, Oneida, Horton, Lawrence, Bolckow
and Maryville, Mo-, report great loss
At Atchison the gale began at mid
night Thursday night but no damage
was done to speak of until nearly noon
Friday, when tornado visited the city
and unroofed and demolished several
large buildings and scattered signs
and awnings in every direction.
South Haven suffered severely from
Jne STORM DOM III the way Oh IHdlcTldA
damage and in the number of lives lost.
The house of John Moorehouse was lev
eled to the ground and Moor house and
one child was killed, other members of
the family escaping. John Bur
masters house was crushed like an
eggshell and the whole family was
killed in an instant They are: John
Burmaster, wife and three children.
Mrs. Frank Sheppard was killed by fly
ing timbers. A score of other people
were injured in the storm, but 1T is be-
lieved no more fatalities occurred.
The storm, as far as can he deter
mined. swept across the country from
the Indian territory into the south
western part of Barber county, Kan,
taking the little town of Kiowa in
it's path. In northeasterly di-
rection it passed through Frazier
county and also the center of
Sumner county. Bending as bow, it
passed almost directly north through
the remainder of Sumner county and
along the w, stern part of Butler coun-
ty Village and farm houses were
ca ried aw as it swept along. The
tornado co tinued in Kansas and the
northwestern .'art of Missouri Friday,
but was less destI lctive.