Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-04-09
swept BY A TORNADO.
Tremendous Loss of Life and Property
in the West.
Poles Blown Down by the Hundreds. aud
the Wires All Tangled Up.--No TeIe-
graphic Com nunicniion.


the Wires All Tangled Up.--No TeIe-
graphic Com munieation.
despatch from Kansas City. Mo, says:
Kansas was swept by tornado which brought
death and destruction with it and lel; in its
track wrecked homes and hundreds of weep
ing people, who searched among the ruins for
the bodies Of their loved ones who we're eaught
by the falling walls aud timbers.
Butler County seems to have been she scene
ofthe greatest havoc. The town of Towanda
was entirely wiped Of the face of the earth,
and Augustaa few miles distant was butleted
out of all semblance to its former self
Not house or building was left standing
in Towanda. The town was asleep when the
storm swept down. raised everything in its
path, and left dead bodies lying in lis wake
-Four bodies have been recovered from the
ruins already searched. Twenty pers ms are
f'tally hurt aud forty more seriously injured,
besides large number more or less MANNED
At Augusta three were killed outright,
Harmon Hoskins, James Barnes and the iu-
FAINT child of VIII Rhodes, who was blown out
of IFS mothers arms and dashed against a
brick wall. Rhodes himself is fatally injured
teen others were hurt more or less seriously.
MANY KILLED AT WELLINGTON.
Apparently the same storm touched at
kiowa and Wellington. In Kiowa the Mis-
souri, Pacific depot and = number Of dwellings
and buildings were demolished aud though
no loss of life is known several minor mis-
haps are reported The damage to property
was great.
William Litle's house, south of yelling.
ton, was blown TO splinters and Little aud
five children were killed. Joe Waltons house
was picked up aud thirteen of the occupants
were more or less injured Sam Butterworth's
house and its occupants were carried 800
yards in the air and some Of the family fatally
hurt.
A despatch from Fort Scott states that South
elsIern Kansas was visited by one of the
strongest wind storms for years. At Atchison
the gale began at midnight but no damage
was done to speak Of until nearly noon next
day, when tornado visited the city and un-
rooted and demolished several large buildings
and scattering signs. awnings etc, In every
direction. The Santa Fe depot was uurooiel
and the scholastic convent demolished. Tne
warehouse of the Thrall and Company was
DESTROYED and the grocery Of the saylor Com
pany is in ruin.
The roof of the prison was carried of and
portion of the building demolished. A small
house in the Missouri Pacific yards was blown
into the river Hundreds Of chimneys were
blown down and great deal Of light damage
done. Heavy damage in the country was
done to fruit trees.
AT ST. Joseph nearly every telegraph aud
telephone wire IN the city has been torn down
numerous small houses demolished 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
pirt Of the city brick house was blown
down, burying Tillie Bushnell, aged years
and seriously injurng her. At the factory Of
Tootle, Hosea & Co., there was a stampede of
the several hundred girls. About 10 o'clock
violent gust Of wind tore a portion of the
roof OIL the factory.
At Lawrence the wind blew gale. Obser.
vatons taken by Chancellor Snow of the State
University showed that the wind at times at
tanned velocity of eighty -four miles nm hour
Many buildings wero unroofed and outh0uses
demolished The roof of tho Haskell Hosp-
tai was blown away and it was necessary TO
anchor the building with cables to prevent II
blowing over.
In Kansas City the wind reached velocity
Of sixty -four miles The damage consisted
principally of roots blown away and plate
glass windows broken. The roof OF the hi III
school was blown off. The roof Of an apart
mcnt house was blown away, a grocery store
lost its roof and portion OF its front. Signs
we're blown down ell over the city.
LATEB.-Half hundred names compose
the list of those killed in Kansas by the
cyclone, and still the death-roll is incomplete.
The details OF the disaster so far as it affected
the towns of the stricken section are now
elieved to be complete, but many Of the
casualties in the country regions are still
unrecorded.
Four towns are wiped from the face Of the
earth and dozen or so others were more or
lrss damaged. The locations Of New Haven
fowanda, Augusta and Smolan are now
marked only by wreckage and piles Of splin-
tered timber, which before composed the
houses OF t5e town.