Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-04-07
Kansas Towns Wrecked.

single storm in the State, swept over
southwestern Kansas, leaving in Its
wake death and destruction. The storm
seems to have first descended upon Kio-
wa, and jumped from there to New
Haven, Sumner County, through which
county 1t cut swath nearly mile wide
wherever it descended to earth. Jump
ing Sedgwick County the wind next bonn
barded Butler County, to the southeast,
and almost obliterated the villages
of Augusta and Towanda, leaving
so little standing in the latter
that It is a marvel how q soul
escaped. But one building was left
intact in Towanda, place of 800 souls.
Five people were killed outright. Ten
more are fatally injured and half
hundred more or less seriously manned.
At Augusta three were killed. One OF
these was a child Of viii Rhodes. The
child was blown out of its mothers
arms, and its head and body were later
picked up hundred feet apart. Rhodes
is fatally injured, and fifteen others
were badly hurt. At Kiowa, the Mis-
souri, Pacific depot and large number
OF buildings were demolished, but no
loss of life is reported. Sumner county
suffered largely both in loss of life and
property. For fifteen miles everything
the wind came in contact with was razed.
Near New Haven Ben H. Maple and
son, ]. Morehouse and Frank Shep-
hard are reported to have been
fatally injured. South Of We'll
lington William Little's house was
blown to splinters, and Little and four
children were killed. Joe Showalter's
house was picked up, and, with its thir-
teen occupants, carried 800 yards and
in nj hain0
seriously, some fatally, hurt Near
Portland John Bristow was killed.
South Haven suffered severely from the
storm, both in the way Of material
damage and in the number of lives lost.
The house of John Moorehouse was
leveled to the ground, and Moorehouse
and one child were killed, other men,
bers of the family escaping. John Bur-
masters house was crushed like an egg
shell, and the whole family was killed
In an instant. They are: John Bur-
master, wife and three children. Mrs.
Frank Sheppard was killed by flying
timbers. A score of other people were
injured in the storm. 1t is believed
that not half the casualties have been
reported The wires have been down in
all directions, and it will necessarily
take some time to get full reports from
lue TuIhi VI
houses have been demolished, grana-
ries overturned and grain scattered, and
a large number of cattle and horses
have been sacrificed
At Norfolk, Neb., the Episcopal Church
was entirely destroyed. The Congrega-
tional Church was unroofed and its
steeple and bell carried away. Whea-
toms planning mill was partly wrecked
and fifteen houses and barns were de-
moraliZed. The cyclone swept a track
through the city three blocks wide and
ten blocks in length. Many were Sc
riously injured by falling debris. Tele-
graph wires all over the State are pros
trated and it is impossible to obtain news
of the extent of the cyclone. The storm
travelled $50 miles over the richest graz
ing section of the State, dotted with
small towns and villages.
At Merrill, Wis, number of children
from 13 to 15 years old were assembled
in the German Lutheran Church, when
lightning struck the building, knocking
four of them to the floor. Ottilie Gilman
had one shoe torn off and was badly
burned and Lena Kunkel was burned
from head to foot. The others were not
seriously injured. All will recover.
After leaving the church the current
IL
Iowa was swept by the terrific wind
storm. In Des Moines damage was
done to hundreds of buildings. The
wind blew sixty miles an hour, and at
brief intervals reached as high as one
hundred. A section OF the ornamental
stone cornice was blown from the Sheer
Building and crushed to atoms at the
feet of pedestrian. Advices have been
received from the towns of Guthrie
Center, Panora, Dexter, Earlham, Green
field, Menlo, Casey, Adair and other
places to the effect that buildings have
been unroofed and great damage done.
A passenger train on the Burlington and
Northwestern narrow-g gauge road was
blown from the track forty miles west OF
Burlington while running at full speed.
A baggageman, a mail clerk and two
passengers are reported seriously in
jured.
At st. Joseph. Mo-, there Is hardly a
house not damaged more or less, and
many barns, outhouses and fences are
leveled. The loss will aggregate $50, 900.
In Chicago.
Death came with the storm in Chica-
go. A fury of rain and wind swept
across the city early In the evening. At
IA and 16 Pearce street, on the West
Side and close to the river, a tall brick
building stood in the open, with little
cottages clustered all about it. The
seven-story giant, rising in the midst of
the squatty frame buildings, was bat
tered blythe full force of hurricane that
caught the falling sheets of water and
tore them into shreds. 1t was an un-
finished structure, and the terrific gusts
of wind pushed into the open windows and
actually tore the fresh walls apart. The
building fell. Great masses of brick
crashed upon the houses all about and
ground them to pieces, bringing death
and ruin to a half dozen families. At
least five people are known to have
been killed. Ten were injured,
two OF them fatally. All night
busy workers toiled at the heaps
of debris, clearing away wreckage
and recovering the victims. The killed
are: Horace Mott, years. IL Pearce
street, head crushed; Edward Mott,
years, IL Pearce street, body crushed;
David Hulett, months, 1874 Pearce
street, head mashed by bricks; Mrs.
James Gowan, II Pearce street, body
not found; William Gowsn, 10 years,
body not found; Samuel Barsdale,
mechanic. 214 West Harrison street,
visiting the Gowan family, buried In the
niins; Mary Welch, Joliet, ILL.,, cousin of
Mrs. Gowan, buried in the ruins, The
building, q seven-story brick, fronted
on IA and 16 Pearce street, was 11S feet
long by 90 feet wide. 1t was erected by
Street, Young & Kent, manufacturers of
brass work. It was practically COM
plcted, the roof having been finished the