River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-06-02
FRIGHTFUI HAVOC.


The Cyeione's Awful Work in Kansas
Thriving cities Laid waste-A Total OF
Thrrty-three Lives Lost Enormous Dam
age to Property.
WELLINGTON, Kan, May 30.-The
mighty tornado which formed ia Har-
per county Friday night swept across
the counties of Harper and Sumner.
To add to the havoc wrought
by the twisting storm a water.
spout claimed its share of the
general wreck and devastated the
northern part of Harper coun
", while lightning added its fires.
Trees, barns, farmhouses and whole
towns went down before the terrible
force of the storm and human life went
out in the twiukling of an eye. Fifteen
dead at Wellington, seven at Harper
and five at Argonia compose the list OF
victims in the towns, while from the
country districts come reports of six
killed, making total of thirty three
dead.
ANTHONY, Kan, May 30.--The cy-
clone which swept through the city OF
Harper Friday night at 1880 o'clock de-
stroyed many lives, injured large
number of people and did an immense
amount of pecuniary damage. The
scene in the devastated town
is one of ruin and desti-
tuition. Hardly building in
the entire town escaped demolition, and
the place is strewn with debris from
end to end. 1t is almost miracle that
more lives were not lost. as the death
list contains now only six names. Many
were seriously injured and scores re-
ceived slight wounds
Nothing escaped the storms fury,
and great damage is not only done &c
houses and crops and trees, but thou
sands of dollars worth of stock has
been killed and injured. 1t is inn
possible at present to estimate
the entire loss sustained by tn.
city and surrounding country with
any degree of accuracy, but men who
have travelled over its course say that il
will not fail far short of $500, 600. Not
more than six out of the 500 or 900 resi-
dences of the city have escaped damage.
WELLINGTON, Kan, May 30.-Not I'M
til day broke Saturday was it possible
for any one To realize the volume of de-
struction by the cyclone Friday night.
Even then it was impossible to com
pute the damage to property and the
loss of life with anything like accuracy.
What is known to certainty is that
seventeen lives were lost and more than
$500. 600 damage was done in this city.
The list of dead will be greatly en-
larged beyond a doubt, for many OF
those who were hurt but are still alive
cannot recover from their injuries.
There are still in the ruins of the Phil
lips house, Standard block and other
buildings perhaps a dozen bodies. No
one knows how many But forty or more
persons are reported to be missing
SUMNER, Ill, May 30.-A cyclone did
some bad work a few miles north of
this city Saturday night at 8 o'clock,
but no loss of life is reported. The
storm passed in a northeasterly direc-
tion and whenever the funnel
shaped cloud struck the ground
it took everything with it.
The residence of Ben Barker
was completely demolished and not
building remains on his arm. His cat
tie were somewhat injured. All that
saved his family was the kitchen stove.
Mrs. Barker had presence of mind
enough to throw bucket of water
on the fire and then gathered her
children and secreted herself by
the stove. The house was lifted
up and the roof fell on
the stove and Mrs. Barker crawled out
from her secreted place without a
scratch. The home of George Daniels
was badly damaged and his stock in
jured. Several trees were uprooted in
this city. The Prairie Hall church was
almost completely blown down.
Caldwell, Kan, May 31.-Two dis
tinct tornadoes passed from southwest
to northeast north of Caldwell Sunday
night. One man is known TO have been
killed and much damage was done
to farm property. The funnel-shaped
clouds were distinctly visible from
both Caldwell and Conway Springs,
but no details of the destruc-
ton have been obtained yet. The first
storm is said to have seemed to carry
everything before it, but the swath cut
was narrower than usual.
CoRwIN, Kan, May 31.-A small tor
nado passed north of this city, doing
an immense amount of damage to the
farming com nunity, uprooting trees
and tearing down dwellings and barns.
No report of loss of life or injuries has
been received. One farmer lost ten
head of cows and three horses.
WELLINGTON, Kan, May 81 The
most terrific rainstorm that ever visited
this section fell between the hours of 2
and o'clock Monday morning. The
water came down in torrents, and
the streets were running rivers
within ten minutes. Unroofed
stores and residences were flooded,
greatly adding to the misery and
distress caused by the recent tor
nado. Merchandise in the debris which
could have been saved with partial
damage is now ruined. About twenty
prominent firms, occupying unroofed
buildings, are more or less damaged.
Many destitute people are sick
and suffering for the want of
food clothing and shelter and it is an
utter impossibility for those who still
have their houses intact to accommo-
date all. The situation can be better
appreciated when it is understood that
before the tornado there was not an
empty house in the city fit for habita-
ton. A large force of Lahore rs are at
work rebuilding the partially wrecked
buildings.