People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1892-04-08
THE MAD WORK DONE AT NIGHT

On Thursday evening of last " aal
March 81, the most destructive and
ruinous cyclone that has ever F asOod
over Sumner county since its sett,o
ment, entered the county alm( Of dino
south of Wellington, took Il ,rtboast
couloe uilVll "i'nin "oouV VI ZEE miles
of Oxford, when it split into ,vo nartS
one part of the terrible destr over GOING
uue hoiVn "nu 'n0 o'noi winging to
the east doing its awful vork of do.
struction for several miles wbon Sooro
ingly all the dreadful ' ,hirlinc mass
Joined together again and nassed IN
througn Vhe noI 'ue"''p art of the coun-
ty, playing sad havoc with everything
IN lVS patl"ay' ul'll treached the cor
ner of this county, tn an entered Rut,er
county, where it left nothing but de.
struction and death hebind If,
The writer, after lookino ovar q NOR
tOVhlIS ONtl pOI-
uoh OF the ruins made by this awful
tornado REALIZES hat it is beyond his
aDlllty 10 MAKE pen picture of the
awful scene thu { would make q casnal
reader, who has never witnessed anv.
thing OF the X md, family realize how
completely it did its work of wreck
and rum. II . is impossible for one who
has never witnessed a terrific wind
storm OF IL selects, to be brought to a
full reallz alton of what it means or
how thor oughly it performs its awful
work OF devastation. 1t would take
many C olumns to describe the minor
CASUAL ties of this cyclone.
It's useless to attempt to enter into
deta' Isl of the losses of the many fami-
lies Who were robbed of homes and all.
A. description of apOrtion of the track
of the cyclone, passed over by the wri-
ter the next day, and the condition in
which it left few of the many farms
and homes it destroyed, can be simi-
larly compared with every home that
happened to be in its pathway There
were many conflicting reports out and
the writer, to get correct idea, visited
the scene and trayersed several miles
of the country whereit passed through.
Leaving Oxford and going west, the
first place visited was the place of 7.
N. Boyer. He had large barn and
many out houses totally demolished
and scattered in every direction.
Nearly all his farm machinery was
torn to pieces. While this wreck at
Mr.. Boyer's would seem bad enough,
he was fortunate compared tohis neigh
bors farther south. He heard the storm
coming and took his family into Gel
lar under house separate from his
main dwelling. This building over the
cellar was raised and dashed to pieces,
while his dwelling house only a few
feet away was not damaged in the
least. While some of the family were
slightly bruised, no one was killed OF
seriously injured here.
The next place visited was the home
of ]. W. Bartlett. No one was killed
or injured here, but Mr.. Bartlett's
house was taken off the foundation
one side of the kitchen blown out and
the whole building so shattered and
wrecked that it is almost a total loss
He lost his barn, Outbuildings, and a
fine orchard was terribly demoralized
No stock killed, but one colt was badly
hurt.
The home of Mr.. Eckard, only q
short distance from Mr.. Bartlett's, wa;
wiped out of existence and nothing re
mains of the house but the foundation
Nobody killed here, but Mr.. Eckart
had a collar bone broken.