The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-05-02
Six Persons Killed Outright
and Many Are Seriously
Injured.
SAFETY SOUGHT IN CELLARS.
The Storm Proceeded Slowly, But
Devastated Everything in Its
Pathway.


from Halstead, Kans., says:
| AT 4:30 o'clock this afternoon a fearful
cyclone devastated a strip of country sew
eral hundred yards wide and at least six
teen miles in length, killing six persons
outight and seriously injuring several
others, while many have received slight
| injuries. The cyclone first struck the
house of Mrs. Fry. a widow who lives
about nine miles southwest of Halstead,
completely destroying it, but only slightly
injuring Mrs. Fry.
| 1t next picked up the house of John
| Sultz and scattered it in every direction.
| The fine two-story house of Joseph Weir,
which had only recently been built at
cost of over $4,000, was entirely swept away,
killing Mrs. Weir, Grace Weir, aged eleven,
Hermann Weir, aged five, and a five
weeks-old badly. Mr.. Weir left the house,
and when the cyclone struck was about
| fifty yards away and chung to a tree. He
received injuries which may prove fatal
Joseph Weir Jr. and his sister Maud were
the only ones in the family who took to
the cellar, escaping with only slight
! bruises
The home of E. G. Caldwell, which was
| 100 yards to the west of the Weir home,
was unroofed and the south side torn
away. The family escaped by taking to
| the cyclone cellar. The next house in the
path of the storm was that of James Arm
strong, which was completely wiped from
the face of the earth, and Mr.. Armstrong
was killed, Mrs. Armstrong seriously and
probably fatally injured, and Grandma
Chaping, who was there, sick in bed, was
killed.
| About 100 yards from the house the
large two-story residence of B. E. Frizzel
was picked up, as was also large two
story house of ]. R. Frizzel, across the
road, and both, together with all the out
buildings, were completely swept away,
| leaving only debris to show that house
had stood there. The families of both the
Frizzels escaped injury, except Mrs. ]. R.
| Frizzel, who is considerably bruised about
the head. The next place visited was the
home of Captain William White. which
was only partially destroyed, one wing of
the house being torn away. Across the
road from Whites the house of Cyrus
| Hillston was carried away, and Mr.. Hill
| ston received injuries, but he is not consid-
cred seriously hurt.
Spencer Ross house was in the line of
the tornado and was carried away, as were
the homes of A. S. Powell, J. A. Comas,
Andrew Thompson and Memo Hege.
Miss Daisy Neff, at Powell's house, was
considerably injured, as was Mrs. J. A.
| Commons. In the Hege district school
had just been dismissed, and through Mr..
Hege's foresight the children were hurried
out of the path of the storm, along with his
| family. Had they not SO been taken care
of there would have been great loss of life.
The fury of the storm seems to have done
its worst about five miles west of Halstead,
where all six of the persons were killed
near the Frizzel home. Dead horses, cat
tie, hogs and chickens are scattered all
over the wheatfields.
Those who first saw the fearful disaster
coming say it made very slow progress,
travelling no faster than a person could
run. The cyclone could be plainly seen
from town, and the Santa Fe passenger
| train waited in the Halstead yards until
it crossed the track. 1t blew down several
telegraph poles in its wild career across the
country. As far as heard from, covering a
distance of eighteen miles across the coun-
try, from southwest to northeast, twenty
residences. nearly all of them large ones,
were completely destroyed.
| The loss will fall not less than $500, 900,
besides the six deaths and the injured, two
or three of whom will probably die.
Physicians from Halstead went to the
relief of the injured, and local assistance is
being given to the suffering families.
Every body in the track of the storm lost
everything, and relief will probably have
to be called for, although only as last re-
sort.
LATER-Miss Daisy Neff, aged about 16,
has since died from her injuries.
| The storm crossed the Santa Fe Rail-
road about three miles west of Halstead.
The engineer of a westbound through Pa
cific express saw the twisting tornado COM
ing from the south and stopped his train
and backed out. This prompt action pre-
| vented wreck, for the train would have
certainly struck the storm had it pro-
cccded. The pathway is strewn with
the wreckage of houses, barns and
outbuildings, among which are the dead
carcasses of hundreds of horses, cattle and
swine. Orchards were ruined, trees torn
up by the roots or stripped of the foliage.
In the line of the cyclone telegraph poles
and wires were broken and twisted in every
shape imaginable, rendering Geographic
communication almost impossible.
The storm lifted about three miles north
east of Burton and no further damage
was done, though pieces of timber, cloth
ing and other signs of the wreck can be
traced as far as thirty miles away. The
path of the cyclone lies through rich
farming district and most of the buildings
destroyed were OF a substantial character
There is little or no cyclone insurance on
any of them and the loss will practically be
total.