The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-08
JULY STORMS ARRIVE
Missouri and Kansas Swept by u
Flood aud Tornado.
LOSS or LIFE AND PROPERTY
An Area Of 200 square Miles Affected by
Rain und Wind Many Fields
of Grain Were De-
siroyed.

| morning telegraphic reports began to
arrive in this city of rains At western
points. These reports grew In number
Friday and covered a large territory in
dicating that the eastern water shed of
the Rocky Mountains. from the Ne
braska and Iowa lines to Texas. was
swept by q storm Friday night the
severest blow came. Reports Of loss of
life and destruction of property came
with every telegram, and the DOWN
pour which was at first regarded rs a
blessing, grew into a wave Of devasta-
tion. Fields OF grain that promised the
most bountiful yield in many years are
today swept bare of vegetation. In
several instances the seas of rain We're
ahetted in their work Of destruction by
tornadoes 1t is too early yet to sum up
the loss, but the total mus. be appal-
ling. and those to whom the angry ele-
ments spared life have little left to sus-
tain It,
The stories Of the storm are SO SIM
liar that a statistical summary is all
there is left to tell
The storms focus embraced an area
OF 200 square miles with the southwest
ern corner of Missouri as the center.
The greatest loss of life is reported
from Winona, Mo, where eleven corpses
have been found, with as many more
missing. At Baxter Springs IN western
Kansas. five We're killed and eleven Sc
riously injured by cyclone that ac-
companied the storm. One was drowned
at Columbus and two a: OTTAWA, Kan
a AL
man and her child We're drowned.
Family Disappears.
"A family OF five were encamped ON
the banks of Fish creek In the Indian
territory. Yesterday nothing of them
nor their belongings was found except
part of their wagon on a pile of drift
wood.
At Thomasville. Mo-. where the rain
fall was four Inches in one hour, five
lives were lost.
UncoEfirmed reports are received as
20 loss of life as follows: Three at Fay
etteville, Ark; one at Paoli. Kan; one
at Richards. Kan. and six of hunting
party in the Indian territory. This
gives a known and probable loss of
forty-three lives. This total will be in
creased when the receding waters per-
nit thorough search.
The above summaries gives only a
fraction of loss in property. The
greatest burden falls upon the farmers.
as the season is too far spent to plant
new crops. and suffering must surely
follow in the storms wake. Details of
Individual suffering and experiences re-
call the horrors of t:he Johnstown dis
aster
Storms Elsewhere.
Chicago, July with little warning
Of its terrific death-dealing force and
destructive character, wind and rain
storm, such as Chicago has not seen
for years, broke upon the city about
$50 o'clock this afternoon.
The complete result will not be known
until tomorrow. but it Is Known. for a
certainty tonight that two lives were
los. on Lake Michigan by the capsizing
of boats.
Topeka, Kan. July IA heavy wind
and rain tornado struck the little town
of Canton late this afternoon and near
ly demolished it. A score Of people
were injured by flying timber. A num-
ber Of farmhouses that lay in the path
OF the storm were destroyed, and great
damage was done to crops.
Lake Geneva, Wis, July six per-
sons were drowned by the sudden cap
sizing Of pleasure boat on Lake Gene
va this afternoon. A furious tornado
struck the town at 4.3O. Buildings were
unroofed. trees uprooted and several
buildings moved from their founda-
tions. A few minutes before the storm
broke, the steam launch Dispatch was
chartered by Father Hogan and Miss
Hogan, of Harvard. Ills. and a man
thought to be DIR. Franz, his wife and
child. a heavy sea struck the little
craft and 1t suddenly went down with
its six occupants. The body OF Miss
Hogan has been recovered.