Mexico weekly ledger., 1895-05-09
A Cyclones Deadly Work.
SEVEN PEOPLE ARE KILLED AND
OTHERS INJURED AT HAL
STEAD, KANSAS.
Twenty Dwellings Torn TO fieees aud
Scattered Over the Prairies
Stock Killed and Much
Suffering.

t~iALsfhAI, KANSAS, May about
i;2o tins afternoon a cyclone devasted
n strip of country several hundred
yards wide aud at least sixteen miles
IN length. killing seven person outright
and seriously inluring several others,
| while many have received slight in
juries, The cyclone first struck the
house OF Mrs. Fry, II widow, who lives
about nine miles southwest of Hal
stead, completely destroying it, but
only slightly lnjuring Mrs. Fry. 1t
next picked up the house of John
Stuitzbach and scattered il in every
direction. The fine two-story house
of Joseph Wear, which had but recent
ly been built nj IL cost of over ~, 900,
was entirely swept away, killing four
members of the family. Mr.. Wear
left the house, and when the cyclone
struck was about 90 yards away, and
chung to n tree. He received injuries
which the physicians think may prove
fatal. Joseph Wear, Jr., and sister,
Maude, were the only ones i'll the
family who took to the cellar, escaping
with only slight bruises.
The home of E. c. Caldwell, which
was 100 yards to the west of the Wear
home, was unroofed and the south
side torn away. The family escaped
by taking to the cyclone cellar.
The next mouse in the path of the
storm was William Armstrong;, which
was completely wiped from the face
of the earth and Mrs. Armstrong was
killed. Mr.. Armstrong was seriously
and probably fatally injured. Grandma
Charming, who Was there sick in bed,
was killed.
About 100 yards east of the Arm
strong house the large two-story resi-
dence of B. E. Frizzell was picked up,
as was also the large two-story house
of ]. r. Frizzell, across the road, and
both together, with all the outbuild-
ings, were completely swept away,
leaving nothing but debris to show
that a house had stood there. The
families of both the Frizzells escaped
injury, with the exception of Mrs. j.
r. Frizzell, who is considerably bruis-
ed about the head.
The next place visited vas the home
of Capt. William White, which was
only partially destroyed, one wing of
the house being torn away.
Across the road from Whites the
home of Cyrus Hinkston was entirely
carried away and Mr. Hinkston receiv-
ed injuries, but which are not consid-
cred serious.
Spencer Ross house was in the line
of the tornado, and was carried away,
as we're the homes of A. S. Pownell,
j. A. Commans, Andrew Thompson
and Memo Hege. Miss Daisy Neff,
at Pownell's house, and Mrs. j. A.
Commans, in the Hege district, were
seriously injured. The 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.
The fury of the storm seems to have
done its work about five miles west of
Halstead, where the six persons were
killed, near the Frizzell home. Dead
horses and cattle, hogs and chickens
are scattered all over the wheat fields.
Those who first saw the cyclone cloud
coming say it made very slow progress,
travelling not faster than a person
could run, but it seemed to waver first
in one direction, then in another. The
cyclone could be plainly seen from
town and Santa Fe passenger train
No. 5 waited in the Halstead yards
until it crossed the track. 1t blew
down several telegraph poles in its
career across the country.
AS far as heard from, covering a
distance of eight miles across the
country from southwest to northeast,
twenty residences, nearly all of them
large ones, were completely destroy
ed. The loss will be not less than
5000, 900, besides the I deaths and the
injured, two or three of whom will
probably die. Physicians from Hal
stead went to the relief of the injured,
and local assistance is being given to
the suffering families. Everybody in
the track of the storm lost everything,
and relief will probably have to be
called for, although only as a last re-
sort.