Mexico weekly ledger., 1896-05-28

the ground and the furniture splinter
ed into kindling wood, while a like
fate came to the German Lutheran
church, a substantial frame structure,
and the residence and barns of Fred
who lived just north of the
school house.
The residence of G. B. Willingham
was badly torn up but was left stand
ing.
Within an hour after the news had
reached Mexico Drs. W. R., L. o. and
N. r. Rodes, E. 8. Cave, j. r. Fritts
and Clarence Rothwell were on the
scene rendering medical aid and tax
ing care of the dead and dying.
At the residence of Seph Eubanks
lay little Lulu Eubanks and Hilda
BIase, under the influence of NOR
phine, with a physician bending over
each one The little ones gasped hys-
terically and their bright faces, SO
lately radiant with the bloom of child
hoods JOY, were cut and bruised in a
terrible The doctors have
little hope of saving them.
In another farm house was the life
less body of Eliza Ware, who was i'll
the school room when the storm came,
and who was picked up, hurled
through the air and landed in the mid
die of the road, where she was after
ward found dead. She was probably
killed instantly and suffered no pain.
To add to the horror of the scene
Immediately after the storm a very
heavy rain, almost a cloudburst, pour
ed down and transformed the fields
and roads into lakes and rivers.
The storm also struck the farms of
]. R. and Geo. N. Johnson, about three
miles from the Bean Creek school
house, and damaged the residences OF
both to some extent. The out build
ings were blown away and the trees
stripped and broken down. No one
was injured at either place.
THE COURSE OF THE STORM.
From eye witnesses the LEDGE
reporter learned that the cyclone
came down a little south of w. B
Willingham's farm and took a north.
easterly direction, striking the Ger
man Lutheran Church next and a
the same time demolishing the schoo
house. 1t then took a turn and strucl
Fred Klussman's residence and tore j
down as completely as if a hundred
sticks of dynamite had been exploded
under it. Not a board was left stand
ing and every wall was lying fiat OIL
the ground. The barns and clubhouse
were also totally destroyed and wagon
were lifted out of the barn and plant
ed on the ground a hundred feet dis
tant. From here the cyclone went il
a slight southeasterly direction, blu
seemed to lift soon after destroying
Klussman's home. In the track o
the storm from here on, a tree coul,
once in a while be een torn up by tn
roots, but no serious damage was done
Immediately preceding the twiste
came an awful downpour of rain an
so great was the noise made by tn
falling water that the wind storm wa
upon the people before they had tim
to realize the gravity of the situation
From the looks of tine track of tn
storm it seems that it was more of
violent straight wind than a twistel
but in some places there are evider
ces of the revolving nature of tn
storm cloud.
NARROW ESCAPES.
AS usual, there were a number
very narrow escapes from death b
those whose homes lay in the path
destruction.
The family of Rev. Jenrich, the pa!
tor of the German Lutheran churcl
who resided in some Dom at I'll
rear of the church, narrowly escape
death. The storm was raging whe
a south door blew open and Mrs. Jel
rich and children rushed towards it
:. close it. They had barely reached
when the house and church was lifte
off its foundation and, although the
were all knocked down, yet as I'll
storm came from the southwest tt
debris all lay north of them. Had the
been sitting in the room they would &
doubtless have been killed. AS it W,
one of the children was slightly il
# jured by the falling timbers. II
=, church was moved about fifty fe
from its original position and the wa.
and roof were completely shattere
o lying around in heaps like kindlil
g wood. The furniture was scattered
all directions and IN top of the pile
% debris was the stove used to heat t
: building.
At the school house, where schc
was in session when the storm car
r. up, about twenty little children, BIO
It and girls, were studying their lessor
The rain attracted their attention a
Miss Dowell, the teacher, started
y close a window when the wind stru
IN the building. Miss Dowell told t
r children to run to the cyclone cell
but before they had all gotten out
n the building, it was lifted in the
and thrown to the ground a heap
ruins, under which lay buried two
OF three children. The other pupils W
all thrown violently to the ground a
ne received many scratches and bruis
although none were seriously injur
!, Had they known of the approach
= the storm in sufficient time to rea
the cyclone cellar, which is an
rs usually good one, none of them wo
have been hurt.
The coal house, near the sch
house, which was filed with coal, Y
carried into the road and dump
~ there, upside down, and bench
as stoves, blackboards and chairs W
-, scattered in all directions.