Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-05-28
A WESTERN TWISTER
IOWA AND ILLINOIS TOWNS AT
THE STORMS MERCY.
At Least 90 People Killed and Scores
Injured by n Tornado which Struck
Several Sections of the States of Iowa,
Illinois and Kansas.

Sections of Iowa, Illinois and Kansas
were visited by a cyclone of awful fury
which killed at least 60 people, fatally
injured 20 others and less seriously
hurt over 90 more. The property loss
is heavy, but accurate estimates are
thus far an impossibility. The first
list of killed stands as follows: Jasper
county, Ia, 10; Polk county, Ia, 0;
Rockford, H., 4; Monroe Center, H.
.; Galena, H., /; Elgin, ILL.,, 1; North
McGregor, Ia, 30; Durango, Ia, 5;
Fort Scott, Kansas, ..
The storm originated near the town
of AnlSeny, 81 miles north of Des
Moines. As near as can be ascertained
from those who saw the sight, two
clouds, one from the northwest and
one from the southwest, met and then
dropped down on the earth and wrought
havoc on all that was within their
reach. The storm moved northeast.
Near the town of Bondurant it killed
its first victims, the four members of
the Bailie family. The villages of Va
leria, Mingo and Santiago, Jasper
county, were nearly wiped from the
face of the earth, and adjacent coun-
ties were laid waste with considerable
loss of life and great destruction of
railway and other property. At Du-
range, Ia, the flood that swept down
the valley, struck the station in which
were Mrs. Clark, the agent, and her
four children, besides Tom Griffin, a
brakeman; Joe Griffin, car repairer,
and seven others. They were all on
the depot platform when the water
struck it and swept it away and only
two were saved. There were serious
disturbances in eastern Iowa and they
were in the wake of the same cloud
which crossed the Mississippi river in
Clayton county.
Passengers reaching Dubuque from
the north say that from % to 30 persons
have been drowned at North McGregor,
la. Among the dead are a man named
Maloney, his wife, child and grand
child and families named Burke and
Meyer wiped out leaving no trace.
Eighteen are said to have been drowned
in these three families alone. A num-
Der of tramps are also known to have
been lost. Other names could not be
had. Two small streams unite at Bula
and flow from that point to the Missis-
sippi. The food of the two united and
swept everything, lumber yards, houses
and cars between Bula and North Nc
Gregor into the Mississippi Previous
estimates of loss of life placed the num-
Der of drowned at IL.
The storm occurred between and 10
Ne. m. accompanied by a deafening roar,
Ia deluge of rain and hail. It's track
was several miles in length and from
quarter to half a mile in width. A
great amount of live stock was killed
and the crops in the path of the storm
utterly destroyed. The district trav-
ersed by the storm is very fertile. 1t
is settled with well-to-do farmers and
villagers. Timber and dead stock are
stewn over the path of the storm in all
directions. 1t is reported that on the
Illinois Central between Dubuque and
Sioux City eighteen bridges were
washed away, and another at Bellevue
is gone. North the road is badly
washed out. Other roads suffered sew
erely. Lost bridges and washouts and
wires down are reported all along.
When the storm crossed the Missis-
sippi river into Illinois it again took up
its work of death and destruction. A
Rockford dispatch says: Four killed
and many injured, a number of Them
fatally, is the result of the cyclone
which swept through this section, be-
sides great loss to property and the
complete ruin of crops in the path of
the storm.
The storm caused a property loss of
500, 900 in Galena, Ill. The river
swelled rapidly, flooding several
streets. 1t was the heaviest fall of
rain ever known there. One fatality
is reported, Mrs. X. ID. Strickland, who
was drowned in her home. The tor
nado visited Elgin, Ill. John Keogh,
engineer in the state insane asylum,
was killed by falling chimney. The
Elgin Sewing Machine & Bicycle fac.
tory was blown down and many farm