The Globe-republican., 1896-04-30
TORNADO IN KANSAS.
ELEVEN PEOPLE KILLED
BY A CYCLONE.
Twenty-Five Others Injured - Country
Around Clifton, Clay County. Wrecked
Houses and Barnes Dem0lished-
Heavy Damage to Property.


Heavy Damage to Property.
CLIFTON, Kan, Arril ~. - Eleven
persons dead, three fatally wounded
and twenty-five others seriously in
jured is the result of cyclone which
struck the village of St Joseph. near
here last Saturday evening, then
plowed its way through to this place
and thence eastward, cutting path
from so yards to nearly half mile
in width. The day had been . very
warm one, and in the early evening
there were indications of q rain, but
later it cleared away. About , o'clock
clouds formed near st Joseph, and q
half hour later full-fiedged cyclone
broke upon the village and partially
destroyed it. Thence it seemed to
rise, until within a few miles from
this place, when it again struck the
ground. The following are dead:
MRS. J. PETERSON.
Miss PETERSON.
JOHN ANDERSON.
- HALBERTsOX.
JESSE HALL
ELI BELTHAZOR
MRS. ELI BELTHAZOE.
JULIAN TRlMBLY.
j. S. HAYNES.
The seriously injured are: J.Petcr-
son, Miss Peterson and sister, daugh-
tsrs of j. Peterson. one Of whom will
die; - Wilkins, Mrs. Wilkins, Miss
wilkins.
A large number of cattle and horses
also were killed and injured. The
cyclone started about six miles south
of Clifton ard went in a northeasterly
direction for twelve or fifteen miles
and then lost its force by spreading.
1t passed about half way between
Clifton and Morganville. Its track
varied from $50 yards to a quarter of q
mile in width. 1t tore through q
farming community and left nothing
standing. Houses and barns were
wrecked, trees torn up or broken,
fences leveled and hay stacks blown
in every dire ction. The cyclone was
followed by a terrific rain storm,
which lasted several hours, flooding
the devastated district.
The cyclone took the people una
wares. There had been indications of
a heavy rain all day, with local show
ers, but nobody expected storm. So
far as learned, the victims were in
their houses, and the most OF them had
retired. The storm struck Peter An
derson's house at 9:sU o'clock. This
was about a mile from the starting
point The house was demolished in
an instant. Every member of the An
derson family was injured. When
they had extricated themselves from
the debris they discovered that An
derson's grandchild was missing. The
dead body of the child was found in a
ravine half mile away, VII ERE it had
evidently been carried by the wind.
Anderson alarmed the neighbors
who lived out of the track of the
storm, and search was commenced for
victims, but little Roadway was made
in the rain. Couriers were sent to
Clifton and .Morganville for doctors,
but it was daylight before they ar
rived and the extent of the injury and
damages was known. At noon yes
terdaY it was thought that all the
victims had been found.
Heart-rending tales of suffering are
told by persons who visited the scenes
of the storm. Many of the injured lay
all night, pinned down by wreckage
or paralized in the mud, while others
crawled or hobbled across the country
to . neighbor's house. In several in
stances people were lifted into the air
by the cyclone and carried for dis
lance and then suddenly dropped The
buildings, it seems, also were lifted
up and then hurled to the ground with
force enough to demolish them. The
wife and daughter of John Morris
were reading when the shock came.
The house was divided. The women
managed to get out, when the wind
picked them up, carried them 200
yards and let them safely down on O
pile of straw, just away from the
storms track.
The people Cor miles around yester-
day gathered at the different points
where damage had been done, and
rendered assistance in every possible
way. The track of the storm looked
like a piece of ground which had been
leve,ed with a roller. Half a dozen
telegraph poles were torn down where
the cyclone crossed the road. All wire
communication between Clifton and
the outside world was cnt of from the
hour of the storm till o'clock yester-
day morning. It is expected that
much damage was done in the vicinity
of Palmer. Washington county, but the
details cannot be learned. There was
no damage to crops to speak OF. but
fruit in the storms track was ruined.
It is impossible at this time to esti-
mae the damage to buildings and