The Coconino weekly sun., 1896-04-30
AWFUL TORNADO.
Eleven Persons Killed in Clay
 County, Kan, and Vicinity.
Thirty or Forty Others Said to Be Injured Many Houses and Barns Wrecked and the Damage to Prop
 erty Great.

CLIFTON. Kan, April 27.-A tornado,
 accompanied by severe rain and hail
 storm, prevailed in this section Satur-
 day night Between seven and eight
 o'clock funnel shaped cloud appeared
 eight miles southwest of Clinton and
 travelled in a northeasterly direction,
 tearing up fences, granaries, farm
 houses and trees. Eight lives are re.
 ported as being lost, among whom is
 fve-year-old boy whose body has not yet been found. Frank Wilkinson, a young farmer, is so seriously injured he cannot survive The entire family
 of John Morris is frightfully mangled.
 They had just reached the cellar when
 the house was blown away. The resi- dence of Walter Haynes was also
 blown to atoms, but he had reached
 the cellar with his family and escaped
 unhurt. The barn of Lawrence Rains,
 a wealthy farmer, was completely de-
 stroyed and several head of horses
 were killed. Great damage to stock also resulted. The loss is estimated at S2O, ,OOO; partially insured.
 A dispatch from Clay Center stated that at about 9:3O Saturday evening a tornado swept the country some 12 miles northwest of there, killing many persons and totally destroying all houses and outbuildings within it's path. Its direction was from south west to northeast over a strip only about 40 rods wide. It came suddenly, without other warning than a calm of some five minutes and was accompa- nied by torrents of water. Frank Pe- terson, his wife and daughter were killed and the other daughter cannot live. A boy named Jesse Ham, about five years old, who was at Anderson's, his grandfather's, was blown 30 rods into an adjoining field and his lifeless body was not found until Sunday morning. Mrs. Halberson was also among the killed of the Peterson fam. fly. One boy about II years old is the only survivor. Although he was with the others of the family, by some strange chance he received only few scratches.
 At Concordia reports show that the tornado was even more destructive than at first supposed. The path fol- lowed by the storm is 400 feet in width and over 20 miles long, extend ing from St Joseph, a small French settlement in the eastern edge of Cloud county, in a northeasterly direction through the northern part of Clay and into the southern portion of Washing ton counties. Fortunately the storm did not pass through any small towns, or the loss of life would have been far greater, but it did lay waste thickly settled portion of the Republican val ley. Over 20 families who Saturday night boasted of pleasant homes and com fortable surroundings are to-day rely ing upon the kindness of friends to care for their injured and dead. At the first place visited by the storm, that of Eli Belthazor, six children are left to mourn the death of father and mother. The family were just prepar- ing to go into the cellar and several of the little ones had already gone down, when the building was swept away and dashed to kindling wood Two of the children are so seriously injured that they probably will not recover About mile farther east the house of Julian Trembly was destroyed and he was killed
 Reports from Palmer, on the Mis- souri Pacific east of Clifton, state that quite number were seriously injured, and that several will die. The power of the storm was terrific; l nothing could withstand its force. l Large farm houses and barns seemed | to offer no resistance whatever, and | were swept away like so much chaff. The damage to property is very great. It is thought that fully 20 houses were destroyed, besides barns, granaries and large number of horses, cattle and hogs. The latest reports give the number killed as II, while probably between 20 and 30 are injured. =