The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-04-01
NIGHT OF HORRORS
Death and D'sOlation Reigning in
tie Town Of Chandler.
ONLY TWO BUILDINGS LEFT
Fire Added to the Awful Ter
rors and Some People We're
Burned Before They
Could he Reached.

from Guthrie. Is a mass of ruins. At .
o'clock last evening cyclone. dealing
death and destruction To everything in
its path. swept down upon the town
and almost completely swept IL OF the
Garth. OF her 1850 inhabitants 20 we're
killed outright or burned To death aui
fully lI0 injured. OF these latter II Is
thought that IA viii die and "a are In a
dangerous condition. The remaining
population Is homeless. The prrshyte-
Iiau church. Mitohclrs hotel ana two
other buildings are all that remain
standing. These have been turned into
hospitals. The property loss will he
half a million. There are not enough
ootiins To bury the dead. The storm
came up from the southwest almost
| without moments warning, and,
! sweeping across town, first demolished
| the business district, then laid low tire
residence portion and, passing on, spent
itself In the open prairie. The wrecks
| of many Of the store buildings took
fire and In a short time an awful holo-
oaust was in progress. Many nf those
injured and buried in ruins were burned
to death before help could arrive.
Fire broke out first In the ruins nf
the New York store and the Lincoln
ing buildings, making II necessary 10
fight the flames as well as rescue in
jurcd. The people were slow tu recover
from the shock and not until to-day
did anything like system prevail In the
work of relief. AT II O'Clock Tonight
particulars are still meagcr, Save one
slow working telephone wire out of
Chandler and one telegraph wire from
Guthrie. the town is still practically
cut of from the outside world.
The storm broke upon the city sud
denly. The sky WAS clear, and shortly
h, fore 8 o'clock n mass of dark clouds
gathered in the southwest and then
whirled north. They soon developed
into "A funnel shaped monster and bore
down upon the outskirts uf the town
AS the mass touched the ground the
roar vas deaicning, The funnel split
as II struck the southwest border Of
Chandler which Is situated ON n hill
oN erloukng Cow creek valley, and one
half went through the town and the
other turned north Before escape was
possible the cyclone had passed through
the town. tearing through the business
district. Stores were hurled right and
f.ft az llfted high into the air and
tcssed In every direction.
ON Main street the Lincoln County
bank building was toppled over ani
was soon enVsloped In ilames. Here,
tCfore aid could reach them, five un-
futunates were burned Ia death, PIN
ioued Gown by heavy limbers. Further
down the street three children suffered
like fate. A mass of injured people,
dead and injured horses. wrecked wag
ons and buggles and the debris Of all
kinds from buildings. transformed Main
street into a funeral pyre. Passing On
into the residence district, the cyclone
tOppled over dwelling after dwelling.
turned houses on their tops and made
streets unrpcugnizable, piling them high
with debris. \ two-days-Old babe was
carried four blocks and not injured.
while the mother was crushed In her
bed.
Finally when au effort TO send for out
side aid was madc II was found that all
&C tmmunicatiun with the outside world
had been cut OF. the telephone office being
among the buildings destroyed. II was
81 Vcral hours before communication with
Guthri, WAS secured. 4 brief Idea Of the
y. turo of m" devastation wrought, to-
grthcr with an appeal for aid. had been
sent 10 the ncighohring city. when the
wire snapped and Chandler Was again cut
on In thc meantime, however, train
h,nrlng physicians aud others left for the
scene. The wire came up later aud further
J., suousc and additional rcRcuing parties
were sent out as the extent OF the dam
az, became known
Th. night in Chandler was one Of indie
scrihablc terror. The injured In many
eases uuayailiuEly cried for help and lay
in the wrecks of their homes uutil the
daylight made IL possible for them to help
Themselves or when aid from surrounding
towns arrived. BY midnight some show Of
systematic rrscu" had been perfected and
the dead aud dying were being released
frcm the ruins, lmproviScd hospitals wore
erected aud the unfortuuatcs cared for
as best possible. At o'clock ~ dead bod
les had BEEN taken from thu ruins, while
drzpns more or less badly injured had
been removed 10 places Of safety.
But one OF Chambers physirilns cs-
capped injury, and even after aid from
Guthrie arrived there was scarcity OF
surgeons. only two were able 10 do any
thing last night. and OF these DR. Wdlcott
With blood streaming from sightlcss eye,
worked until he tainted. n was not until
neon that an organized effort was made Ia
alleviate The suffcrings.
queer sights greet the eye on al sides,
Ten trees have a house roof on zach,
? clothing and household goods are scat
tcrcd In thc streets dead horses and cows
are TO h. seen everywhere, while % pile ui
ruins has fine uAuu p"rchcd on iou Of
Il. Many citizens wander about the streets
daz,d st tho calamity and almost ou th,
verge Of insanity at the loss of family
and homes Two or three have gone stark
rAd.
, Ey ulghifall tonight iOpg people had
noc ked into the atty. Many of them ouIns
~ render assistance but the majority %
them ARE there as morbid sichtsecrs. A
great quantity OF clotbmr, bedding and
provisions has been sent IN aud tr' GufH
re cluh has raised 81 40 IN t1sN ~ -'u'
to- morrow. The city has put an its ,g.u
about S7,o. TO vs.. for immediate tid. liur.
druds OF tents nnys beru sent from Wort
, Reno and Guthrie and VIII proyidr tru'
T porary shelter for the unfortunate. aI
ar. homeless however aud -u0-ituiL
! aid must quickly follow Food b. s'arC.
Z and there are not bllf .sough c0ilns I'D
bury the daud. ana prart'ailly aU tnl
towns supply OF Hcd.einc hss DceI q
/ sircycd.
! The ust ~ dead snJ badly injured a.
3 $50 ortsin.d at daylight lh.- morning b a-
I follows John Dawson. Lincoln 81" law
scr. burned 10 death. Jam,s woodward
lu1 wife. lld0fado. Kan. visiting N
D Chandler instantly hiu,d. NJ. t'r7f.
70 Mitchell. Mrs. Tom smith g A.. EUoh
. Euma Dr,-siuEsr u e.. JonnHou sr-
10 Vife Mrs rhfilu Johnson Hnd child NJ