The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-01
MEAGER EARLY REPORTS OF
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION MORE
THAN CONFIRMED.
MANY VICTIMS CREMATED.
BEFORE THEY COULD BE
RESCUED.
STORM CAME WITHOUT WARNING.
business District and Residence
Portion I'm Ruins Before Danger
Vas Appreciated.

GUTIERREZ, Okla, March 31.-De-
tails of the wreck Of the town Of
Chandler by the cyclone Of last even
ing, more than confirm the first meagre
reports of death and destruction. OF
1900 inhabitants. twenty-six were kill
ed outright or burned to death, and full
ly 10 were injured. OF the latter it is
thought fourteen will die; twenty-four
others are in a dangerous condition
The remainder Of the population is
homeless. The Presbyterian church,
Mitchells hotel and two other buildings
are all that remain standing. These
have been turned into hospitals. The
property loss will aggregate half a
million dollars. There are not half
collins enough to bury the dead.
The storm came up from the south
west, almost without a moments warn
ing, and, sweeping across the town,
first demolished the business district,
then laid low the residence portion
and passing on, spent itself on the open
prairie. The wrecks of many Of the
store buildings looks fire and in a short
time an awful holocaust was in pro-
gress. Many Of those injured and buried
in the ruins were burned to death be-
fore help could arrive.
Fire broke out first in the ruins Of the
New York store and the Lincoln bank
and spread to the adjoining buildings,
making it necessary to fight the flames
as well as rescue the injured. The
people were slow to recover from the
shock Of the calimity and not until
noon today did anything like system
prevail in the work or relief At IL
o'clock tonight particulars are still
meager. Save one slow-working tele-
phone wire from Guthrie, the town Is
world
The storm broke upon the city sud
denly. The sky was clear an hour be-
fore. Shortly before 6 o'clock a mass of
dark clouds gathered in the southwest
and then Whirled north. They soon de-
veloped into a funnel-shaped monster
and bore down upon the outskirts Of
the town. AS the mass touched the
ground the roar was deafening. The
funnel split as it struck the southwest
border of Chandler, which is situated
on a hill overlooking the Cow Creek
valley, and one-half went through the
town and the other turned north. Be-
fore escape was possible the cyclone
had passed through the town. tearing
through the business district, stores
were hurled right and left or lifted
high into the air and tossed in every
direction.
Chief Justice Dale of the Oklahoma
supreme court was holding court in the
court house, which was crowded. He
ran with is wife to a hollow and the
two We're protected by a large boulder
and were unhurt. Others in the court
house did not fare so well. A mo-
ment later the structure was twisted
around and hurled into the street d
complete wreck. One Of the occupants
was killed outright and a dozen others
injured.
Further down Main street the Lin
coin County bank building was top
pied over and was soon enveloped IN
flames. Here, before aid could reach
them, five unfortunates were literally
BURNED TO DEATH,
pinioned down by heavy timbers. Still
further down the street there children
suffered a like a fate. A mass of in
jured people, dead and injured horses,
wagons and debris of all kinds from
the buildings, transformed Main street
into a fueral pyre.
Passing on to the residence district
dwelling, turned houses ON their tops
and made the streets unrecognizabIe
piling them high with debris. two
days-old baby was carried four blocks
and not injured, while the mother was
crushed III her bed. The trail the
storm left was one of wreck and rum
most complete.
With the first realization Of their
predicament over, the injured and able
bodied found themselves, from fright
and confusion, well nigh helpless to- rem
der aid to their more unfortunate neigh
bOrs. Finally, when effort to send for
aid was made, it was found that all
communication with the outside world
had been cut off, the telephone Office
being among the buildings DESTROYED.
1t was several hours before commune
cation with Guthrie was secured. A
brief idea of the nature Of the deYaSta-
ton wrought, together with an appeal
for aid had been sent to the neighbOr-
ing city, when the wires snapped and
Chandler was again shut off. In the
meantime, however, a train bearing
physicians and others left for the scene.
The wire came up later and further
appeals for aid met prompt response
and additional rescuing parties were
sent out as the extent of the damage
became known.
The night in Chandler was one Of in
QeScr1DdDle terror. with many or Its
inhabitants dead or dying and the re-
mainder too badly injured or unable
from fright, or because of the dark
ness, to render assistance, no order pre-
vailed. Rain poured down in torrents
The injured in many cases unavailing-
ly cried for help and lay in the wrecks
of their homes until daylight made it
possible for them to help themselves,
or when aid from surrounding towns
arrived. BY midnight some show Of
systematic rescue had been perfected
and the dead and dying were being re-
leased from the ruins. Improvised hos
pitfalls were erected and the unfortu-
mates cared for as fast as possible
At l o'clock twenty dead bodies had
been taken from the ruins, while doZ-
ems more or less badly injured had been
removed to places of safety. But one
Of Chambers physicians escaped unin-
jured, and even after aid from Guthrie
arrived there was a scarcity Of sur
geons. Only two were able to do any
thing last night, and one Of these, DR..
WaIcott, with blood streaming from
sightless eye, worked until he tainted.
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