The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-29
DROWNED BY DOZENS
Continued From First Page.

| from FIRST Page.
up from the west and another deluge
| spread over the town. The water fell
| In perfect sheets and by 6 O'Clock the
rainfall amounted to over inches.
| A calm about o'clock brought atten-
| ton to an intensely black and mon
| strous cloud moving toward the CITY
from the west. 1t was a typical lorna
90, indicated by the peculiar whistle
OF the wind which almost universally
accompanies a "tWister." The cry Get
under ground arose on all sides and
the streets were soon filled with run
nlng, shouting people seeking cave or
cellar. Stores and homes were de-
serted and the people huddled together
awaiting the blow The center of the
storm passed over the southeastern
corner OF the town, striking the hills
across the valley, wrecking all it
| touched
With the tornado came the heaviest
i iald VI water ever recorded here in
IKE period, over two inches falling in
thlrty minutes. All day the river had
peen rising at a frightful rate. reach
Ing the sleepers of the railroad bridge
ana moving it out of line. The waeon
pLluge went out when the water rea CHI
ed Its floor and the bridge and drift.
serving as an obstruction. forced tbe
water out over the bottoms wasbino
out crops, moving houses and drown
Ing stock. A dam on the Ellison ranch
gave way to the torrent and CARRIED
out bridge on the Fort Reno road
swept the fair grounds clean and flood,
ca the yards of the Choctaw railroad.
d'lSlhg INTO the houses of the bottom
farmers, 1t compelled them to desert
| tnelr places and endeavor to save their
| nVeS The rescue of MANY families
was made at great danger to the res
cuefs lives. party composed of A
+. Woodliff. Peter Carr, Henry Schaef-
Ter charles Justin, James Tompkins.
ReY. Father Hall and others imnadi.
ately set to work rescuing the unfortu-
mates. In the home Of Thomas Palmer
the latters wife and several children
were rescued from the tops of bureaus
Just as the water was creeping IN to
thelr feet. They had been screaming
ior heip Tor some time, and it was with
tba tnat they were removed to
the lmproVlsed RATS of the rescuers
ana taken to dry land The families
OF Mrs. Hall, Tom Peter, Col. Severv
ana Mrs. Black, were rescued from
the!r homes in similar manner. In
each instance the water had swant
through the windows and was gradual
~ rising. During the trip a raft Of
railroad ties went to pieces on s1,b-
merged wire fence and the entire party
was prec1pitated into the water. They
were all saved A little child of Frank
HAN FELL into Washed-out crossing
ana was drowned. NJ H. Bickford a
mllkman, nearly lost his own life in
trying to save the little one The ice
plant was flooded and Harry Bradford
the manager, narrowly escaped drown
ing.
lightning played havoc, striking the
sp1re of the Presbyterian church and
totally wrecking it. The school house
for colored children was struck at
3 o'clock in the afternoon, the structure
shattered and about fifty pupils more
or less seriously hurt. Among the more
badly Injured are Eva Clauston, Bertha
Turner, Charles Waters, and Beulah
Clauston. The latter was paralyZed.
Several other houses were struck by
lightning, but no one was killed. Fur
Their west the lightning killed much
stock. The electric wires went down
and the town was in darkness last
night. Reports from surrounding
towns are meagre, as telegraph wires
are down and trains have all been
stopped on account of washouts It is
known, however, that many homes
have been washed out in towns adj
jacent to FL Reno, and it is feared
many lives have been lost. West OF
here Frank Thompson and the sixteen
year-old son Of Hiram McGrifffn were
drowned