The herald., 1897-04-01
AFTER THE
CYCLONE
Grim Chaos Holds Sway
at Chandler
DEATH COMES TO MANY
Hundreds Wounded and All Are
Homeless
BUT FOUR BUILDINGS REMAIN
WHICH SCARCE SUFFICE FOR
HOSPITAL USE
Darkness, Wind, Fire, Pouring Rain
and Men Stark Mad Combine
to Make a Night Of
Awful Horror
..socIated Press snecIal wire.

Associated Press Special Wire.
GUTHRIE, o. T., March 31.-Chan-
dler an interior boom town, fifty miles
southeast from Guthrie, is a mass Of
ruins At o'clock last evening a cy-
clone, dealing death and destruction to
everything in Its path. swept down upon
the town and almost completely swept
1t off the face of the earth. OF her 1900
inhabitants. 26 were killed outright or
burned to death, and fully ITO were in
jured. OF these latter it Is thought IA
will die, and "a others are in dangerous
condition The remainder of the popu-
lation is homeless. The Presbyterian
church, Mitchell's hotel and two other
buildings are all that remain standing.
These have been turned into hospitals
The property loss will aggregate $4,000
There are not half enough collins here
to bury the dead.
The storm came up from the south
west, almost without moments warn
ing and, sweeping across the town. first
demolished the business district, then
laid low the residence portion, and, pass
ing on, spent itself in the open prairie
The wrecks of many of the store build
ings took fire and In a short time an
awful holocaust was in progress. Many
of those injured and buried in the ruins
were burne dto death before help could
arrive. Fire broke out first in the ruins
of the New York store and the Lincoln
County bank and spread to the adjoin-
ing buildings making 1t necessary to
fight the flames as we'll as rescue the in
jured.
The people were slow to recover from
the shock Of the calamity, and not until
today did anything like system prevail
in the work of relief. At II o'clock to-
night particulars are still meager Save
one slow-working telephone wire out OF
Chandler and but one telegraph wire
from Guthrie, the town is still practical
ly cut off from the outside world.
The storm broke upon the city sudden
ly The sky was clear an hour before.
Shortly before o'clock mass of dark
clouds gathered In the southeast and
then whilrled north. They soon devel-
oped into 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 hill
overlooking the 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 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
his wife to a hollow and the two were
protected by large bowlder and were
unhurt. Others in the courthouse did
not fare SO we'll. A moment later the
structure was twisted around and
hurled into the street, complete wreck.
One of the occupants was killed out
right and dozen others injured.
Further down Main street the Lin
coin County bank building was toppled
over, and was soon enveloped in flames.
Here, before aid could reach them, flve
unfortunates were burned to death, PIN
ioned down by heavy timbers. Still fur
ther down the street three children suf-
fered similar fate. A mass of injured
people, dead and injured horses. wrecked
wagons and buggies and debris of all
kinds from the buildings transformed
Main street into funeral pyre. Pass
ing on to the residence district, the cy-
clone toppled over dwelling after dwell
ing, turned houses on their tops. and
made the street unrecognizable, piling
them high with debris.
a t-wo-days' old babe was carried four
Blocks aad not injured. while the mother
was crushed in her bed. The trail the
storm left was one of wreck and ruin
most complete.
with the frst realization of their pre-
dicar1ent over, the uninjured and able
bodied found themselves from fright
and confusion well nigh as helpless to
render aid as their more unfortunate
rAighbors. Finally. when an effort to
END for outside aid was made. it was
ontf,de world had been cut of, the tel
epnone ONCE being among the buildings
iestroyed. 1t was several hours before
colnmunication with Guthrie was Sc.
cured. A brief idea Of the nature OF
the devastation wrought, together with
an appeal for aid, had been sent to the
neghboring city. when the wire snap
ped, and Chandler was again set on.
fn the meantime. however, z train bear