Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-01-13
THIRTY-ONE KILLED.
aessnsseseseaesouoneseusus )
Tornado Spreads Death and Destruc-
tion at Fort Smith, Ark.
WHOLE BLOCKS IN RUINS.
Terrible Storm Strikes the Town at Mid.
night, Kills Over Score, Injuries
Number of Others and Does Great
Damage to Property.

| FORT SMITH, Ark, Jan. 12-One of
the most terrible tornados that ever
struck this section of the country tore
through this city shortly before mid
night. Everything is in confusion as
result of the great destruction of life
and property. Thirty one persons have
been killed, and the death list is
growing hourly. Houses have been
wrecked by the score, and hundreds of
people are without food or shelter. The
scene is one of the most appalling and
destructive ever witnessed in the his
tory of the city, and is without paral-
lei in this section of the southwest. The
following is list of the dead:
SILAs MINGER HARVEY RuTLEpGE
MARY ZIMMERMAN. 2 UNKNOWN WOMEN.
JOSEPH BRIswOLD. JOHN MARTIN.
.. y. RILEY. GEORGE CARTER.
Mrs. M. BURGESS UNKNOWN MAN.
j. NJ. FoULzE. J.L. KYLE.
Two LEFEvRE BOYS. M1LT HAMPTON. JR
BUSTER LUCAS. ED FARRELL. IRENE
JOHN ADAMS. AND Roy,
MRS. G. MARURER. FRANK RICHARDSON.
MIR. HITTER. MRS. w. LAWSON.
MRS. HOLDEN. MRS. .SHEP AND RARy
| N"AAso'AoAAA>A
L. WHOEvEs. LOUIS SENGLE.
All the hospitals are filed with
wounded.
The storm struck the city in the
southwestern section of the city, right
at point where the two rivers come
together and near the old fort. There
1t spread out over the whole city, dip
ping down and scattering ruin and de-
structlon here and there. After leaving
Fort Smith the tornado veered over
and touched at Alma, about nine miles
northeast of there, causing considerable
destruction, but whether there is any
loss of life is not yet known.
Many Homes Wrecked.
Mrs. Kings home on Twelfth street
was wrecked. The home of Mrs. Hen.
bricks on Thirteenth street was de-
stroyed and the family nearly killed.
VIM. Werner's home was wrecked.
The home of John Harrington also suf-
Tered destruction. A shanty which
stood on the triangle of Thirteenth
street, north of Brech.s, was swept
away, and a woman from there is re-
ported dying from her injuries. Her
two children were also injured.
The Breen'. building, large brick
structure, was unroofed and the wife of
Prof. Hunter, one of it's occupants, was
badly injured. Shortly after the storm
passed over the city J. P. Matthew'S
home east of the city was seen to be
burning. Mrs. Birds home was blown
away and Krone's two-story building
was wrecked. Will O'Shea, who was
sleeping in the O'Shea and Hinch ware.
house. had a narrow escape from. death.
the roof OF the building being torn off
and thrown onto him. A wing of Mr..
Crows house, on Eleventh street, was
torn off. The family was caught in the
wreck, but Mrs. Grow crawled in under
the debris and got the children out with
out injury. Guy Partridge and wife
and child crawled from the wreck of
their home and escaped. Will Lawson
and young man named Lane, Ed
Yaden and butcher named Wolzy
are among the injured quartered in
O'keefe's saloon. Mrs Capt. Hugh l..
Rogers was dug out of the ruins of the
Rock house on South Ninth street, badly
injured, but hopes are entertained for
her recovery. Mr.. r. L. Hirschberp
was another who had narrow escane
from death. He was on his way home
when the cyclone struck the city. and
was lifted off his feet and carried ouite
a distance. His clothes were torn Off
his body, his shoulder was dislocated
and he sustained injuries about the
head. At this hour it is next to impos-
slble to give anything like complete
or accurate account of the number of
dead or injured
The roof OF Judge Porter's home, oc-
cupied by Marshal Stahl and family.
was lifted up. Miss Lily Stahl was
slightly injured, but none of the others
was hurt. Andrew Dodd's home was
wrecked, the Baptist church was com.
pletely demolished and Brownsome
church steeple and front blown away.
Mrs. Blayland's house was blown down.
catching the family of Mr. Stetts, of the
United States marshal's office, in a
trap. They made their escape through
chimney. The home of Mr.. Cheni.
worth was blown away.
Among the other residences and
buildings blown down are the follow
ing: George Martins home on Thir
teenth street, a bakery on Fourteenth
street. home of H. H. Brown, the tow
ers of the high school were blown away
and DR.. Gates home completely fiat
tened. Both of DR.. Gates arms are
broken and his wife was probably ia.
tally crushed. The Gates house girl is
supposed to be dead in the ruins of their
home, and search is being made for
her body.
A heavy rain followed the terrible
tornado and it was probably twenty
minutes before the city awoke to the
fact that it had been visited by a fear