The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-04-28
A TERRIFIC
TORNADO.
II Levels Four Hundred Buildings
In Kirksville, Mo-,
THE DEATH LIST VERY HEAVY
It Is Expected That It Will Reach
Fifty or Sixty.
NEARLY A THOUSAND INJURED.
THE DEATH LIST VERY HEAVY
NEARLY A THOUSAND INJURED.

The Storm Struck the City In the EARLY
Evening, Plunging the Town In Dark
ness Which Was Lightened by the Flame,
From Ruined Homss-Ths Mighty Wind
Also Strikes In Newtown, NO., and Hero
Fifteen Were Killed-A Deadly Wind
Storm in Onawa, Ia.
kirksville, Mo-, April ga gather
ing storm that had been threatening
all afternoon broke upon Kirksville at
$40 o'clock last night in all the fury
of cyclone. A path quarter Of a
mile wide, and as clean as tho prairie,
was swept through the eastern portion
of the city and 400 buildings, homes
and mercantile, were leveled to the
ground In scattered ruins.
In the heavy rain that followed the
people who had escaped turned out to
rescue the injured. For two hours not
much was accomplished, as all was
confusion. but by o'clock Is dead
bodies had been taken from the ruins.
1t is confidently expected that the list
Of dead will reach between so and 60,
II 1t does not exceed that. Almost a
thousand people were more or less in
jured. Several hours must elapse be-
fore an adequate estimate Of loss Of
life and property can be had. Each
blanched face reports new calamity.
The list of killed in the cyclone, SO
far as known at present, follows:
William B. Howells, student Ameri-
can School of Ostopathy; Mrs. W. H.
.Sherbourn, wife Of student; James
Weaver, ST.. retired contractor; Theo-
dore Brigham, merchant; Ed Beenian,
boy; Mrs. W. W. Green and daughter,
Miss Bessie; Mrs. Henry Ellington,
Mr.. and Mrs. A. W. Glasee, Mrs. Ben
Green, Mrs. John Taskin, ST., Mrs. 7.
Mahaffey, Mrs. c. Woods, Mr.. and
Mrs. A. Little, Mr.. and Mrs. Joe Woods,
Mr.. and Mrs. A. W. Rainschott, Mr..
and Mrs. G. A. Gibbs, A. c. Beal, James
Cunningham and Mrs. Mitchell.
Reported killed: Mr.. Peck, Mr.. An
derson, Mr.. Stephens, DR.. Billings,
Colonel Little and family, Mrs. Pen
schott and child.
Intense darkness prevailed after the
cyclone. and the rescuers were at a dis
advantage for a short time. Fire
broke out in dozen places in the
ruins and shed light over the scene.
No attempts were made to extinguish
the fires, partly because the rescuers
had no time and partly because Of the
need of light. On both sides of the
storms path the debris was piled high
and burned fiercely. In all probability
a number of bodies have been incin-
Grated
The storm first struck the eastern
portion of the city near that part oc-
cupied by the boarding houses of the
students of the American School of
Ostopathy, State Normal school and
McWard's seminary. 1t was just sup
per time for the students, and It Is
thought very probable the list of dead
will be well filed with students. as
large number of these boarding
houses were demolished.
The three institutions of learning es-
capped the storm. The storm then went
northwest and wiped out Patterson's
nursery, pulling the trees out of the
ground and hurting them through the
city.
A second edition Of the cyclone fol-
lowed the first, 20 minutes later. 1t
came as an inky black cloud, widely
distributed, and covered the whole
town, but passed above the houses,
doing no material damage. It I'M
doubtedly struck the ground few
miles out of Kirksville.
A dispatch from Newtown, 40 miles
northwest of Kirksville, reports that
the cyclone struck that town, destroy
ing a number of houses and killing Is
persons.