The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-06-22
HUNDREDS WE'RE KILLED.
THE WORK OF A TORNADO.
~ Wisconsin Town Literally Swept
Away-.Tho Desolate Scenes in
Searching for the Dead.


the 18Th inst. ..... .....
Fully one hundred corpscs, twice as
many mangled people, forty acres OF
piles Of bricks, shivered plapks, scat.
tered heaps of household goods, dead
hOrses, through which the wind had
driven sharp splinters Of board. smoul-
dering fires whore houses stood but
yesterday, epd in the mids. OF 1t all
trees as bare of leaves as ever they
were in tho middle OF winter, and for
the most pert stripped bare Of bark
this ia what tho storm OF yesterday
wrought In tho space OF three minutes
upon tho town of New Richmond.
1t will be several days before the
number of dead In New Richmond 1s
accurately known, aud 1t Is doubtful If
the entire number OF fatalities WILL
ever be chronicled.
Indescribaby sud are tho scenes Of
desOlation wrought by last nights tor
nado, tuat has practically swept out of
existence the prosperous little city of
New Richmond. Out of 500 houses and
store buildings comprising the town,
fully 800 were wrecked by the storm,
or destroyed by fire. Almost every
family has one or more members
among tho dead, injured or missing,
and little groups are seen everywhere,
searching by the light OF lantern or
torch, for slowed ones who may be
buried in the piles Of debris on every
hand. With frantic energy the search
has been conducted all day and up to .
o'clock sd bodies had been. found, al-
though the number of dead certainly
will reach 100 or moro. These have,
for, the most part, been taken to the
Catholic and Congregational churche's.
which, although in tho very stormS >
path, miraculOusly escaped Its fury.
In these temporary morgues, the
sights are such as to touch the hardest
heart as the grief stricken living re-
cognize the bodies, horribly mnngled
and Often dismembered remains OF
missing:dear ones. ..-
The: Whpnded find temporary asy-
lums lid the. hninjured dwellings ON
either side of the path, where doctors
and nurses from nearby cities and
towns are doing heroic wol k without
sleep or rest. AS 1nlny as possible OF
the injvted whose chances for recov-
to the hospitals at ST. Paul an Mime
apo1is, where. they will have better
care.
The business portion Of the city COW
cred q space of four squares each way
and was built solidly Of brick and
stohe. This entire space WAS swept
clear, foundation walls and in some
places 'masses of debris alone marking
where tho business places formerly
stood. This trees on,.the streets of the
neighborlng' Residence district were
broken clear off Or twisted and up
rooted. The tornado came up the
river fEom Hudson, where the damage
was compsEatively> light. Following
the general coarse of the river and the
branch. 0f the Omaha Road, the storm
gained in intensity. as it progressed
and was ats it's worst when it struck
the business centre Of New Richmond.
Outlying residences. in tho path OF tho
storm were stripped of shingles and
boards or sides were blown off, or, as
more frequently happened, were torn
asunder and the fragments wore scat
tered to the four winds of heaven.
Trees were uproOted and roadways
blocked, washed away Or so overllowed
as to be mado entirely yunrecogniZable.
The desolate view of the New Rich
mond Of to-day is not one soon to 10
forgotten. Along the broken frag.
III ments of their homes the people wan
der helplessly, striving somewhat aim
lessly and hopelessly to gather to-
gether what had been left to them.
many houses were still standing wiLu
little or no damage and to these homes
the occupants welcomed their,, loss
fortunate neighbors and friends, CIV
ing them q lch aid as was possible, and
the sympathy that is 80 much to-
stricken souls. The property loss con-
not be estimated at thds ,timQ and, may
never be accurately .'kno%n. It .was
almost total, for the ;insnr&nrU agents
report that no tornado >insurAnSetW&s
carried In the town and in OILY aStnail
number Of places, where fire Joined Ia
the destruction Of property, will tho
business men be at all reth bbtssed for
their Losses. .. .... iAaA: go
Richmond who estimate8 the loss oi
hundreds are missing who were buried
in the ruins and were there incinerateq
One such Is c.. A. Nelson, who owned
the Columbian restaurant, located Oh
Main street. His estimate of the loss
is four hundred dead. He says that
when the rain storm which precGAed
the cyclone broke, not less than twenty
persons rushed into this place fQg'shel
ter. He 10 positive that not moro thar
four. beside himself escaped. Whel
he heard tho roar, he rushed f5G the
rear doorf but could not open 1t. ]th or
'instRnt the crash came. The ruin!
tumbled about his head and left hin
just space enough to crawl out. Ii
the shop was Mrs. Broad bank, wht
was killed. Nelson found only fou
alive. He could hear screams ant
groans. Since then he has seen non,
; Of the survivors. :,
Rev. DR.. Degan OF tho church of thu
Immaculate Conception thus describa
the approaching storm ard the imme
diate results {:
E 81 was standing 6n'the porch of m,
house, which Is some threo blocks ives
OF the Omaha station, with my littl
nephew. Pointing to the threatenin,
clouds, I said to hlm Those cloud
are cyclonic.' That was about 6:3C
ThenI heard fearful sound. 1t wa
like the. painting of fifty locomotives o.
an upgrade. said to the boy: 'Ther
is the cyclone In the southwest wa
great, whisking, black cloud, cone
shaped, the apex in the earth, the fur