Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-05-04
TORNADOES in THE WEST.
A TOWN 4 HAS "A CLEAN PATH TORN
THROUGH IT BY$A CYCLONE.
FROM FIFTY 70 SIXTY pERs0AS KILLED.


FROM FIFTY TO SIXTY PERSOAS KILLED.
The Living are Busy Carrying hxay the
Dead-A Thousand Injured. Il!
ST.. LOUIS, Mo-, April 28.-A
special to the obe.Demoorat from
Kirksville, Mo-, says I, A gathering
storm that had been threatened all
afternoon broke upon Kirksville at
$40 O'Clock tonight in ell the fury
of o cyclone. A path quarter of a
mile wide and as clean as the prairie
was swept through the eastern por-
tion of the oity, and four hundred
buildings, homes and stores, 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 8 o'clock twenty-five dead
bodies had been taken from the ruins.
1t is confidently expected that the
list of dead will reach between fifty
and sixty, if it does not exceed that.
Almost thousand people were
more or less injured. Daylight will
be necessary before an adequate esti-
mate of the loss of life and property
can be had. Each blanohed face
reports q new calamity. o..
Intense darkness prevailed after
the cyclone, and the rescuers were at
q disadvantage for short time, until
fire broke out in a dozen places in
the ruins and shed light over the
scene. No attempts were made to
extinguish tho flames, 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 q num-
Der of bodies have been incinerated.
The storm first struck the Eastern
portion of the oity, near that part
occupied by the boarding houses of
the students of the American, School
of Osteopathy, State Normal School
and Now ards Seminary. 1t was
supper time for the students, and it
is thought very probable the list of
the dead will 10 we'll filled with stu
dents, as large number of these
boarding houses were demolished.
AS far as known tonight these three
institutions of learning escaped 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
followed the first, twenty minutes
later. 1t came as an inky black
cloud and covered the whole town,
but passed above the houses, doing
no material damage. 1t undoubtedly
struck. tho ground few miles out of
Kirksville.
TIE 'rORNADO I'M IOWA
ONEwA, Iowa, April 28.-A tor
nado swept the farming country
twenty miles east of here last night.
Only meagre details have been re-
ceived. Three persons are reported
to have been killed and great damage
done to property. The killed IRE
said to be Hans Severson, farmer !;
a boy named Perrin, an unknown
man. John Amersonten had an arm
broken and his scalp cut. A number
of others are reported to have been
hurt, but their names have not yet
been learned. The homes Of Peter
Peterson, Amersonten and Severson
were, blown to pieces, as were also
the other buildings on their farms.
1t is reported that the house of
George rerrin, three miles southeast
of Ute, was totally demolished. A
boy, 10 years old, was killed and Mr..
and Mrs. Ferrin and five daughters
were fatally injured. . ,
NEwTowN ALSO SWEPT.
KANsn Cry, April 28.--A spe-
cial to the Journal from Chillicothe,
Mo-, says : A tornado, pro baby the
same one that swept over Kirksville,
struck Newtown, small town in
Sullivan county, tonight and caused
terrible destruction. 1t is reported
that fifteen people were killed in the
town and tnat many others were
killed in the country near there. A
great number of buildings were
blown down. Heavy rain followed
the tornado adding greatly to the
damage. A Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad bridge is said