The Forrest City times., 1899-06-16
ANOTHER RUINED CITY.
The Terrible Tornado Continues ts Add to the List of Ito
 Victims.
HERMAN, NEBRASKA, IS THE LATEST.
Injured-The Little Town That Was 10 Now Only . Mass of Ruins. Not . Building Being Left Whole. I

Whole.
 Omaha, Neb, June 15.-A special t; the Bee from Blair, Neb., says:
 One of the worst storms in the his tory of eastern Nebraska visited Her man. Neb., Tuesday evening, abou, 6:30. The storm took the form of | tornado about two miles west of Her. man. and after travelling west a short distance, turned back, taking a due east course until within half . mile ol the town. It took soutieasterly course. covering a strip about 25 rods wide, but wide enough to clean out the entire town of Herman.
 Almost . Clean Sweep.
 Two or three residences still re- main on the outskirts of the town though in much damaged condition The Methodist church and the school building are the only other buildings left. The Methodist church is being used as hospital for the wounded and a place for the dead. The town proper it totally destroyed.
 Train Crew Did Good Work.
 The train crew on No. .. on tke Omaha road. did some heroic work. They pulled into Herman just after the storm, and began the work of res cue. Nearly 100 were brought back to Blair, where the train remained until morning, when it left on sched- ule time, taking relief and assistance to the homeless people, many of whom had been out in the rain all night.
 Freaks of the storm.
 The home of Hon. I. H. Chambers escaped with but little harm, but his brick bank is one mass of ruins. A large boiler that required two cars to transport it to Herman was carried over block ,and deposited in the heart of the city.
 There was but one tornado insurance policy in the town, that was fer but tritling amount. The balance is a to- tai loss. The heavy rain that fol lowed the storm practically ruined what had not been destroyed by the storm.
 The storm Came Slowly.
 The storm came on very slowly, giv- ing most people ample time to reach their cellars. Instead of taking a straight course, the storm seemed to zigzag back and forth. A delegation of Blair firemen are now on the ground doing patrol duty.
 Ten persons were killed, and up- wards of 20 seriously injured, some fatally, and many others received mi nor hurts.
 It is reported that the tornado which struck the village wrecked several houses at Dane Hollow. Two persons were killed and ten are reported se- verely injured.
 Graphic Description.
 Blair, Neb., June l5.-One of the best descriptions of the storm was re- ceived from J. A. Kelly, Council Bluffs travelling man.
 With number of other guests I was dining in the hotel" he said when suddenly the wind began to rise and grow very violent I hastened to the window and looked to the north. l could see two immense clouds separated by quite bit of sky. swirl ing and churning wrathfully. We at once felt that tornado was at hand. Our suspicious were confirmed when we saw that the two divisions of clouds were rapidly converging into the tra- ditonal funnel shape.
 An Erratic Cloud.
 "But while we looked i. seemed to us that the cloud would sweep to the west and avoid the town. When it reached a point to the northwest we were terrified to see it suddenly change its course and make directly for the town. We hurried into the cellar, and saw no more of the tor nado, but we knew by the frightful din that 1t was working havoc in the town. When it had passed we emerged from the cellar and found that the hotel had been wrecked, and that every building in town had been blown down, with the exception of an isolated few on the outskirts.
 The Sweep of the Tornado.
 1.-The tornado had swept right dow n the main street. crushing the buildings ns though they were egg shells. The only brick building of importance in the town was the bank. After the storm l do not recall seeing it. and I presume that it, too, was destroyed. The town was a pile of debris, soak ing with water. In front of us we could see horses, pigs and frame build ings all heaped together. I could not say how many persons were killed or how many were injured. saw several dead and many wounded. Of course there were many still alive after the storm. and they did all they could to assist in the work of rescue. When the first train left I came to Blair."
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