Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-04-29

L
CLARENCE sTEARNEs AND MOTHER.
MRS. Will SMITH. shoulder hurt. in
juries slight.
E. THOMAS.
MRS EFFIE vESTA. body bruises; win
MRS WADDEL. body bruises; not fatal.
When the tornado struck the city
last evening most of the residents were
at supper. The tornado cut clean
path one mile long and six hundred
feed wide through the residence sec
it's wake. Buildings were demolished
or twisted apart and scattered to the
four winds. A conservative estimate
places the aggregate amount of dam
age at 100000, the individual losses
ranging from 500 to $4,000.
The wind played many pranks and
there was some miraculous escapes. j.
C. Coonfield and his family were eating
supper when the tornado struck their
home. The house was picked up and
!. carried across slough and dumped
up against hill, the building was not
COMPLETELY wrecked and te family es-
capped without anything worse than
severe shaking up. Houses on both
sides of the residence of w. M. Hall
were blown into splinters, but the wind
was content with twisting his house off
its foundation and leaving it intact.
The house was in the center of the dis
trict and it was used as a hospital
after the storm. P. J. Reiger, promi-
nent attorney, ran right into the path
of the storm
T SAVE HIS FAMILY,
into the house he carried his wife and
children into the cellar. AS he STUN
bled into the place of safety the build
ing was leveled to the ground. He was
just in time to save his loved ones and
is happy, although his loss by the cy-
clone amount to $4,000.
Among the first of the buildings
wrecked was the elegant ten thousand
dollar residence of Mrs. Mary Hensley,
in the southeastern part of the city.
Not a vestige of it is left. The Cath
Ollie church, fine brick structure in
the northeastern part, was unroofed
and otherwise damaged. The large
the same locality, was stripped of its
second story. He and his family and
John Doneghy took refuge in the cellar
and were saved. The residence of H.
Lowell, just outside of the town, was
twisted into heap of ruins and three
of his children burned in the debris and
killed Other large residences were
lifted from their foundation and liter
ally torn into kindling wood.
For a time the people in that por-
ton of the town not touched by the
storm were panic stricken, but as soon
as they recovered their wits they imme-
diately went to the aid of their unfor-
tunate townsmen. Calls for help were
sent to surrounding towns and quickly
responded to. The wounded were car
ried to the homes of people in the
neighborhood and given immediate at
tention. Twenty-Five doctors from Mo
berly, Macon and other points along the
line of the Wabash railroad came to
Kirksville last night in response to
urgent calls for medical assistance.
THE VISITING DOCTORS
co-operated with the local physicians
and the work of caring for the wound
ed was expedited.
Hundreds Of persons visited the
stricken district to-day and a large
number of sightseers came from neigh
boring towns The special officers
would not not allow any one without
authority to go through the ruined dis
trict. Kirksville streets have been
deep in mud ever since the first spring
shower and the rain that followed the
tornado has made them impossible for
wagons. This state of affairs hinders
the work of gathering the dead and
makes the compilation of complete
list of victims impossible for the time
being. All business has been suspend
ed and the only stores open for busi-
ness are those dealing in drugs.
The scenes that met the gaze Of the
rescuers were horrifying An aged
man and his wife had evidently been
eating their evening meal when the
cyclone struck and carried their home
away. They had clasped each other in
their arms and were found dead on the
ground some distance away from where
their home had been. No trace of their
house has been seen. Several of the
dead were found in spots which would
have been the centre of the house had
the building not been blow to splint-
ers.
This was the case with Mrs. Pan
schott, who suffered a most terrible
death. Her headless body with its
arms clasping her lifeless baby was
discovered on the floor OF the house
which was left as a raised platform In
an open field. The head is
PRECISELY SEVERED
as if it had been done with a knife and
was about twenty feet distant. Two
children had been lying In a cot In