Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-06-23
AWFUL DEVASTATION
Tornadoes in Wisconsin and NebraS
ka Kill Hundreds of People.
Over 800 Dead and Mangled at New Rich.
mond. Wis, and the Town a Total
Wreck-1OO Dead at Her
man, Neb.

New Richmond, Wis, June 14-FulIv
100 corpses, twice as many mangled
people. 40 acres of piles of brick. shiv-
cred planks, scattered heaps of house
hold goods, dead horses, through which
the wind had driven sharp splinters of
board. smoldering fires where houses
stood Monday and in the midst of 1t all
shlvered trees as bare OF leaves as ever
they were in the middle of winter and
almost stripped bare of bark until they
resembled the ghosts of what they had
been few days ago-this is what
1e storm of Monday wrought in the
Space of three minutes upon the town
Of New Richmond. There NAV have
been cyclones which created great
er devastation, some that have
caused larger loss of life, but it was
only because there was more material
for destruction. There never was a
cyclone that made cleaner sweep of
what lay in its path than the one of
Monday evening. In the business por-
ton of the town absolutely not one
building was left standing above the
cellar windows; everything above a
foundation wall was shaved as clean as
though 1T had been cut with a plane.
Enormous safes were blown into the
safe in the town was carried across
one street and half way over the square
beyond. The day had been warm and
sultry, and during the latter part
of the afternoon heavy banks of
clouds had hung upon the western and
southwestern horizon, but nothing
serious was anticipated until a few
minutes before six o'clock, when a
dark blue cloud with edges of pale
green was seen rapidly approaching
from the southwest. In a minute
long funnel was seen dropping towards
the ground and then, with a savage
roar, the cloud swept down upon the
doomed town. A circus had been eN-
hlbiting during the afternoon and the
streets were full of strangers, and as
the awful cloud bore swiftly down
there was mad rush for cellars. door
ways or any place that promised safe
ty. Some of the crowd reached a ref
uge and those who did not are among
the dead.
1t will be several days before the
number of dead in New Richmond is
accurately known, and it is doubtful if
the entire numb Der of fatalities will ever
be chronicled. In the path of the
storm, both to the northeast and south
west of the city, were scattered farm
houses, and wherever they We're struck
by that awful wind there was nothing
left but a pile of boards and twisted
rafters- How many were killed in
these houses will not be known for
long time.
Terrible Work at Herman, Neb.
Omaha, Neb., June IA tornado
kfTI1ol< he of
evening and wiped the place out of
existence. Herman is a place of about
300 inhabitants, in the extreme north
ern part of Washington county. 1t is
ON the line of the Chicago, ST. Paul,
Minneapolis & Omaha railroad. The
tornado wrought fearful destruction.
A conductor on the evening train from
Sioux City passed through the place
not long after the storm and he
says that not a building is left
standing in the town. He him
self counted II dead bodies lying
in the streets. The fatalities will I'M
doubtedly run up to 100, if not higher.
Advices received up to IL o'clock last
night state that every building in the
town is destroyed except the public
school and one small dwelling, both of
which are on the outskirts. The force
of the wind was terrific as scarce one
piece of any of the many structures de-
stroyed was left intact. The scene in
the streets of the once thriving and
beautiful little town is one of destruc-
ton. Wrecked buildings and broken
furniture scarce recognizable in its di-
lapidated condition are strewn all
around, while dead bodies lie in many
places, the corpses badly disfgured and
some of them hardly recognizable.