The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-29

Impossible Tor the time being. All busi.
ness has been suspended and the only
stores open for business nre those deal.
Ing In drugs.
Horrirying Scenes.
The scenes that met the gaze OF the
restuers were horrlfying. 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 denl 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
hay been the center Of the house had
the building not been blown to spllnters.
This was the case with Mrs. Pun
school, who suffered most terrible
death. Her headless body. with Its
arms clasplng her llfeless baby. was
discovered on the floor OF the house
which was left as raised platform in
an open field. The head is preslsely
severed as II 1t had been done with u
knife, and was about twenty feet dis
tant. Two children had been lying In n
cot in one Of the destroyed homes. The
house had been carried away but the
floor Of the first story and the founda-
tion was left, the wind lifting the house
from the sills and tumbllng 1t long
distance. The cot on which the little
ones lay was lifted up with them on 1t
and carried fully block and half and
set down on the ground. Neither of the
children was hurt. Along the railroad
track between tho depot and Kellogg's
crossing, a distance Of half mile, was
n mass OF debris. The wrecks Of many
homes were scattered along the streets
and trees were filled with bed clothing
and other household goods.
By 2 o'clock 1t was said at headquar-
tcrs that the injured SO far numbered
seventy-four, with about u dozen cases
which are sure to result fatally. The
list is not complete. however.
There are two undertakers ir Iilrlls-
VILE and togethe. they had all they
| could do taking care OF the dead.
A meeting Of the citizens at which the
mayor presided. was held this after
noon at the opera house. Committees
We're appointed to systematIze the work
of clearing away the wreckaGe, pro-
riding shelter for the homeless ones and
raising funds for their temporary care.
There are at least 1000 homeless per-
SONS in liirksville tonight.
Freaks of the Storm.
The freaks OF the storm were many,
but one of the strangest occurrences
was the finding Of a grooming baby out
In Il field far away from any house The
child was scarcely scratched. No one
has called for the baby und It has not
been identified. Another baby was
found where It had been bruised to
death by the violence OF the wind. This
baby also has not been Identified.
The body Of little child was found
with the limb OF u tree sticking through
its neck.
The Webster family Of three were
ridden In the debris OF their cottage for
several hundred yards, but were not
badly injured.
While John Mccall was cllngIng TO q
cherry sapllng n twelve-year-old boy,
John Gebhart, flew down toward him
from the sky. He caught and saved the
boz with only bruises to both. The
youngsters home had been demolished
two blocks away and he says he was
carried that distance in the wrcckage.
At Henry Nicholas farm Jus. out Of
town, in the path Of the storm, another
man was seen flying ahead Of the storm
cloud more than hundred feet from,
the ground. The body has not yet
been found.
Mrs. Peter +. Greenwood says she
saw q woman's form sweep over her in
the thick Of the storm at high elcva-
ton. Miss Whaley was impaled upon n
flying tree limb and almost discmbowl-
ed. Surgeons sawed the limb off at
both ends, fearing to remove it. The
young woman lived two hours.
The Rev. Theo. Brigham and his wife
were crushed by flying missiles. while
fleeing from their homes. Mr.. Brigham
Is dead and Mrs. Brigham, 1t is believed,
cannot recover.
Hunter Lowe. Il farmer, and his wife,
were overtaken by the tornado in
buggy half Il mile from their house.
They were blown out OF the vehicle and
painfully hurt. y moment later their
house vanished and their three children
went with II to destruction. Mr.. Lowe
IL n prominent cattle man.
W. A. Smiths house collapsed upon
his family. He dug his way out and
rescued his wife and two children.
Seventeen persons In one nelghbor-
hood fled from five houses to u fifteen
foot circular storm cellar. Those five
houses were entirely destroyed.
The property loss is estimated Mt full
ly 100000. and It is stated that 500 per-
sons are utterly homeless. The dis
trlct visited by the storm had been re-
Gently built up and most OF the houses
were new. Many had been put up with
borrowed money and rs L result scores
are not only homeless but burdened
with debt. for only n very few OF the
buildings were Insured against wind.
NEWT0WN DES0LATED.