River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-06-01
A TORNADOI
A Powerful Twister Wends Its Way
Up The South Fork Valley.
its path StreWn With the Wreckage
of Buildings and Trees.

Many OF our citizens had the rare
opportunity on Friday last of witness
ing the formation, operation and re-
suits Of genuine tornado. just as
the train was leaving the depot en-
route for Ellsworth in the evening,
cloud was seen forming in the direc
tion of the South Fork bridge and
southeast of the park, which rapidly
took on the funnel shape. After do
ing some damage In the neighborhood
of Mr.. feelings and Mr.. Short 1t
crossed the highway and tore up sew
eral lengths of sidewalk In front OF
Mr.. McIlroy's and leveled the trees
about his residence, and those of Mr.
Linehan, Mr.. Hutchinson and Mr..
Hall, and tore through the grove
on the south. Mr.. Linehan's barn
was partially turned round and then
inverted; two horses and calf which
we're in the barn we're afterwards
found uninjured; the hens have not
yet returned. AT Mr.. Hutchinson's
the iron pump was lifted from the
ground and broken off, the sitting
room window blown In and the mirror
and other articles on the mantle de-
molished. The south and east por-
tions of the roof OF Mr.. Nelson's
dwelling just east of the grove were
torn off and his barn and that Of Mr..
Levings near by were strewn over the
fields beyond. Engineer Fitzgerald
seeing the storm opened the throttle
andthe'train crossed the path of the
tornado about ten seconds ahead of
the flying debris.
The next object in its path was
Geo. TIL. Smiths brickyard, half q
Ia FTha chn6G dam nliGh
ed, considerable damage resulting not
only from the destruction OF the
buildings but from ruin to brick pre-
pared for the kiln. A dwelling erect
ed for the purpose of boarding his
men was badly injured, the family on
| ly escaping by descending into the Gel
lar. Three boys we're caught in the
track OF the storm, one, Harry Weydt,
having two of his ribs fractured and
the others, John and Joe Deiss, being
struck several times by flying frag-
mentS.
No further damage was done until
it reached the Burnett farm where a
large shed was destroyed and the long
hay barn on the Major Burnett place
| was also blown down.
The cloud then seemed to rise from
| the ground and proceeded with no i'll
effects, and at the Hanson farm it
seemed all at once to disappear, many
Of the articles which it had taken up
| in its course being strewed over the
| fields in that neighborhoOd.
The cloud main tanned a well defined
funnel shape from the time it struck
the ground until it disappeared about
two miles and half east of the city
and was visible between twenty and
| thirty minutes.
A study of the details show that the
south side of the track was most
| readily determined that the air must
have been in a rapidly whirling mo-
tion during the progress of the storm
and that trees were twisted of as II
by a mighty lever rapidly working
| upon them. For instance at one
| place large tree had been twisted OFF
and lay pointing west while within
thirty feet another lay poin ting north;
North of the storm track hail fell
in many places, the hailstones, many
of them, being of large size. Some
damage was done by breaking glass.
1t seems remarkable that most OF
the dwelling houses in the path of the
storm should have escaped, and very
| fortunate it was for the city that IT
| did not pass through the more thickly
settled portion.
Cyclonic conditions had prevailed
| for some days in the northwest and
in territory west of US. A train wreck
occurred on the Great Western by
which several lives were lost. On
Saturday after the storm the trains
| of the Milwaukee & Omaha, or North
| western line, were obliged TO use the
| Burlington track.