The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-06-16
VICTIMS EXCEED 100.
New Richmond, Wis, Presents
a Scene of Desolation.
STORM SWEEPS EVERYTHING CLEAN

Business Portion of the Town Levcled bS
Cyclone-More NIangled Bodies Being:
Found and Hourly Added to Long List
of Casualties--Fire 0ucnched by Rain.
New RICHMOND, Wis, June A.
Fully 100 corpses, twice as many man.
gled people, 40 acres of piles of bricks,
shivercd planls, scattered heaps of
household goods, dead horses through
which the wind had driven sharp splin-
tcrs OF board, smouldering fires where
houses stood Monday, and in the midst
OF 1t all shivered trees as bare of leaves
as ever they We're in the middle of Win
ter and for the most part stripped bare
OF bark, until they resembled the ghosts
OF what they had been As hours ago.
Ihls Is what the storm wrought i'll tho
space OF three minutes upon the town Of
New Richmond.
There never was cyclone that made
cleaner sweep of what lay in it's path
than the one of Monday evening. In
the business portion of the tcwn abso-
lutely not one building was left stand
ing above the cellar windows. Every
thing above a foundation wall was
shaved as clean as though it had been
cut with plane. Enormous iron safes
were blown into the middle of tho
street and the largest safe in the town
was carried across one street and half
way over the square beyond.
Work of u Funnel Shaped Cloud.
The day had been warm and sultry
and during the latter part of the after
noon heavy banks of clouds had hung
upon the eastern horizon, but nothing
serious was anticipated until few
minutes before six o'clock, dark blue
cloud with edges Of pale green was
seen rapidly approaching from the
southwest. In a minute long funnel
was seen dropping toward the ground
and then with a savage roar the cloud
swept down upon the doomed town. A
circus had been exhibiting during the
afternoon and the streets were full of
strangers and as the awful cloud bore
| swiftly down there was mad rush for
cellars, doorways, Or any place that
| promised safety. Some of the crowd
reached a refuge 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 number of fatali-
ties will evcc be chronicled. In the
path of the storm just to the northeast
and southwest Of the city were scat
tered farm houses and wherever they
were struck by that awful wind there
was nothing left but q pile Of boards
and twisted rafters. How many were
killed in these houses will not be known
for long time.
Property Loss Is Total.
It is impossible to estimate the prop
erty loss, but it is total in the business
part of the town, and to make the blow
more severe not one policy of tornado
insurance had been written for the
place, st. Paul and Minneapolis, Chip
pewa Fails and other places have sent
i'll bountiful supplies and there is no
suffering for food or necessities, but the
business of the town is utterly wiped
out of existence and not one man in the
| place will be able to resume business.
The destruction is so complete that there
is absolutely nothing to be purchased in
the town-not a box of sardines, a
pound of crackers or q pair Of shoes.
The work Of searching for the dead
was carried on during the night as well
as it could be done in a drizzling rain
and with tn" aid of a few lanterns. It
was slow work and after dark the result
Of the work amounted to practically
nothing. The police of St. Paul, under
the leadership Of Chief Goss, who have
guarded the rQins and preserved order
during the day, We're relieved by com.
pany H of the Tenth Wisconsin bat
talon, from Chippewa Falls, under the
command Of Captain Hartwen. For
the balance Of the time the militia will
be in control.
Disposition of the Dead.
AS they We're recovered, the bodies
were brought to the Catholic or Con-
gregational churches. Thence they are
to be taken to the cemetery, except in a
| few cases where homes still stood in
which the remains can be kept for a
few hours, during which the final trib,
ute of love could be rendered by the be-
reaved families, Nursesand physicians
! from st. Paul were of great help all
night and day, and when the day closed
all the seriously injured We're believed
to have been cared for. Those whose
injuries were serious, but whose chances
for recovery were believed TO be good,
were quickly sent to the hospitals of st.
Paul and Minneapolis, where better care
can be given them. The slightly in
jured and those whose cases seem hope
less We're kept here and were given the
best attention possible. The list of dead
is gradually increasing, while the list of
injured will reach 200.
List Of killed--Ed O'Brien, William
Callahan, Mr., and Mrs. Dunbar, VIII
liam Hughes, Cora Butler, Dominic
Barrett, William Hennessy's daughter,
Mrs. Margaret Stinnson, Walter Brown,
John Nitge, Anton Oleson, ida Olsen,
Ed !, Carri, John Patton, Mr.. and Mrs.
Rosebrooks, Abbie Williams, Mrs. Eta
Cameron, two corpses unidentified,
Vina Lambin, Katie McKinnon, Thomas
McCahe. Timothy Noonan, Mrs. S. E.
Hawkins, two daughters and one son,
Al Bigelow, Katie Early, George Stack,
wife and child, three children of Mrs.
John Brockbanks, James johnson,
Mary Menehan, Nicholas PaFden, Will
liam Bixhy. MillMd Wills, Pat Wills,
John Casey, Julian Hicks, Nellie Bige-
| low.
The injured-Thonas McNally, W.
S. Williams, John Germine, Larry
Keefe, Charles Gardine, Ernie Church,
Lillian Klideman. Mrs. Mcmahon,