The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-29

center OF the district ana X was used as
hospital after the storm.
p. ]. Rieger. a prominent attorney, ran
right into the path OF the storm 10 save
his family. which was helpless with fear.
Dashing into the house he carried his wife
and children into the cellar. AS he stumbled
into the place of safety the building was
leveled to the ground. lie was just in time
10 save his loved ones and is happy. al
though his loss by the tornado amounts to
5000.
Among the first OF the buildings wrecked
was the elegant $4,000 residence of Mrs.
Mary Hensley. in the southeastern part of
the city. Not vestige of il is left. The
Catholic church. fine brck structure. in
the northeastern part. was unroofed and
otherwise damaged. The iar-z dwelling Of
Judge Andrew Ellison. in the same locality.
was stripped of its second story. lie and
his family and John Doneghy took refuge
in the cellar and were saved. The resi-
dence of II. Lowell. just outside of town.
was twisted into heap of ruins and three
OF his children buried in the debris and
killed. Other large residences were lifted
from their foundations and literally torn
into kindling wood.
For a time the people in that portion Of
town not touched by the storm were panic
stricken. but soon they recovered
their wits they Immediately went to the aid
OF their unfortunate townsmen. Calls for
help were sent 10 surrounding towns and
were quickly responded TO. The wounded
were carried to the homes of hospitabe
neighbors and given immediate attention.
Twenty-Five doctors from Moberly. Macon
and other points along the line OF the Wa
bash Railroad came 10 Kirksville last night
in response TO urgent calls for medical as
sistance. The visiting doctors co-operated
with the local physicians. and the work OF
caring for the wounded was expedited.
MANY CURIOUS PEOPLE
Hundreds Of persons visited the stricken
district to-day and large number of sight
seers came from neighboring towns. The
special officers would not allow any one
without authority to go through the ruined
district. kirksville streets have been hub
deep in mud ever since the first spring
shower and the rain that followed the tor
nado has made them impossible for wagons.
This state of affairs hinders the work of
gathering the dead and makes the compila-
ton of complete list of victims impossi-
bic for the time being. All business has been
suspended and the only stores open for
business are those dealing in drugs.
The scenes that met the gaze of the res
cuers were horpifying. An aged man and
his wife had evidently been eating the even
ing meal when the cyclone struck and car
ried 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 center of the house had the
building not been blown to splinters. This
was the case with Mrs. Panschott, who suf-
fered a most terrible death Her headless
body with its arms clasping her lfeless
baby was discovered on the floor Of the
house which was left as a raised platform
in an open field. The head, as cleanly sew
cred as If it had been done with knife,
was found about twenty feet distant Two
children had been lying in a cot in one
of the destroyed homes. The house was
carried away, but the floor of the irst
story and the foundation were left, tie
wind lifting the house from the sills and
tumblng it long distance. The cot on
which the little ones lay was lifted up
with them on II and carried fully a block
and half and set down the ground.
Neither of the children was hurt.
Along the railroad track between the
depot and Kelogg's crossing a distance Of
half a mile was a mass of debris. The
wrecks of many homes were scattered along
there and the trees were filed with bed
clothing and other household goods
INTELLIGENCE BUREAU.
Mayor Noonan, assisted by a number of
citizens, opened an intelligence bureau at
noon. Messengers were sent through the
| were known to have resided in that section
| of the town. Every citizen made il his duty
| TO report at the bureau Of information all
cases of death. injury and persons missing.
| In this way some little degree of order was
brought out of the chaos BY O'Clock it
was said at headquarters that the injured so
| far numbered seventy-four, with about a
dozen cases which are sure to result IA
tally. The list is not complete, however.
There are two undertakers in Kirksville
and together they had all they could do
taking care of the dead.
The freaks of the storm were many, but
one of the strangest occurrences was the
finding of a grooming baby out in field,
| far from any house The child was scarcely
scratched. No one has called for the baby,
and 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.
| Among the horrors of the storm was the
| finding of the corpse of a sixteen-year-old
girl with a two-by-four scantling driven
through her body. The body of little
child was found with the limb of tree
| sticking through its neck. A citizen was
| found after the storm standing over the
| body of his dead wife. The head had been
| crushed and severed from the body.
| AT the call of Mayor Noonan a mass meet
| ing was held this afternoon and an executive
committee was appointed to raise funds and
| take full charge of the work of relief. The
| property loss is estimated at fully $s00,00,
and 1t is stated that 500 persons are utterly
homeless. The district visited by the storm
had been recently built up. and most cf
the houses were new. Many had been Iut
up with borrowed money. and as result
| scores are not only homeless, but burdeEej
! with debt, for only very few Of the build
| ings were insured against wind.
The relief committee secured donations OF
over 81 900 within a short time this even
! ing, but the calamity is so overwhelming
| that outside assistance will be needed. How
ever. the mayors OF St. Louis. Kansas City,
| Quincy. ST. Joseph, Sedalia. Moberly. Macon
and several other towns have already tele-
! graphed offers of assistance. There is some
talk Of petitioning the Legislature for state
aid.