The San Francisco call., 1899-04-29

a NeSuge OF 1t is left. The Catholic
Church, fine brick structure in the east
ern part, was unroofed and otherwise
damaged. The dwelling of Judge Andrew
Ellison, in the same locality, was stripped
OF its second story. He and his family
and John Dogheny took refuge in the
cellar and were saved. The residence of
II. Lowell, just outside of town, was
twisted into a heap of ruins and three Of
his children killed and burned in the
debris. Other large residences were lifted
from their foundations and literally torn
into Nndling wood.
For time the people in that portion of
the town not touched by the storm were
panicStriCken, but as soon as they recoV-
cred their wits they Immediately went to
the aid of their unfortunate townsmen.
calls were sent to surrounding towns and
were quickly responded to. The wounded
were carried to the homes of hospitable
people in the neighborhood. Twenty-Five
doctors from Moberly, Macon and other
points along the line Of the Wabash rail-
road came to KirksVille last night in re-
sponse to urgent calls for medical assist
ance. The visiting doctors cO-Operated
with the local physicians and the work of
caring for the wounded was expedited
Hundreds of persons visited the stricken
district ot-day and large number Of
sightseers 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 tornado has made them impossible
the work of gathering the dead and makes
the compilation of the great list of victims
impossible for the time being All bust
ness has been suspended. and the only
stores open for business are those dealing
in drugs.
The scenes of the rescuers were horri-
Tying. An aged man and his wife
had evidently been eating ter evening
meal when the cyclone struck and carried
their home away. They had clasped each
other in their arms and were found dead
ground distance 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
suffered Il most terrible death. Her head
less body, with its arms clasping her life
less baby, was discovered on the floor of
the house, which was left as a RACED plat
nicely severed as if it had been done with
a knife and was about twenty feet dis
tant Two children had been lying in a
cot in one of the destroyed homes.
The house was carried away, but the
floor Of the first story and the fOunda-
tiOn were left, the wind lifting the house
from the SillS and tumbling it q long dis
tance. The cot on which the little ones
lay was lifted up with them on it and
carried fully a block and half and Sc set
down on the ground. Neither of the chill
dren was hurt Along the railroad track
between the depot and KellOggs Crossing,
a distance of d half mile. was a mass of
OeDTlS. ne wrecks OF many uOiltS were
scattered along there and the trees were
filed with bedclothing and other house
hold goods.
Mayor Noonan, assisted by a number of
citizens. opened an intelligence bureau at
noon Messengers We're sent through the
stricken district in search of persons who
were known TO have resided in that sec
tiOn of the town Every citizen made it
his duty TO report at the bureau Of in
formation all cases of death. injury and
I Of persons missing. In this way some
little degree of order was brought out of
chaos
At ? o'clock it was said at headquar-
! ters that the injured so far numbered
which arc sure TO result fatally. This list
| is not complete. however.
There are two undertakers in Kinks
Vile, and together they had all they
could do taking care Of the dead: a
meeting of citizens, al which the Mayor
presided, was held this afternoon at the
Opera-hOuse. Committees were appointed
to systematic the work of clearing away
the debris. and finding shelter for the
homeless ones and raising funds for their
temporary care. There are at least 1000
homeless people in KirksVille tonight.
The freaks of the storm were many,
but one of the strangest occurrences was
the finding of a grooming baby out in a
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 violent wind.
/ This baby also has not been identified.
Among the horrors of the storm was
/ the finding Of the corpse Of a 16-year-old
/ girl. with a twO-by-fOuT scantling driven
! through her body. The body of a 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