The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-06-13
LIVES LOST IN AN
OKLAHOMA TORNADO
A Strip Of Territory Fifty Miles ID
Width Devastated bya
Twister.
The PROPERTY LOSS is LARGE
Several Towns In tho Path of the stor,-
Suffer severeiy-Seven Persons Are
Killed at billings and Two
at Enid.

Wichita, Kan, June 1.-THE mos,
disastrous storm which has ever Wis.
tied Oklahoma prevailed in Kay coun-
ty Saturday night. A tornado struck
Billings, Eddy, and Tonkawa, and Its
influence covered a stretch of country
ten miles wide and thirty-six miles
long, destroying towns. farm houses
and crops. The financial loss will ex-
coed 100000.
At Eddy three persons were killed as
follows
MRS. MAUDE M'GATHEY.
LOUIS M'GATHEY.
ROBERT M'GATHEY.
The injured
Charles Goldsmith, skull fractured.
John McBrain. leg broken.
Hugh Prather, nose broken.
Judd McV'illiams, head crushed.
Howard flanagan head soadI,
crushed.
internal injuries.
A. D. Evans. leg broken.
Two persons are reported killed at
Billings, but this cannot be varified.
Perry, o. T., June 9.-The storm
which passed over eastern Oklahoma
was one of the most severe since the
opening of the strip.
A feature of the storm was the ex-
tent of the territory covered Sweep
ing down from the Kansas state line
and covering about fifty miles in width,
the rain, wind and hail swept over the
country as far south as old Oklahoma.
The rain simply fell in torrents from
early In the evening until midnight.
The fury of the storm centered in a
tornado at about $3.50 p. M, which
formed at point near tl,o Kansas
CT inc nd Incl No
of Kay and Grant Okla.
The twister took a southeastern
course and was most disastrous on
belt of ten miles square in eastern Kay
county, and the little town of Eddy was
struck and of the twelve or fifteen
buildings in the place all We're leveled
to the ground, except the railroad sta
tion and elevator Flying lumber was
scattered for mile. The people of the
town sought places of safety early.
One unknown man was killed and sew
eral persons slightly injured by flying
debris
The track of the tornado between this
point and Tonkawa, distance Of about
eight miles, was laid waste. Five farm
houses with barns and outhouses were
blown away, but the occupants all es-
capped without injury. Fine fields of
wheat N the midst of harvest We're laid
waste.
The tail end of the tornado fell with
terrible force upon Tonkawa. Thirty
dwellings and business houses We're
scattered like so much loose lumber.
The citizens of the town had been
watching the advance of the tornado
and had sought shelter in caves ana
cellars No fatalities are reported at
this point and only a few persons re-
ceived scratches, which is almost
miraculous considering the devastation.
A few miles from this point the lorna
do seemed to go up in the air. and the
country below did not suffer much from
the storm, with the hail in spots, which
did some damage to fruit and the
wheat crop.
At Blackwell, few miles north Of
Tonkawa, F. II. Crawford, carpenter,
who was working on a house, was
struck by lightning during the storm
and instantly killed.
Enid, O. T., June 10.-The worst
storm in years swept over the terri
tory Friday night 1t was particularly
severe in Noble and Kay counties The
gale commenced at 10 p. m. and by
q. M. was blowing at tornado speed,
carrying everything before it.
y At Billings, Noble county, much dam
age was done. Seven people were killed
and many severely injured.