The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-01
RAILS SPREAD
TWO men DIE
Continued From First Page.

waukee road, between Wabasha and
Lake City, were covered with
earth and rocks. East and west bound
trains were from two to seven hours
late, and trains from Chicago arrived
in st. Paul yesterday over the Iowa
division.
Max BalthaSar, manager OF the
Scripps- McRae association in Chicago,
was a passenger on the Pioneer limit
ed, which arrived seven hours late.
1T was the worst storm in it's effects
that I ever saw" said Mr.. Balthasar.
Through Iowa and Minnesota, along
the line, trees are down, crops ruined,
houses wrecked and cattle and sheep
killed. The country, through which
we rode, surely looked as IL cyclone
struck it.
For miles we rode without seeing
one chimney standing. Roofs were lift
ed from barns and houses, and in
many cases buildings are practically
demolisheds
"How the people in the section af-
fected escaped with their lives is more
than I can ISee. The damage to prop
erty is such as would indicate great
loss of life, but l understand that so
far no deaths have been reported.
What the damage to the crops is can
only be roughly estimated, but 1T will
be great, for thousands of acres of
corn ready for harvest were laid fiat
by the elenents
"Our train did not strike the storm,
or rather The storm did not strike us.
But we were in the storm territory
soon after the cyclone had passed The
track on the river division of the Mil
waukee road was in such shape that
it was impossible for us to travel from
Wabasha to Lake City, so they switch
ed the train to the Iowa division. This
gave us an opportunity to see the
damaged country. Telegraph and tele-
phone communication in many places
is completely cut off and today all
along the line men are employed re-
pairing the wires"
Members of the belated train crews,
who arrived in st. Paul yesterday aft
ernoon, say that they never saw a
storm more severe and continuous.
Said conductor:
1T rained SO hard and so continu-
Gus that section hands could not re-
main out of doors. When the earth
commenced to wash down on the
tracks, near WabaSha, men We're put
to work, but the storm was so severe
that it was impossible for them to ac-
complish anything. AS soon as one
stretch was cleared another would fill
up with the rocks and dirt from the
hills.
1.-The rain came down in torrents, and
finally became so severe that the fore
man of the gang was obliged to call
the men into shelter.
when the storm subsidized, about
midnight, the track for fourteen miles
was buried. In some places there were
five and six feet of earth washed
down, and boulders several feet in cir
conference, blocked traffic"
About noon time the road was OPEN
ed, and the first train from Chicago
arrived ats,2:10 yesterday afternoon.
No. 81, due ato7:55, arrived at 2:45;
No. 8, which is scheduled to reach st.
Paul at 11:25, got in at 3.05; and No.
55,. due at 2. so, was an hour and half
late.
Although not quite SO severe, the
storm on The wisconsin side of the
river also did considerable damage.
The Burlington train from Chicago
was two hours lateI No bad wash outs
were reported at the Burlington's st.
Paul office, but all trains were ordered
to run slowly.
The roads running north of st. Paul
suffered little from the storm. The
"Soo's" telegraph wires failed to work
for a shortstim but the trains arriv-
ed on time. The Minneapolis & st.
Louis trains were somewhat delayed.
but not to the extent OF the other
southern roads.