River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1902-07-03
STORM CAUSES RUIN.
Disastrous Effect of Wind, Rain
and Lightning.
A Number of Lives Lost-Cities Flood
ed, Buildings Wrecked and In
caIcuIabIe Damage Done
to Crops.

Texas and other states in the south.
Evansville, Ind, suffered heavily, and
near ST. Wendell, in Posey county, the
| home of Frank Goedde was wrecked
and Frank Goedde, Sr., aged so; Frank
Goedde, aged seven, and Chris Laugle,
| ged 25, were killed, and Frank Coed
de, Jr., fatally injured. The home and
| barn of Peter Wolfe, two miles away,
were wrecked. One person (unknown)
was killed. The storm cut a path
about 200 feet wide and left track
two miles in length.
During a thunderstorm at Harri-
man, Tenn, 15-year-old daughter of
Frank Digger was killed by light
ming. Mr.. Dugger's residence was
burned to the ground and a second
daughter was seriously injured.
In Louisville, KY, one man was
killed by a falling car shed, and off
Washington, n. c., five men were
drowned by the blowing over of tug
boat.
Crops Damaged.
Madison county, ILL.,, is a heavy suf-
ferer, entire fields of stacked grain
being ruined.
Two days ago oats promised the
biggest yield in the history of Chris
tian county, H., but it is predicted now
that not more than one-half a crop
can be gathered. The damage to oats
and wheat in Knox county is estimated
at $4,000. Corn is hardly far enough
advanced to determine the damage,
but it will be considerably affected. At
Pana stock was killed by lightning
and the streets of the city are flooded
to the extent that traffic is suspended.
Thousands of acres of corn and oats
in the neighborhood of Fairbury are
ruined, and people residing in the bot
tom lands, which have not overfown
for years, have been obliged to move.
Damage at st. Louis.
st. Louis, June 30.-This city and vi
cinity is the center of rainstorm of
unprecedented severity, that has pre-
vailed almost necessarily since Sat-
urday morning. According to the To-
cal weather bureau reports, 5.45
inches of rain fell here between $3.50
a. m. Saturday and eight p. m. Sunday,
and the end is apparently not in sight.
At times the storm equaled cloud
burst in severity. Considerab BILE dam
age, the total estimated at about $780,
900, resulted from the wind that ac-
companied the rain. Saturday night
the wind attained a velocity of about
So miles an hour, blowing down trees,
telephone, telegraph and trolley poles
and interfering with communication
of all sorts. At least / 900 shade trees
in various parts of the city are re-
ported on the ground. From the coun-
try surrounding comes reports of de-
struction to and the washing out of
railroad tracks and bridges, causing
considerable delay to trains.
Five hundred feet of the north wall
of the Varied Industries palace at the
worlds fair site fell Saturday night as
the result of the storm, the water I'M
dermining the foundations when the
wind was at it's height. In places the
worlds fair grounds are covered with
water.
Flood at Alton, Ill.
ST. Louis, June 3O.-One of the most
distressing floods in the history of
Alton, ILL.,, and vicinity resulted Sun
day from the heavy rains of Friday and
Saturday. At four o'clock in the aft
ernoon it was estimated that 10000
acres had been covered by the over
flow of Wood river, which is three to
six miles wide. Most of this land is
either occupied by manufacturing in
terests or planted in crops. The great
est single disaster caused by the flood
was the destruction of the plant of
the Stoneware Pipe company at East
Alton. The loss is estimated at $40, 900.
The water rose rapidly, being IS inches
higher than ever before and filled an
underground duct leading from the
mammoth smokestack to kiln No. 4.
The kiln was filed with stoneware
and red hot. When the water reached
the kiln it turned into steam and an
explosion followed. The kilns are
built close to the main plant and the
explosion set fire to the buildings and
other kilns, burning them to the
ground within short time.
In East Alton the residents were
compelled to use skiffs to get about
the principal streets Sunday. The wa
ter filed all the cellars in the village
and some of the largest stores were
also flooded. A number of outbuild-
ings were washed away and the sta
ton of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy railroad was carried away by
the flood and lodged in field a quarter
of mile distant. The food produced
the worst railroad tie-up in recent
years in the vicinity of the Atoms
The Big Four and the Chicago, Peoria
& ST. Louis railroads were hit the
hardest, while the Burlington sus-
tanned the smallest amount of dam
agv,
Drought Broken.
Denver. Col, June 30.--The drought
which threatened to be the most Sc
we're which Colorado has known for
wears has been broken by a rain as gen
eral in extent as it was copious in
quantity. Though the storm was in
places accompanied by hail which did
much damage, this is trivial compared
with the value of the crops saved by
the rain. The storm damage in Den
yer and vicinity is estimated all the
way from SIC. 900 to $4,000. Snow fell
to the depth of inches in Leadville
and many other places in the noun
tains.
Killed by the Cars.
Springfield, H.. June 80. = Caspar
Geshwiler. aged 81 years, and Maurice
Tobin, aged 50 years. were struck by
a Chicago & Alton freight train near