Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1902-06-11
IN THE PATH
OF TORNADOES
Death and Destruction Dealt Out 10 Towns in
Illinois and in Iowa by
Storms.
SEVERAL LIVES WERE LOST
The Town Of Laurel IN Iowa DESTROYED by a Tornado
Traffic Stopped Ia illinois by the Storm Blow
Ing Trees Across Railroad Tracks-Many
Farm Houses Damaged.

Bloomington, Ills, June 11.-Thre
lives We're lost and 20 people We're in
jured at Merna, ten miles north Of thi
place, in storm that visited this vi
cinity about midnight. The dead are
Miss Lena Cahagan of Leroy; Mrs Ed
ward Mardin OF Leroy and Miss Ami
Kelley of Merna. Mitchell cunningham
of Mcrna, Is missing. Two hundred peo
pie were a tending dance in the towr
hall when t;e lorna :, wrecked tht
building, lifting off the roof and crush.
ing in the wallis. Other damage was
done at this point but the particulars
are meagre. The storm in this city was
very severe, but no lives We're lost
The Illinois Wesleyan University was
badly damaged, many buildings were
unroofed, plate glass fronts blown in,
telegraph and telephone wires are pros
trated and the streets were rendered
impassable by the falling trees. The
street railway traffic is tied up and all
the railroad trains are delayed by trees
being blown across the tracks. At Clin-
ton, the Chicago and Alton roundhouse
was demolished but so far as is KNOWN
no lives were lost At San Jose the
grain elevator was blown across the
Alton tracks. entirely blocking traffic.
At Barnes, another elevator was blown
down. A large number of farm houses
were reported seriously damaged, but
the details are lacking.
WROUGHT RUIN AND WOE.
Bloomington, Ills, June 11.-Death
and destruction followed last night in
the wake of the worst tornado that has
ever visited the central part of Illinois.
The wind wrought ruin and woe and
the property loss will be tens of thous-
ands of dollars. There is no way of
really estimating the loss at present,
owing to the uncertainty of the effect
upon the growing crops, which it is
feared suffered heavily. The saddest
feature was the killing of three young
women at a dance at the town hall Of
Merna, a village ten miles east Of this
city. There was a party of $50 young
men and women at the dance in the
hall when the tornado struck the build
ing, about II o'clock last night Ev-
erybody rushed for the door. A num-
ber of young men held the doors tol
prevent the people from escaping, fear
ing that they might be injured or kill |
ed if they got outside. About half of
them, however, escaped, and then the |
building collapsed. The others We're
buried In the wreck. Three were killed !
and 40 or 30 were injured, some of them
seriously. The dead are: Miss Lena |
Jahagam, Miss Annie Kelley and Mrs. |
Edward Martin. They are all daughters
of prominent farmers in the vicinity |
Their bodies were horribly mutilated. |
A number of the young men and wo-
men were taken from the ruins in an
unconscious condition, some of them
still remaining in that state and 1t is
feared there may be other deaths Mer-
ma got the brunt Of the storm and many
Of its finest houses and barns were de-
stroyed. The storm reached Blooming
ton about II p. M, commencing with
furious electrical display. The rain
was accompanied with high wind and
the business district suffered severely.
Many Of the plate glass windows were
blown In and stocks of goods We're bad
iy damaged. Hundreds Of big trees
were broken off at the trunks and the
streets are almost impossible Tele-
graph and telephone poles were snapp-
ed in two and the broken trolley wires
added to the blockade. Buildings all
over the city were damaged. but no
lives were lost nor was anyone serious
lv injured. A man was blown 600 feet,
but escaped with only slight bruises.
Just on the eve Of commencement, Il
the roof of the Wesleyan University |!
was blown off and the interior was
badly damaged by the water The rail-
roads report many damaged tracks due
to the washouts and number Of
freight wrecks. due to the telegraph
poles falling on the tracks. As far as
now known, no one was killed or in
iured. In this manner. Efforts are be-
ing made to reach the small towns in
the country. It Is believed that several
of them suffered more or less damage.
VI. A TOWN DESTROYED. Ii
DeSMOineS, la., June ll.--IrliuciL re-
ports that the town Of Laurel, Marshall
county, was destroyed by tornado
last night. Owing to the wires being
down, 1t is impossible to secure definite
knowledge as to the facts.
A TERRIBLE STORM. |,
Chicago. June 11.-Meagre reports
here tell Of destructive tornado that
last night swept from the southernI
boundary Of Wisconsin, through the
central part Of illinois as far south as
Bloomington, with ramifications west
of the Mississippi. The storm swept
through this state about midnight, ac-
companied by electrical discharges Of a
severe nature. For seven hours Chica-
90 could obtain no communication with
the cities in the path of the. storm.
HAVOC BY "A TORNADO. |,
Pekin, Ills, June 11.-A tornado pass
ed over Tazewell county last night, |,
killing three and fatally. injuring two Ii
persons at Kingston Mines south Of
here. The dead are: Mrs. Thomaa,1Aur- Il
ray and infant. and VIM. M'Elwee, aged
3 years. Patrick M'Elwee and wife
were fatally injured. The entire east
end Of Kingston, village of miners OF