The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-06-13
SWEEPS over A LARGE AREA OF
ILLINOIS
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION
Left in it's Wake Across the state
Several Killed and Hundreds of
Thousands of Dollars Worth of
Property Destroyed-The Area De-
Vastated One Hundred Miles Wide
by Two Hundred Long-Two Storm.
i'm One Night-Train Wrecked by
Wind i'm Iowa.


across pathway 100 miles in width
and devastating a territory fully 200
miles long, extending from Livingston
county, on the north. to McCoupin
county on the south. and leaving its
mark clear across the face OF central
Illinois, d eye one last night inflicted a
property loss. which will aggregate
millions of dollars and cost a dozen
lives. The brunt of the storm fell upon
Mclean and adjoining counties. Light
ming was incessant for two hours, but
was marked by an absence of thunder
claps. Wind reached a velocity of 100
miles an hour and in its track were
left destruction and death. The yfsita-
ton was the worst ever recorded in the
history of central Illinois. Almost
complete interruption Of telegraph and
telephone lines for twelve hours has
made it impossible to secure the full
details of the disaster
1t is known tnat while the fatalities
in Mclean were were but three in num-
ber, scores of persons We're seriously
injured and hundreds of narrow es-
capes from death were reported Not
a village or city of Mclean county
escaped and from every district comes
the same report of destroyed buildings
injury to growing crops and raZed fruit
and shade trees.
The aggregate loss in Mclean, not
including three lives at Merna, or thou
sands upon thousands of leveIed shade
and fruit trees, by a rough estimate,
will be between $500, 900 and s4OO, 900.
- Peorta,-IA., June 1.-THE double
storm that struck Peoria at 10 o'lock
last night and again at o'clock this
| morning was the worst central Illinois
has experience ID since 1S43
Probably the worst damage in proper
tion to the size of the town, was at
Kingston Mines, a small mining town
twenty miles below Peoria. There were
three persons killed outright and ten
were injured, three fatally.
George RearJOn, an employee of the
electric company, was instantly killed
this morning while repairing the storm
damage at Glen Oak Park. He was
caught by live wire and died instant
ly. George Ashlock, another ineman,
was seriously burned while attempting
to eXtricate Reardon from the wire.
Shortly after IL o'clock a report
| reached the police that the people liv-
ing at Dry Run, were in danger of
drowning as they had been caught by
the flood. Row boats were hauled to
the scene at once and the police took
twelve people from their homes They
were standing on pianos with the water
almost to their necks.
All communication with the outside
world was cut off for more than twelve
hours and it was almost noon today
before a
Peoria and Chicago and st. Louis
Bloomington, ILL.,, June 11.-Death and
destruction followed in the wake of the
tornado last night. The saddest feature
was the killing of three young women
who were attending a dance at the
town hall of Merna, small village,
ten miles east of this city There was
| party of $50 young men and women
at the dance in the hall when the tor
nado struck the building about IL
o'clock last night. Everybody rushed
for the doors A number of young men
held the doors to prevent the people
from escaping, fearing that they might
be injured or killed 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 am forty of fifty others
more or less .njffiured, some of them
nent farmers in the vicinity The
| bodies were horribly mutilated By the
heavy timbe.s. Quite a number os
young men and women were taken
| from the ruins in an unconscious con-
dition and so ne OF them are still in
! that state and II is feared there may
| be other deaths.
The storm reached Bloomington
| about IL p. m, commencing with a fur
| ious electrical display. Rain accom-
panied the vino, and the business dis
| trict suffered severely. Many plate
glass windows were blown IN and the
| stocks Of goods were badly damaged.
Hundreds Of trees Al the city were
/ broken off at the trunks and the streets
are almost impossible. Buildings all
over the city were damaged, but no
lives were los. nor was any one ser
| iously injured A man standing on
west Washington street was blown 300
| feet, but escaped with only bruises.
TELEPHONE LINEMAN KILLED.