Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-26


20 their persussions until the morning Of
what was destined 10 be their last upon
earth. Miss Gertrude had been a favorite
with her father and upon that morning
the wishSo Of her heart prevailed. Word
was sent to Ray Quigg that no further op-
position would be offered to the speedy
communication OF their marriage He
could not be found untu Sunday noon, but
BY . O'Clock he was at the home Of his
hsncee The eating of the supper under
the roof Of Mr.. Mumma, accordingly. was
the formal recognition by him Of his ac-
oeptance OF Ray ouigg as his son-in-law
and II was upon this scene Of happiness
that the storm hend pounced with his
heartleSs feroeity.
Three KnIsd az Csmpben.
News resohed Hastings this afternoon
Of tornado which killed three peobe
rear Campbell and damaged ten or fifteen
houses in. that Vicinity. The dead as re-
ported arcs -.-...
DANIEL MCURDY.
MRS. MAUD BACON, Mcclrdy's daugh-
ter. -...
MRS. MoHLEVER ..,...
GEORGE MCURDY.
Badly injured: Miss Kimbell.
The tornado also struck near Ayr where
II demolished the Roeder school house and
scattered its timber along !the Little Blue
river for miles. Four large farm houses
were treated in the same manner as also
we're barns ana -sranaries. A COW was
found dead In pasture with a fence post
driven deep into Its side. s... e..
A party OF young folks who were spend
ing the day on the river barely escaped
with their lives. As the weather had been
threatening they became adventurous and
would have been caught in the tornado's
path had they remained but few minutes
longer on the river
THE storm was sudden. All the after
noon Intermittent showers and hail had oc-
CURED until 3 o'clock when the clouds
separated and through the riffs the sun
shone with unusual vlgor. This continued
until about 3:15 Then the clouds merged
again and towards the east assumed an
inlSyr biaeiTness. Intense quiet prevailed,
which seemed TO suggest something of the
impending disaster. for the people came
out Of doors as II expecting some treachery
of the elements. At 8 o'clock the villagers
of Campbell heard a distant rumbling as
Of long continued thunder Louder and
louder II grew until Il had become an
ominous roar. Horses and cows as we'll as
the men and women were terrified, and
many of the animals In their fear broke
through. the fences and stampeded. High
in the air the observers at Campbell saw
the. dreaded funnel-shaped cloud approach
ing with frightful velocity.
With q dir ct swoop II shot to earth.
Instantly debris was whirled upward,
stacks OF straw hay and forage, trees ana
fences were whirled up and carried away
like so many shavings Soon II was ap-
parent that the house of Daniel McCurdy
was doomed. Here was a social gathering.
In 4 few moments the house was struck
anA shattered as an egg would be II struck
BY hammer. The barn was blown over
AGAINST the house and the ruins OF the
structures were found in a common heap of
debris. Beneath this mass was found the
remains of its victims. Mangled, distorted,
mutIiated beyond recognition they were
picked Up and dressed for burial. The
earth was torn up in several places where
the tornado struck and then bounded into
the air These spots resembled strip OF
burned prairie with the exception that the
earth was completely skinned.
Two killed at Church.
CAMPBELL, Neb.. May S--(special Tel
eEram )-+Ths worst tornado ever known in
this part OF Nebraska occurred yesterday
afternoon about clock. A fuhnel-shapad
cl0dd formed about fifteen. miles southwest
of this city, and the first damage done was
at@ths Osterburg school house, where Rev.
Johnson was holding preaching services.
T9ie school' house was entirely demolished.
xiiifng Rev. Johnson and Mrs. John Peters
and 'InturtRG sixteen people Atcthe farm
hbmsss Of Nels osterburs, William Papp,
A.kc., Imhof, }. w. Bunger, Henry Ber-
trand, William Hubert, George Casper,
oscar Gray. George Nitzel. Louis Webber.
Yerber Harmane, t. Turrux Robert Mer.
6srs Fred Betz. Daniel Mccurdy and W..
H. Patterson, where fiue farm houses,
barns ana other substantial outbufldngs
stood, everything was completely demol-
ished AT the home OF Daniel McCurdy a
birthday party was assembled and all
buildings were blown to pieces. killing out
right Daniel Mccurdy, Hart Mccurdy,
MIS- Earl Bacon and Mrs Joseph
woolever. while Mrs. William Kimple and
Miss Icy Mccurdy are badly injured II
Is expected they viii die from their in
juries Mrs. McCurdy. George Knehr, wife
and baby. and Enhe Mccurdy were rse-
riously injured
At thew. Patterson home Mrs. Patterson
ana four children were seriously though
not fatally injured. Mrs. Patterson was in
the cellar, and escaped 1t was a miracle
how this family escaped being killed, as
the house was completely demolished. and
they wers scattered over the field several
hundred yards from where the house stood
..In'thfs city the entire population watched
the storm for two long hours while IL
swnng back and forth, north and south
but gradually passing in a northeasterly
direction until It came near the village
when most OF the inhabitants sought refuge
i'm cellars and storm caves until the storm
passed over, but fortunately Il seemed to
raise and while considerable damage was
done here in town, no buildings were com-
pletely destroyed, But few houses es.
capped having chimneys and shingles blown
on. while the German Presbyterian church
and several barns were moved from their
foundations In the country many smaller
buildings were blown TO pieces and az
lA7st 100 head OF cattle and horses were
kilied, making the loss to property mora
than 100000, while many fine orchards ana
orRsmental trees were twisted out by their
roots. The storm swept everything clean
In its path and IL Is impossible TO make an
securste estimate Of the damage done.
e., Two killed in school House.
FRANKLIN. Neb.. May 25-(speciai TEL
eEram)-rhe most severe rain for year.
fen' during last night The. creeks wer.
outiof their banks and the bottoms coyered
with water The section men on the rail-
road were out all night guarding the track