Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1903-01-15
DEATH DEALING STORM.
Two Men Killed by a Barn.Being
Blown TO Pieces.

A UeTTlOIe CdbdSlIOpuc OSCuilSu Oh
Tuesday night as a result OF the ter
rife violence of the gale. The barn
belonging to William Stewart, on his
| farm eight miles east of Arlington,
was blown to pieces, and in the-fall
/ the brother of the owner, Ed Stewart
and Dan Bronson, who was working
at the Stewart place, were killed.
Will Stewart had been in Volga
that day and was on his way home,
being within about half mile of the
house, %hen the storm struck him in |
its worst fury and blew the box from |
off the runners. Mr.. Stewart man
aged to roll out Of the box, which went
tumbliug across the prairie, and let
the horses drag him home. ssWhen he |
arrived at the place where the barn
had been standing in the morning he
found 1t confusion Of scattered de-
bris. The ground from the foundation
of the barn to the house, adistance OF
forty rods, was strewn with the tim
bers and boards, He found his wife
alone in the house, and boys were
missing
The storm was now at It's worst. A
lantern was lighted and search was
instituted but 1t was impossible TO
make a light burn in the face of such
frightful gale. Time after time the
lantern was taken out, only to be eX-
tingushed; and then in the storm and
the darkness he searched, hoping to
find some trace of them amid the piles
of debris or among the cattle in the
basement, but was at last forced to
abandon the effort in despair. When
} daylight came the bodies OF the two
J were found, part way between the
, barn and the house. The young men
had evidently finished the chores and
started for the house when the barn
I went to pieces in the fury Of the storm,
/ and they were struck aud killed by
: the flying Jimbers.
} Ed Stewart was struck in the back
, of the head and his death must have
E been instantaneous. He was next to
{ the Youngest son OF Mr.. and Mrs,
2 David Stewart, bright young man,
e only nineteen years Of age, just devel-
e oping into strong young manhood.
4 He had spent his whole life in this
j vicinity. He possessed the friendship
and esteem of all who knew him, and
q there are many who will mourn to
o learn of his death.
a Dan Bronson was killed in much
D the same manner, being struck in the
+ head and also in the back. Mr..
e Bronson claimed Kansas as his home.
/ He had worked here during the past
e season, and was staying for the winter
: season at the home Of Mr. Stewart.
He has been well regarded during his
2 sojourn in our vicinity, and will be
q missed by many who have learned to
q look upon him as friend.
b. The barn was one of the largest
e structures of the kind in this part of
s the country, being 40 100 feet in
f size. 1t was what is known as base
ment barn, basement Of stone being
I constructed against the bluff, and
: upon the basement the frame super
structure was raised. The building
stood with its longest dimension north
and south, thus leaving the l60-foot
side Of the building presented to the
1 full force of the westerly wind. The
structure seems to have been fairly
: q chnunA haIilu &c dot N
part of it settling down into the base
: ment beneath. The rest of the mate
rial was wrenched loose and hurled
through the air, some fragments Of
boards being found nearly an eighth
Of mile away.
There were In the basement of the
barn some hundred and twenty-five
head OF cattle, a number of them be-
ing milk cows which were fastened in
stanchions. When the barn went 20
pieces great mass of timbering was
precipitated upon the animals, and
many were crushed where they stood.
, Others that were not killed outright
: were manned, or imprisoned and died
, from exposure before they could be
rescued. The loss in cattle amounts
, to about forty head. A number OF
!, hogs were also housed in the barn,
and these likewise were killed. The
barn was a new one, having been COM
pleted only few weeks before it was
destroyed. The pecuniary loss to Mr..
rf MI ha vorv haoyy
AS soon as the news of the disaster
became known the neighbors turned
out and worked to help Mr.. Stewart
extricate from the mass of wreckage
as many as possible of the cattle that
were still alive and imprisoned among
the fallen timDers. Yesterday dozen |
men from Arlington went out and as
sisted In putting up shed for the |
sheltering OF the stock that remains. |
Arlington Sun.
New Century Comfort.
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