River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-07-23
WORK OF A CYCLONE
A Terrific Storm Sweeps Through
Central Illinois.
Five Killed mt StreatOr and Four ut
MendOta-Many Others Are In
jured-Great Damage to
Property.

Streator. ILL.,, July 1S.-At least FIVE
persons were killed, more than score
seriously if not fatally injured, and a
property loss of 100000 is the result of
tornado'which swept through Streator
at six o'clock Friday evening. The dead
are: Edward Bivens, William Brown,
Harry Doyle, Charles Snyder and A. G.
Purcell. Of the dead, Bivens, Brown
and Doyle were killed at the racetrack,
where the new grand stand was blown
down onto crowd which had sought
shelter from the downpour. Most of the
injured were taken from the ruins of
this structure. Purcell was night
Waterman at the Vulcan Western
works, and had not been on duty five
minutes when he was killed.
Many Buildings Destroyed.
The storm, which came from the
southwest, was about one-quarter of a
mile wide, and in it's path everything
was swept. This includes the Vulcan
Western works, the buildings being
erected three years ago at cost exceed
ing $150000; the Stauber pants factory,
where 100 employees had left the build
ing five minutes before it was struck.
The three-story building, with all its
machinery and stock on hand, amount
ing to $50,000 is total loss. The Dick
ermann schoolhouse, baseball park
and amphitheater, Electric park, with
all its buildings, numerous private res
licences, Schurmann's big icehouses and
stock therein-are all down.
The splendid buildings of the Streator
Racing association and which would
have been completed within two or
three days are total wreck. This in
Guides the amphitheater, judges stand
and the immense barns. It was here
that the greater number lost their lives,
all but one of the dead being race horse
men. Nine trotting horses were killed.
West of the town couple of miles. in
the dairy farm of A. j. Daugherty, his
wife and three children and man en-
ployed on the farm were all dangerously
hurt, the residence being blown to
atoms.
Other Towns Suffer.
Emington and Campus, two small
towns on the Wabash railroad line,
suffered severely from the storm. At
Emington several houses were utterly
demolished and four people were seri-
ously injured. At Campus one man
was killed, while two others sustained
injuries which may prove fatal.
Four Killed at Mendoza.
Mendoza. ILL.,, July 1S.-A cyclone
which struck here at o'clock Friday
evening cut a swath a block wide
through the central portion of the
town, wrecking almost every building
in it's path. Four persons are known
to have been killed and at least score
seriously injured. The dead are:
Cora Boesdorf, Ora Lundy and two
brothers named Schanmel
The storm started southwest of the
town and extended for fifteen miles. 1t
came up suddenly, but those out of
doors could hear it fully five minutes
before it broke, giving them ample
time to get into cellars. The campus
of the Advent college is a wreck, be-
ing a mass of trees all twisted Sew
eral of the wounded are not expected
to live. Many living in town and
country have lost horses and cattle,
and dozens of buildings were wrecked.
Storm Damages Crops.
La Crosse, Wis, July 20-Reports
were received here Saturday morning of
a severe rainstorm which swept over
the country 20 miles south of here late
Friday afternoon, washing out many
small bridges and doing damage to
crops.
Near Clayton, Ia, on the Dubuque
division of the Milwaukee road a
freight train narrowly escaped going
through a bridge which had been partly
washed out A couple of washouts oc-
Cured on the Burlington between here
and Prairie du Chen
Damage i'm Indiana.
Warsaw, Ind, July 20.-A severe
storm and heavy rainfall early Satur
day destroyed thousands of acres of