The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1904-09-22

The most terrific wind and "a il
storm that ever visited Oskaloeli
broke over the city shortly after In,
O'Clock Monday night, and lasted al
most an hour. The storm was n
the nature of straight blow from
the northwest to the southeast anc
was accompanied by 2 cloudburst o.
rain, and some hail fell. The rair
driven by the terrific wind was beat
en- into mist that filed all out doors
like great cloud of steam. Bust
ness blocks and houses were u~E3of,
ed, barns and sheds demolished, plate
glass fronts shattered, wires hope.
lessly entangled and trees and shrub.
berry scattered in all directions.
The storm seemed to be the result
of the mixing Of two storm clouds.
One approached from the southwest
and was accompanied by consider
able thunder and lightning. A Sec
ond heavy wind cloud made up in
the northwest and bore down upon
the city. The two storms mixed i'm,
mediately over the city and for a
time it was impossible to determine
which way the storm came from.
The storm cloud from the northwest
conquered after a few moments
struggle and carried everything be-
fore it. The greatest force of the
cloud seems to have exerted west of
the square in the business heart of
the city. The loss to property will
amount to thousands of dollars.
spencer's Big Loss
The entire north end of the H. L..
Spencer wholesale building was COM
pletely unroofed and the roof carried
over against the Congregational
church next south and into the street
south and along A street. The wind
picked up the rafters and the sheet
ing on the roof and carried these
away as if they had been paper. The
garrett of apart of the building was
stored with wicker and wooden ware.
The wind played havoc with this.
The rain poured down into the fifty
foot opening in the building. The
windows were blown in and the wind
and rain had almost full sweep of the
building and the large stock with
which the four stories of the big
building is stored sustains thousands
of dollars worth of damage.
Mr.. Ellis, manager of the Spencer
grocery states that it is yet impos-
sible to form a correct estimate of
the damage done to goods in stock
by the water that poured into the
building from 'front.' to rear. The
goods are being handled as rapidly
as possible but it will take some time
to make the separations. The loss
will anywaysbe $50, 900 on the stock,
aside from the damage done the build
ing, which is owned by Mr.. E. FL.
Gibbs. When repairs are made and
stock Losses all known it is feared
the totali loss may reach $50, 0o0
Some tornado insurance is carried
on the property, but not enough to
cover the loss.
Odd Fellows Building.
The Odd. Fellows hall building
owned by j. A. and George Kalbach
is another sufferer. The tin roof was
taken up, peeled off and dumped in
a great mass into High avenue. The
apartments which had been recently
fixed over and repaired are practic-
ally ruined. The offices on the sec
ond floor occupied by Joe Pugh, w.
H. Heating, j. M. Pugh, Evan Nor
gan and Marsh Bennett are all water
soaked and considerable damage re-
suits. The water poured through
the floors and ceiling and great dam
age is sustained by the Campbell &
Coke Grocery on the first floor.
Perry Asher restaurant also has con-
siderable loss.
The Chas. G. Pike handsomeIfront
escaped the general mix up at this
corner but the rear of his building
suffered and he had considerable loss
in his ware room. The plate glass
front of the Dack Hardware House