Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-08-24
KILLED BY A TORNADO.
Section of st. Louis Visited by
Terrific Wind Storm.
WORLDS FAIR IS HIT.
Utah State Building at Exposition
Wrecked-Storm Crosses River
Into Illinois.

this city late yesterday afternoon, carry
ing all before it like chaff. 1t destroyed
property valued at 100000, killed two
persons as far as known, and injured
fifty, many of them seriously; almost
wrecked the north front of the Utah
state building at the fair grounds, shat
tering all the windows on that side; de-
mOllshed a street car crowded with pas
sengers, all Of whom miraculously es-
capped injury; piled dozens of telegraph
poles in heaps in the streets; played
havoc with shipping along the river
front in the path of the storm, and
thence crossed the river, where it spent
it's force after wrecking many buildings
in little towns and killing one woman
and injuring other persons.
Storm Was Unexpected.
SO sudden was the furious visitation
that few persons had time to prepare
themselves to meet it. Hundreds ran
panic-stricken through the streets and
| sought safety in cyclone cellars in the
neighborhood.
The path Of the tornado was well
marked. Wrecked buildings showed
were overturned and buried beneath a
mass Of telegraph and trolley poles. The
roofs Of houses werel lying about the street
! Tall chimneys Of factories were blown
over, crushing roofs and injurng the en-
ployes of the plants.
Darkness Adds to Panic.
Darkness settled over the entire dis
| trict affected by the tornado and this
added to the panic. Many superstitious
! persons imagined that the world had
come to an end and began praying in the
/ Nhn xirA of itu
force along the river front, and jumped
over the Mississippi, tossing boats about
One ferry boat came near swapping
and the passengers were thrown into q
state Of terror. 1t was on the Illinois
| side Of the river that the storm seemed to
gather in fury. Madison, Venice, and
other small towns suffered from the fury
of the elements.
Seemed Like a Gigantic Arm.
| When the tornado struck ST. Louis it
began it's work of destruction about five
/ blocks west of the river. 1t was about
a block and a half in width, and when
it swooped down upon the district watch
ers who saw it approach declare that it
was like gigantic arm and that it
reached out, grasping the objects lying
| in it's path and twisting them about like
| straws. After it had swept down to the
| river it seemed to bound clear across the
water to the Illinois side.
Boats Suffer Severely in Storm.
A number of boats were on the river
! and they suffered from the violence Of
the storm. Several skiffs were over
turned and the occupants thrown into the
water, and even staunch ferryboats were
SO tossed about that it seemed as if they
must sink.
In ST. Louis proper no bad effects were
| felt from the storm. 1t grew suddenly
! dark and rain fell, but there was no in
/ dicatlOn that a tornado was raging near
! by. However, after few minutes it be-
| gan to be seen that a severe storm was
! devastating the northern portion of the
city and before a call for help was sent
! in from the district, fire engines, ambu-
lances and patrol wagons were rushing
| to the scene. The work of caring for
| the injured was begun Immediately and
| many Of them were taken to hospitals.
Dead and Injured.
The dead:
JOHN ELLINGTON.
Partial list of the injured:
| Jacob Harmeste. shoulder disIocated
William II. Linham cut.
| Edward PapisOn, badly cut.
! GirtwOOd POWinski, burned by live wire
| seriously.
William Fouche, leg broken.
| Louis McCulitn. leg broken.
Herman Sauerwine, aged 10; arm broken
and crushed; will probably die.
| William Bigger, bruised.
w. H. Largan, cut and bruised.
William Yoricke, leg broken.
| Six employees in Niedringhaus rolling mill
| not seriously; names unknown.
Thomas II. Sommers. cut on face and
! body.
Jacob Haemerle, cut and bruised on right
arm and shoulder.
w Fricke. scalp wound and injuries on
Fred Polinski, righthand burned by live
wire.
James Crosby, fracture of the hip and
William Dickhoener, cut on elbow
Storm Comes Without Warning.
A shower passed over ST. Louis earlier
in the day, but there had been no rain III
North st. Louis. The sky had cleared
and the atmosphere had become very
murky and hot, when citizens in North
st. Louis noticed a dark cloud approach
ing from the southwest.
Suddenly, and without the slightest
premonition, an arm seemed to shoot to
the ground like gigantic cable, twisting
and turning. The end touched the ground
at Nineteenth and Angelrodt streets. and
with incredible swiftness and force swept
east along Angelrodt for ten blocks. then
turned north and swept three blocks along
Broadway, when it jumped eight blocks
and the river, where considerab BILE proper
ty along the river front was destroyed.
Utah State Building Damaged.
The force of the storm blew in the
north windows of the Utah state build
ing at the worlds fair grounds and rain
did damage to the carpets and tapestries
estimated at from $3.50 to 5000.
A calm settled over the city immedi-
ately after the storm and no rain fell.
AmbulanceS were rushed to the scene
and fire departments responded from all
directions. The storm was seen from St.
Louis proper and ambulances and fire
men were speeding on their way long be-
fore messages asking for assistance were
delivered by messengers. The telephone
wires were all down and telephone COM
| munication was cut off,
A terrific thunder storm broke over
st. Louis early last night and rain fell
in torrents, accompanied by heavy wind.
The weather bureau reported that 81
Of an inch of rain fell within ten min
utes and the velocity of the wind was
tifty-two miles an hour.
Tornado Toys with Ferry Boat.
The tornado then jumped to about the