Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-05-12
DEADLY WORK OF TORNADO.
Continued from Page One.)

SIX hotels and boarding houses. were
torn to pieces. bearing many persons
in the wreckage. North of the railroad
track where many cottages STOOD, none
is left and even the wreckage was
mostly carried away.
AblebOdied survivors in Snyder
worked heroically all through the
night and amid the heartrendinS
scenes. A building was utilized for
temporary hospital and another as
nlorgue. The latter, dry goods build
ing, presented a gruesome appearance
when day dawned with the corpses ~
ing tier above tier on the shelves. The
search for bodies continued during the
day and at dark eight corpses had been
recovered. These with the casualties
reported, probable will make the total
death list 100 persons.
At 10 o'clock, tonight. the number of
known dead as a result of the tornado
had reached 95 persons. Arrangements
have been made to convey all the in
iured who can be moved to hospitals
at Oklahoma City and Lawton. A spec
ial train for this purpose will leave
Snyder at 1870.
RumOrs to the effect that other towns
in southwestern Oklahoma were de-
stroyed by the cyclone, are said to be
incorrect.
The first news OF the storm was re-
ceived about midnight. Soon thereafter
before any details had been received
telegraph and telephone wires went
down.
Immediately thereafter trains were
ordered out from all available points
starting from Hobart. Chickasha. 1. T..
Guthrie. o. T.. Oklahoma City and other
towns. Every train carried doctors,
nurses and any person capable of rem
dering aid.
The first relief train sent from Ho-
bart, north of Snyder, reached the
stricken town just before daylight.
Every one on board began at once the
work of relief.
On every hand they found the wreck
age and streets almost CELEBRATED by
piles of demolished houses. In all Gi-
rcctions evidence of the terrible havoc
of the storm was apparent. The dead
and dying lay about the streets in yards
and mixed up with the wreckage, while
those who hal escaped ran about in eX-
citement trying to recover their friends
The storm was not confined to Syn
der Out in BOomtown dead and injured
were passed in plain sight of the relief
trains. but these were passed by in tbs
efforts of the rescuers to reach Synde!
where there was greater need of thei:
service.
| The first man to reach Snyder and
than to telegraph point was the sta
| ton agent at Mountain Park, a neigh
boring town. He had walked into Sny-
| der, reaching there at daylight and. at
ter taking a hasty view of the situa-
| ton and without gathering any eXac,
| details. returned to Mountain Park.
| This man reported the town partial
| ly destroyed and asserted that the lis'
| of dead would reach somewhere about
100.
The injured We're to be seen every,
where and their number undoubtedly
will reach into the hundreds. While the
tornado seems to have been wide
spread, rumors that others in south
western Oklahoma had been destroyed
| were declared by telephone exchanges
to be incorrect. However, there was M
question that much damage to proper
ty and loss to life had occurred in out
lying districts.
The same tornado struck Quinlan, II
Woodward county, on the Santa re
railroad destroying houses and at thai
point at least three persons. Mrs. c Nv
Cox and her two sons are known &c
have been killed.
The tornado struck Snyder from the
southwest. travelling north until with
in about 100 yards of the tracks of the
Oklahoma City and Western. There il
took northeasterly course th''Husf
the business portion of the town. :
North of the track not bW"i,.7
was left standing. Coming as 1t ~
while most of the inhabitants of Sny
der were asleep, but few had an!
warning of danger.