The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-05-12
OMAHA IN THROES
OF WILD TORNADO
Three Persons Meet Death and
Several More or Less
Hurt.
A COFFIN FACTORY FALLS
The Terrific Effect of the Wind RAISED
the Roof of Building Which Fell
Back on the Walls, De.
molishins Structure.

Omaha May 5.--.Three persons were
killed and six injured. none fatally, by
the collapse of three story building at
Thirtieth and Grace streets. the build
ing was occupied by the Omaha Cas-
ket company, and the killed and IN
jured were with one exception en-.
ployes of the concern.
The dead are:
JACOB KIRSCHNER, AS, assistant
shipping clerk.
l.. MON MARTIN. a collector, aged
%.
HENRY DIETL, aged 40, foreman.
The injured:
John Simones. manager of the COM
pany; head cut and internal injuries.
Miss Lulu Hinton, boollkeeper, badly
bruised.
Tony I.iebig, Council Bluffs. legs cut
and body bruised.
w. A. Smith. shipping clerk, scalp
wounds, not serious.
VIM. w. Stewart. left side and spine
injured.
VIM. Krschner, apprentice. head cut,
bruised.
Collapsed Without Warning.
The collapse of the casket factory
i was due to 4 heavy windstorm which
at a point near the factory assumed
the proportions and action of a small
| tornado The building was substan-
! tal one OF brick, three stories high. The
collapse came without warning. w. A.
Smith, the shipping clerk, who was the
! first to extricnte himself. said he saw u
storm coming and went to a door to
close 1t. Just as he reached the door
the whirling storm struck the building.
| The roof was raised into the air and
dropped, causing the heavy brick walls
to collapse. Those inside the building
were carried down, some to death,
while they were at work.
terrific. storm of rain and hail fol-
lowed the destruction of the building.
several inches of water falling In "a very
short time
A hundred employees OF a brewery To-
Gated near the casket factory rushed to
the latter building and at once began
the work of rescuing the unfortunate
factory employees. At the same time
n call was sent to the police and fire
departments, each of which sent a
large detail of men to the scene. When
they reached the collapsed building
only one person, Smith, had managed to
cxtricate himself. but the cries of the
injured and dying under the debris
were plainly heard.
The rescuers set to work promptly.
but II was an hour before any of those
buried in the wreckage could be
reached.
Miss Hinton, the bookkeeper, and Will
liam Stewart were the most seriously
injured, but both will recover
Lives Saved by Collins.
The building was isolated from an,
protection from the wind. The win
dows were all raised. The wind appar-
emily first lifted the roof, and as 1t was
blown off it dragged on the timbers OF
the building and aided the wind In de-
; molishing the main structure. The first
floor of the building was used largely
J as a store room of finished collins and
: coffin material. 1t was these grim OBJ
jects that saved the lives OF most OF
I those who escaped death, as they pre-.
t vented the floors from completely COM
f ing together as they fell. The south
: wall was RACED to the bottom and fell
inward adding greatly to the difficulty
! of rescue, as the brick almost covered
1 the wrecked interior.
3 The building was comparatiVel!
Q new one and was erected in the mid
: die of what was at one time swamp
e From the description of those in thu
: factory, the building rocked violentl.
|. before collapsing, this being due t
e the unstable condition of the ground.
: The storm carried away severa
slnokestacks and did considerable dam
d age to small buildings In the north
d eastern part of the city. No damag
e was done in the business portion of tn
city however.
Property Loss About $4,000.
= The monetary loss is about $4,000
of which 100000 is on the stoc! Tn
O. stock was owned by the Iowa Coffil
% company. of Dubuque Ia. and tn
-, building by local capitalists. The great
err part of the stock will be nearly
n total loss
- City Building Inspector Withne
"a said the factory had been recently in
- spected and that 1t was in sub
10 stantial condition.
10 All the windows were open at tn
&c time the storm struck the building
20 and to that fact is attributed tn
raising of the roof by the WING
which was followed by the collapse {
- the walls.
- *aa,MMccnTA TnpMAnO