New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-12
OKLAHOMA STORM KILLED %.
MORE THIN $50 INJURED BY TORNADO THAI PfAC-
TICALLY DESTROYED THE TOU1N OF SNYDERL
Fire in the Wrkage 4dds the HororYSurrros Suffering TOR
Clothing, Shelter and Food.

Snyder. A single telegraph wire furnishes an
outlet but it is blocked with private messages
concerning the dead and the injured
To add TO the genera! confusion ana dlStreSs
after the tornado had passed fire broke OUT anu
burned up all that remained of the pulldlnss III
one of the business blocks So far II mas not
been possible to find out whether an! pouieS
were consumed, but it is possible thaI such Is
the case
An unidentified woman was picked up oeau'
having been pinioned TO the ground by large
silver which entered her left eye ana calHe oul
through the back of her head Clarence Do"o-
van a railroad engineer, and Miss Nina fesSen-
den were TO have been married last night put
had postponed the nuptials until this morning
Both were instantly killed by the storm freu
Crump, boy, had started to ceIlar WHICH &"
flying timber decapitated him
Debris was carried northeast as far as Cooper
ton, twelve miles and it is reported that there
more fragments at that town than IN the
tornado path at Snyder.
About seventy-five head of horses and cattle
were killed at Snyder A committee this morn
ing began to remove Carcasses
The Mayor of Snyder IS having much trouble
arranging for the burial of the dead The con-
fusion is great, owing to the fact that there are
number OF unidentified bodies at the morgues.
There is much suffering owing to lack of pro-
visions and places to stay What houses remain
in town are IN bad condition, and are unsafe Tor
habitation. Besides there is not room enough
to for the homeless. Bedding and wearing
apparel are both lacking. and despite the effort
TO succor the unfortunates they still in a
pitiable condition Many of the wounded could
not be cared for or given medical aid until 8
o'clock this morning. and by that time their
wounds were aggravated. DR.. York, OF Hobart.
0hO JX-nG tive in t6n c,lffa va
that 20 per cent Of the wounded will die.
The storm was not confined to Snyder. On
the way the boom town dead and injured
We're in plain sight Of the relief trains.
but these were passed by in tha efforts of the
rescuers 10 reach Snyder. wher= there
greater need of their services.
While the tornado seems to have been wide
spread, that other towns in Southwest
ern Oklahoma had been destroyed were declared
by telephone exchanges TO be incorrect How
ever, there was no question that much damage
to property and loss Of life had occurred In the
outlying districts.
The same tornado struck Qunan. in Wood
ward County, on the Santa Fe Railway, de-
stroying several houses and at that point at
least three persons, Mrs c. W. Cox and her two
sons, are believed 10 have been killed
A sad case was that OF Colonel Williamson.
When the storm struck he grabbed a
woman whom he thought was his wife
and hurried away TO a place OF safety
When out of danger he discovered that the
woman was not his wife, Later Mrs. Williamson
was brought to the temporary morgue with her
head completely severed from the body
Vernon, Tex, May 1.-THE first train from
Snyder since the tornado struck that town last
night arrived this afternoon. Passengers on
this train told a story Of fearful loss of life and
property.
Nearly al of the homes in Snyder had storm
cellars, and during the heavy downpour of rain
preceding the tornado many sought shelter.
Then there was letup of perhaps ten minutes.
in which many. thinking that the storm had
broken. left their places OF refuge. With a
-deafening. rumblng noise the tornado dipped
TO the earth apparently two miles from the
town. and with appalling velocity crashed
through the town, leaving vacant lots where
buildings had stood. even the debris being
whisked away
The solid stone Frisco roundhOuse was de-
Tnohshed and the stones were scattered broad
cast. Tho roundhouse was empty A boxcar
loaded with cement was demolished and the
cement sacks were scattered over three miles OF
space. Another boxcar loaded with broom straw
was overturned, but the broom straw was not
blown away. The steam fittings were blown off
boiler and the iron doors of the furnace were
found two miles northeast. The entire front of
a substantial stone building in the southwest
portion Of Snyder. just east Of where the tor
nado passed. was sucked out. This building IS
twenty yards from the path of the tornado 1t
was gambling hall, and all the paraphernalia
is in plain view to- day
The hand Of a man found to-day near
the edge of the storms path. The finder lost
an arm. and he thought that the hand he found
was his own, but 1t was a right hand while
he lost the left. He is now in a hospital, too
craZed 10 talk coherentIy.
Twenty persons were rescued uninjured from
a storm cellar this morning, having been i'm
prisoned by debris. Forty yards away in
anOther's storm cellar three persons were found
dead, under wreckagc.
Snyder town of about 800 inhabitants, In
Kiowa County. Okla in the Kiowa and Comanche
Indian Country. opened TO white settlement in 1901
The town laid out largely by the s.. Louis ana
San Francisco Railway, at the junction OF two OF
its lines and the company erected important build
ings there Snyder is the division point for the
Quanah Division of the road. town was named
for Bryan Snyder. passenger traffic manager of the
system.