Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-05-18
TOWN OF SNYDER, OKLA, PRAc.
TicAlLY WIPED OUT BY Sc.
WE'RE WIND STORM.
MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED Per.
SONS KILLED AND SCORES
sUsTAIN INJURIES.
Aoss TO PROPERTY GsrlMATEp
At FoUR HUNDRED THOU
oANp poLLARs.

Snyder, Okla, May l2.-Ninety-nve
persons are known to be dead. dozen
are missing and given up for dead and
$50 more are injured, seven fatally, re
sultant from the tornado which tore
through this vicinity at $40 Wednes.
day night.
In q number Of cases entire families
were killed and In almost every fam
lily in town some member was injured.
The havoc wrought by the tornado
70 complete. Out Of q town Of 1000
people not more than q score Of houses
are intact, while two-thirds of the
buildings are totally wrecked.
The property loss is variously esti-
mated at 100000. Two hundred resi-
dences are demolished and about half
the business buildings are total loss.
The remainder are more or less dam
aged
The tornado struck Snyder from the
southwest, travelling north until within
about 100 yards from the tracks of the
Oklahoma City and Western railway.
There it took a northeasterly course
through the business portion of the
town. North of the track not build
Ing was LETT standing.
storm Formed Near Texas Liner
The storm formed south OF Oulstee,
near the Texas line. and took north
easterly course through we'll settled
section. AT s o'clock ii was observer
by the people OF Snyder, but the usual
funnel shaped formation was lacking,
and though the roar was plainly heard
for some time before the storm broke,
many were of the opinion that it wars
hail storm. Within a few minutes
the sky became suddenly dark and a
terrific downpour of rain began, last
ing for several minutes, when il
stopped almost as suddenly as il had
commenced. A few moments after
this an ominous calm followed and
then the tornado struck, tearing build
ings to pieces as though they were
made OF paper.
Many people who had thought TO
take advantage of the calm TO seek
refuge in cellars were caught in the
streets and between buildings, where
some were lifted high in the air and
dashed to the ground as though hurled
from catapult, while others were
struck by Aging debris and beaten al
most beyond recognition. Those who
remained In their houses Jared no bet
ter in the path of the tornado, which
swept across all excepting a few
blocks In the southeastern corner of
the town. The frame structures col
lapsed like sggshells, burying occu-
pants under the debris, killing, crush
Ing and manning.
Six Hotels Demolished.
Six of the eight hotels we're torn to
pieces. burying many in the wrsckage.
North of the railroad track, where
many cottages stood. none is lett and
there the wreckage is mostly carried
away.
In q few moments II was all over and
the air was filled with shrieks of in
jursd, mingled with cries of those who
had escaped and were seeking lost
ones. Within . short time messengers
we're dispatched to Mountain Park, two
and q half miles away, where the
news was sent by telephone to Hobart.
Physicians and nurses were called for
and relief trains were made up at Man
gum, Hobart. Chickasha and Lawt0n
and hurried to the scene by the rail-
roads. Many of the ablebodied sur
vivors In Snyder were working heroic
ally all through the night amidst the
most heartrending scenes. A building
was utilized for q temporary hospital
and another used as morgue. The
latteL dry goods building, presented
. gruesome appearance when day
dawned with the corpses lying tier
above tier on the shelves. The search
for bodies continued during the day
and at s .. m. ninety-five had been re-
covered. Others are being searched
for, which with the casualties reported
from the country will probably raise
the death list to above 100. Several
fatally injured will raise the list of
casualties.