The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-05-19
OKLAHOMA STORM
KILLS HUNDREDS
Town of Snyder Suffers an Aw-
full Disaster by Tor
nado.
TEXAS TOWN is ALSO HIT
reported Every Building in Place but
Ono Was Destroyed, and That
Thirty People Were Killed
Tornado in Illinois.

Guthrie. Okla. May 13.--The latest Of
fcial reports from the tornado stricken
town of Snyder, Okla, place the list
of dead at ninety-five. Other rumors
advance this figure to 100. 1t Is highly
probable that the death list, when ac-
curately tabulated, will reach 100. OF
those injured there are various reports
reaching from 100 to $50.
The storm formed near the Texas
line, and its path extends in north
easterly direction for over forty miles,
causing damage at Altus, Olustee and
other small towns, and in the country
as we'll as at snyder.
Reports indicate that the casualties
outside of Snyder will aggregate TWEEN
ty-tlve, and may go higher.
Hobart Okla. May ia train
reached here at 1880 o'clock from Sny
der. Seventy-five dead had been found.
and twenty-five We're known to be
I fatally injured.
Fire broke out following the storm
and consumed one business block. Fifty
| freight cars We're reduced to kindlng
wood. The railroad tracks were torn
up for blocks. Hundreds of people are
pouring into Snyder to aid the suffer-
| ers.
Kansas City, May ia special to
the Star from Oklahoma City states
that every house In Snyder. with the
exception of TWO, was destroyed. 1t Is
estimated 200 persons We're killed and
| 500 injured
Fort Worth, Tex, May IA tornado
which passed over the southern part of
| Greer and Comanche counties. Okla
homa. last night, did frightful dam
age. At Olustee one house remains
standing. 1t is reported thirty persons
are dead.
Oklahoma City. May IA special
from Olustee this afternoon decalres
nobody was killed there.
Streator, ILL.,. May ia tornado
struck here shortly after 10 o'clock this
morning, tearing down trees and barns
No one was injured.
Oklahoma City. Okla. May 11.-Ten
undertakers who We're attending the
| funeral directors convention left here
| this morning with a carload of caSketS
| for Snyder.
Guthrie, Okla, May 13.-I2eports re-
celved here indicate that between 300
and 400 lives have been lost in the par
tial destruction of the town Of Snyder.
Kiowa county, Okla. by a tornado. Re-
| lief trains have been sent to the scene
from neighboring towns. Details of the
disa ster cannot be learned until these
trains return, as all Geographic and tel
| ephone communication with the strick-
en- town Is interrupted. Snyder has
about $500 Inhabitants
First Relief Trains.
The first relief sent from Hobart
reached Snyder just before daylight.
On every hand the rescuers found the
streets almost obl..erated by piles of
Ing lay about the streets. In yards and
mixed up with the wreckage. while
those who had escaped ran hither and
thither in excited attempts to bring
order out Of the terrible chaos.
Mo Other Towns Wrecked.
While the tornado seems to have
been widespread. rumors that other
towns in the southwestern part of Ok
lahoma had been destroyed were de-
clared by the telephone exchanges to
be incorrect. However, there is no ques-
ton that much damage to property and
loss of life occurred in outlying dis
tricts. At Quinlan on the Santa Fe
railway several houses We're destroyed.
Mrs. o. w. Cox and two sons were
killed.
Makes List of Dead Smaller.
St. Louis, May 13.-Following is a
message received from a Frisco train
dispatcher at enid. 100 miles from Sny-
der Okla, by he general offices
here:
"a tornado struck Snyder at s:45
o'clock last night. Twelve business
houses and forty residences were de-
stroyed. Seventyflve people are dead,
fifty seriously injured and fifty are
slightly hurt"
Reports rs Dead, 1852 Injured.
A special from Agent Hennessy, of
the Frisco railway at Chickasaw, says
message has just arrived from the
operator at Snyder, saying that there
are seventy-flve dead bodies and 352
injured. The entire business portion of
the town was destroyed, but the resi-
dence portion of the town was not
badly damaged.
People Were in Their Beds.
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 1t took nOrtheaSterly course
through the business portion of the
town. Coming as it did while most
of the inhabitants Of TIE town were
asleep. but few had warning of their
danger.
1t is believed large number of the
injured will die.
In number Of cases entire families
were killed, and In almost every fam.
lily In the town some member was in.
jured. The business portion is reported
! entirely destroyed.
Up to 1920 O'Clock the only names OF
dead obtainable were those Of J. B
Banston and his son. Elmer. Mayor
Guthrie, Of Oklahoma City, and some
other Oklahoma towns have issued calls
for mass meetings to formulate sys
tenn Of relief for the injured.
STORY OF EYE WITNESSES.