Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-06-13
WIND CARRIES DEATH
STORM AND FLOOD COSTS MANY
LIVES.
Wide Area Rayaged in Illinois In
diana and kentucky-Thirty Per-
sons Known to Be kiIIed-0ne
Town Swept Away.

" ddH1o-C dS-AN -S1tiA5 -AhA-N-A 49,
thousands of dollars was done by wind,
rain and thunder storms which deves-
tated large sections Of southern I'LL
nois. southern Indiana and western
Kentucky between midnight and dawn
Saturday morning.
Throughout a large area houses were
swept away. hundreds of head of live
stock were killed and crops were de
vastated. Long after the storms had
ceased the rivers continued to rise I'M
til thousands of acres of wheat and
corn land had been flooded and the
crops ruined.
Twenty-one persons persisted at
Gradyville. KY. village of 10 inhab-
itants fifteen miles from a railroad.
Owing to a cloudburst Big Greek sud
denly changed its channel, rushed
through the town and swept away al
most every house. The inhabitants
awoke to find themselves surrounded
by water and their dwellings crunl-
bling away.
Those left alive made their way to
the hills and shivered in the rain until
dawn. 1t was hours before the news
of the disaster reached Columbia, the
nearest town of any size, and then
physicians and relief supplies were
hurried to the scene as fast as the con-
dition of the roads would permit.
A tornado, accompanied by a deluge
I'll whore
three lives were lost. Property dam
age in the town and vicinity was S1oO,-
600. Besides those killed. eight per-
sons were probably fatally injured,
and more than q score less seriously
hurt. Nearly every house i'll the town
was damaged, and several were blown
down. their occupants being buried in
the debris That the loss of life was
not larger was remarkable, in view OF
the damage done.
Mrs. Lucinda Pinkerton was blown
into the top of a tree several hundred
feet from her home, and her body hung
in the branches for hours before it was
found by searchers. The Methodist
church was demolished, its timbers
wrecking saloon across the street.
The saloonkeeper was blown fifty feet
and stuck in a hedge, but escaped Sc
riOus injury.
New Minden. ILL.,. also was struck by
a tornado. and five lives weer lost,
while a number of persons were in
iured. Nearly every house in the north
ern part of the town was destroyed
and the German Lutheran church was
wrecked.
An odd feature Of the tornado is that
hundreds of head of stock has disap-
peared from nearby farms. and no
trace of them or their bodies can be
found 1t is supposed they were blown
into the Wabash River and their bod
les swept away.
On the north side of the church a
parochial school was destroyed. Eleven
years ago the village of New Minden
was struck by a tornado and four or
five persons were killed. At that time
almost every house in the village was
demolished.
Nashville, Ill.,. and other nearby
towns were quick to send aid to the
stricken village. A party of seaEchers
also left Nashville to look for farm
er who was driving from Hoyleton to
Nashville when the storm broke and
has not been seen since.
GRANVILLE, Ind. not far from York,
ILL.,, also was badly damaged by the
tornado. The home of James Layton
was demolished and Mr.. and Mrs. Lay
ton were 50 badly injured that it is
feared they cannot recover. Many
other houses also were badly damaged.
Much Damage Elsewhere.
Reports from such other places told
of heavy rains and high winds which
did great damage, but of no other loss
of life In many localities bridges
were washed away, roads made impas-
sable and wires broken, so that it is
feared other fatalities will be reported
when communication is restored.
A telegram from Evansville, Ind, re-
ported much damage for 4 hundred
miles in every direction. At Corydon,
Ky, lightning destroyed the Baptist
church, and at Smith Mills, Ky, Il res
idence was struck by lightning and
burned At Petersburg, Ind. much
damage was done by wind and rain,
and White River rose until it spread
over thousands of acres of farm land.
A few miles south of Petersburg the
storm swept Il path half mile wide,
destroying trees, fences and barns.
Bridges over all the streams in the vi
ciinty were washed away. As far az
could be learned, however, there was
no loss of life in that neighborhood.
Louisville and Lexington, Ky, also
suffered some damage from electrical
storms and an unusually heavy rain.
The vicinity Of Harrisburg, ILL.,, also
was visited by a destructive storm.
Barns and fences were blown down.
and Liberty Church, near the town,
was wrecked by the wind The heavy
rain caused floods in all the small
streams which washed away many
wagon bridges.
Advices from Duquoin, H.. said that
storm did damage amounting to
S150,000 in that immediate vicinity.
Many houses in the town were dam
aged and hundreds of trees were up
rooted.
Near Mount Vernon. Ill, the electri-
cal display was especially severe Sew
eral barns were struck by lightning,
and many head of stock were killed
Crops were seriously damaged. and
communication with the surrounding
country is practically suspended be-
cause all the bridges were washed
away and the streams are out of theis
banks.
Fire destroyed the repair shops of the
Atchison. Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Company in Argentine, Kan. Loss,
$4,000.