River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-03-25

people were drowned in a food which
inundated the province of Hu-pih. A
few days later two railway accidents,
| one in Australia and the other in
Alberta, accounted for GO more I'M
fortunates. On April "a a series of
cyclones of unprecedented fury burst
over the southern states, destroying
368 lives, annihilating villages, and
devastating property to the extent OF
millions of dollars. Mississippi paid
229 lives to the rage of the storm,
Louisiana contributed 108, and Ala
bama 81.
While the cyclones were still ravag-
ing the south, in far northern Alberta
a snowslide buried 40 persons and
obliterated a village. The last week
of April saw last supreme effort put
forth by the malign fates to make the
first of the month of spring the most
deadly of the dread year. Forty lives
were lost in a railroad accident in
Australia and % more in a similar dis
aster in Mexico. A landslide at Notre
Dame de ISABELLE, Canada, added Sc
to the swelling total, and finally the
Japanese cruiser Mutsushim blew up
and 24O members of it's crew persisted.
Past Mere Foretaste of Future.
1t might we'll have seemed that the
fury of the fates would have been eX
hausted by this time, but instead hui
mainly had only experienced the first
few blows of the terrible scourging
which was to be visited upon it. In
the first three days of the next month
&c persons were burned to death in
America 13 in Norway, and the col
lapse of a tenement in London ac-
counted for 20 more. The following
day ferryboat capsiZed in Russia and
121 passengers were drowned. A
week later another terrific cyclone
burst over the doomed southern
states and took toll of AZ lives in
Louisiana, II in east Nebraska, and IA
in Oklahoma.
The sequel to this prelude came on
the 18th, when 10000 lives went out
in another Chinese flood at Hankow
Beside this appalling tragedy rail-
road accident in Belgium with 60 fatal
tiles seemed trivial. AS grand
finale the Inflated Hankow was struck
by typhoon and the total of her dead
was increased 1000. The following
day another thousand lives were sacri-
feed in mine fire at Kewang, China.
June apparently despaired of ever
competing successfully with her sister
month. However, she continued to
pile tragedy on tragedy. On the first
of the month an accident on the Amur
river in China resulted in SO deaths,
and Is was added to the days roll by
a flood in Mexico. On the fourth
typhoon on the west coast of Australia
wiped out 270 lives, and two days aft
erward another cyclone burst in Ne
braska at a cost of 28 lives, to be fol-
lowed the next day with another cy-
clone in Iowa which increased the list
by five. On the same day 20 persons
were lost in a flood in Mexico and IS
in an explosion in Vienna. The month
of roses concluded its list with tor
nado, which struck the Portuguese
coast and slew 400, while Oklahoma
contributed 100 more of her citizens
to another storm.
AS far as America was concerned
July was the most merciful month of
the year. Fifty-two lives was the en-
tire tribute collected in the United
States through the agencies of flood,
fire and storm. This leniency was
more than compensated, however, by
the list of fatalities abroad. On the
second of the month Batavia, Java,
was ravaged by storm which de-
Stroyed 600 lives. On the same day a
mine explosion in Russia was respon-
sible for 235 fatalities. On the 18th
81 lives were lost i'll a storm off the
coast of Spain, and on the 18th flood
in Asia Minor swept away 1000 peo-
pie.
Few Fatalities in August.
August was the most merciful
month in the year. In the United
States the death roll was ITO, prin-
cipally caused by floods in North and
South Carolina and Georgia. The
biggest disaster abroad was a cyclone
in Hungary which killed "a people. 1t
was closely followed by a mine ex-
plosion in England With 20 fatalities
The total deathroll for the remaining
disasters was 81, the largest single
item being 80 lives lost in forest fires
in British Columbia.
The United States was still FORUM
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