The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-05-15
HIT BY TORNADO,
Thirty Houses Wrecked in Kan
sas City Suburbs.
Twenty-Five Persons Injured,
Some of Them Seriously.
CAUGHT IN WRECKAGE
AS Their HabitatiOn Tumbled
Down Over Their Heads.
Lightning Causes an Explosion
OF Gas at st. Joe.
CAUGHT IN WRECKAGE

Kansas City, Mo-, May 15.-Twenty-
i've persons were hurt. many of them
seriously, thirty houses totally wreck
ed and large property losses sustained
when a tornado struck Mount Wash
1ngton and Fairmount park, suburbs
of Kansas City. late yesterday 1t is
believed several will die as a. result of
injuries. Among the most seriously
hurt are:
Mrs. James O'Gara, her father,
mother and 5-year-old boy; older wo-
man not expected to live.
George Archer. struck on the head
by flying timbers.
Seth Greer and Lee Greer, brothers,
II and years old, respectively, caught
under house timbers.
Mrs. De Bernardo. arm broken and
hit in head by a board.
Mrs. Mary Robinson and baby girl,
struck by bricks.
Mrs. George Root and two children
injured by falling timbers.
Mrs. Ferguson, an invalid, caught
under debris.
All of the above were injured when
the house was blown down.
There were many miraculous es-
capes. Mrs. De Bernardo was in the
woodshed when her house blew over
and had she been in the house would
likely nave been killed. Archer, who
is So years old, was working on a.
new house when it fell with him.
Cut Swath 100 Yards Wide
The storm laid waste a district A.
hundred yards wide and a, mile in
length through the heart of Mount
Washington. There, 80 frame build
lngs, mostly cottages. and the Chris
tlan church. wooden structure, were
demolished, huge trees were uprooted
and telegraph and telephone poles
blown down.
The storm followed terrific down
pour of rain. The wind came up sud
denly, swooped down with but little
warning and striking the small ter
ritory described, wiped it out almost
completely lifted, and within few
minutes had passed. Frame houses
were crushed, the sides apparently
being forced inward, while others
were topp1ed over and carried from
their foundations. In some cases
sides of buildings were carried away,
leaving the roof and few small
articles to mark the site. The three
months-old baby of Mrs. r. s. Robin
son was blown out of the woman's
arms as she was hurrying to cover,
carried across the railway tracks and
deposited on vacant lot with no
other injuries than few slight cuts.
The mother was thrown down and
badly cut by flying missiles
Charles Greer, 19 years old. was
pinioned beneath the timbers of the
wrecked Greer home. 1t required a
motor car. jack and a number of men
to release the boy, who was taken to
Independence. nearby, suffering in
terna1 injuries. He cannot live.
Mr.. and Mrs. James O'Gann, an
aged couple were caught in the
wreckage of their home and injured.
The woman's shoulders was broken
and she was hurt internally. She may
die.
Physicians went from Kansas City
and Independence to care for the in
jured.
Lightning Ignites Gas.
st. Joseph, May 15.-Henry Goodale
was fatally burned and his son Thomas
badly injured by an explosion of gas
caused by lightning during the worst
electrical storm of the year. In South
and East st. Joseph large areas are
under water.
Train service is crippled between
st. Joseph and Kansas City ON account
of the flood. At Lake station q Bur
lfrgton train was anchored to a bridge
across a creek by drifting log which
was wedged in the springs of one of
the coaches. Trainmen used a saw to
cut the pole before the train could
proce ed.