Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-11-13
are injured and nearly half q millioi
dollars worth Of property was destroy

60 III a. TORNADO tnaN swept over ISocA
county Saturday afternoon. Near Or
fordville. the whole Smith family. three
daughters, son and the ftaher were
killed; Mrs. John c.. Crowder, 80 years
old: Mrs Proede "a bride Of few
| months; Fred Lentz. carpenter, and
| Amy Kerban. years old, met death.
Wenzel Kerban Is dying.
The storm broke with fury never
before equalled in this part of the
| country. A high wind had prevailed
during, most of the afternoon. About
o'clock the clouds lowered and It
became dark as night. The storm
gathered so quickly that few had time
| to seek their homes
Farmers who were in their fields
Sheltered themselves as best they
could and many arrived home to fnd
their buildings destroyed and in some
| cases wives and children. missing.
The storm passed almost as quickly
as it came up and left the country
demoralixed.
Attempts to establish communica-
ton with neighboring cities were
futile. Roads were almost impossible
but messengers were pressed into SER
vice to GAINESVILLE and Beloit.
Orfordville is equally distant from
| both Of these cities and assistance
from both towns was hurried to the
stricken village In the vicinity OF
Orfordville, the greatest havoc was
! wrought by the storm. First aid
parties were organized and at once set
about giving relief where possible.
Damage to Reach Millions.
The damage caused by. the tornado
| will run up into the millions, ac-
fording to David Atwood, who made
a trip into the country Immediately
after the storm passed this city. The
/ loss to the tobacco crop alone will be
more than half million. Scores OF
! houses were wrecked.
The Tornado was first heard of at
Brodhead about $3.50 O'clock. 1t
| struck the western edge Of the county
| and thru Superior. Hanover. Milton
Junction and Milton. so far as heard
| up to a late hour last night six persons
| were killed and the greatest loss of life
! was at Orfordville where family
| named Smith was entirely wiped out
| The father was pinned down by beam
| and the mother worked to release him
| while her children lay dead and dying
| nearby A boy was found in the wreck
age later and probably will die from
| injuries. The two girls were found
forty rods from where the house had
stood with clothing entirely stripped
from their bodies. 80.
Just north of GAINESVILLE girl named
Korban was killed.
At Milton one person was killed,
name unknown.
At Orfordville, Mrs. John Clowder
| was killed.
The tornado Just barely missed
Janesville passing north of the city, at
a distance Of about half mile.
| Milton College at Milton escaped un-
! harmed, but the building of the gas
company with fourteen Others we're
totally destroyed.
| Mrs. Broede, a bride Of six weeks.
was instantly killed In the home in
hich she had lived but a few days.
Her husband was in the barn not far
from the house when the storm broke.
| Running toward the house, in the
darkness. he discovered that it had
| been demolished and that his wife
was killed.
| Frank .Welch, farmer living in the
| path of the storm, saw his barn to-
| gether with sheepsheds and other
buildings torn from their foundations
and demolished The tornado also
damaged the house., but the family
| escaped unhurt. He places his loss at
| $50 900
Wisconsin Loss Near 100000.
Splintered timbers, broken furniture,
crEmbled rock and plaster, scattered
farm produce, and dead farm animals
/ littering the ground over an area a
quarter of a mile in width and twenty
miles in length indicate the tremen-
dous force with which southern Wis
consins worst cyclone swept a path
thru Rock county, killing eight per-
sons, injuring many more, and doing
! damage to the extent Of nearly mil
| lion dollars.
Wire service was demolished last
| night ana 1t was not until today that
| accurate details of the catastrophe
| were obtained. A steady downpour OF
rain added to the confusion Saturday
night and made Identification of the
dead difficult. The Thermometer
dropped nearly to zero and it was a
fearful night for the grief stricken
survivors. many left. without root
to cover their heads. Neighbors opened
their homes and all day today those
| who had escaped death huddled about
the stoves relating. details of their
experiences.
Turns and Misses JanssvilIs.
| The storm was one OF the "twister''
/! variety. ri It originated in the vicinity
OF Orfordville, twelve miles southwest
Of Janesville,. Travelled northeast for
several miles, and then turned to The
east. missing this, city by a narrow
margin. Its force was spent near Mil
ton. The greatest damage was done
near the point Of origin and at NIL
| ton,
! The storm was accompanied by a
driving rain. There had been a high
wind all day yesterday and this con-
tinued thruout the night. The storm
lasted only few minutes. Altho II
occurred about the middle of the af-
!, ternoon It was dark as night. The
binding downpour made search for the
dead and dying terrible task.
! OF the Schmidt family. three-quart-
ers OF annie east OF Hanover. there Is
only one survivor. He is Albert
Schmidt the II year old boy. Physi-
clans say he can not recover.
Alice schmidt. who kept house for
her father, and her younger sister. were
! IN the house when the cyclone struck It.
It 10 believed they threw their arms
about each oth0r and died together.
The bodies were blown across the rpad
\ tn. .hnaise hsane tprnd1ished over thsds