The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1911-11-17


$500; Samuel Clark. Martin street.
$500; Fred Krause. Chapman street,
800; A. e. Palmer. w. Main street,
$500; Fred Relz, Martin street,
house unroofed and barn destroyed,
$1,000.
The City Steam Laundry was prac-
tically destroyed with loss of about
$4,000, and no cyclone insurance.
The plant was one story. frame and
machinery was being installed Sat-
urday night. The laundry will be
rebuilt.
The whole front OF the Monroe
Implement company, a frame build
ing on West Exchange, was blown
away, with loss OF about $500
William Juhls cigar store. west
Of the City Steam laundry in part of
Mr.. Corey's building, was twisted
and shaken and windows, fixtures
and stock broken and scattered. Loss
$500 and that on building $500
more.
In Northeastern Direction
The cyclone travelled in a north
easterly direction. The first evidence
of damage was on West Stewart
street, not far from the Southwestern
ly city limits. From there the dead
+ly whirlwind !, smashed "a path
through the residential section of the
workingmen, through the heart of
the factory district, across the west
ern part of the main business district
of the city, visited the churches with
deadly effect, and finally swung high
and away again somewhere in the
vicinity of Oliver and Hickory
streets.
1t was extremely capricious. Some
buildings directly in the path, which
was a half-mile wide by perhaps
mile and half long, were smashed to
pieces or badly damaged; others were
unscratched. The Congregational
church escaped with slight damage,
though the Salems church to the
east, the Methodist church to the
west, and st. Johannis church and
Christ Episcopal churches to north
were all badly battered, as was the
Baptist church, to the southwest.
1t is not uncommon to see houses
absolutely unchanged standing be-
side others warped several feet on
their foundations, or crushed in as
by gigantic mallet. Evidently the
Whirlpool of the air dipped, careen-
ed, shot up and came back to earth
again like an unwieldy balloon, and
whenever it stopped, the capricious
claws struck with Titanic force.
Landmark is Gone
One of the Oldest houses in the city
is that occupied by P. Mccarthy, 6O3
West Main street. 1t is not damaged.
A huge tree in front, which has long
been landmark, which measured
four feet or more through the butt
and lowered to a height of go feet,
was broken off as if tt were a match.
Directly in the rear of the Mccarthy
home, Fred j. Storrer had placed a
frame barn, which was being con-
verified into a two apartment dwelling
This was smashed and overturned.
III rear of this building, to the west,
Mr. Storrer's garage had been picked
off his automobile, precisely as
cover is lifted off a typewriter. The
garage was smashed; the car was
barely scratched.
George Book, a farmer living at
the southwestern city limits, was
driving home with his wife and three
year-old boy when the full force of
storm struck them broadside The
whole outfit was picked up bodily and
hurled several feet into a ditch rum
ming over with water The family
was submerged for several seconds,
but managed to fight their way out
OF the tangle in time to escape drown
ing. The buggy was badly broken,
and the horse was damned into the
mire so hard that he could not be
freed for several hours.
Books mishap occurred near the
place where the whirlwind first
struck. For 200 yards on both sides
of this street the houses are either
leveled or badly damaged. George |
Clark's house is riddled; his loss will |
be $1,000; Fred Belz's house was
partially unroofed and his barn
blown away, for a loss of $1,000.
August Griep's loss on his home will |
reach $1,000; Carl Theide's home,
ance, escaped with few broken win
home was a shelter for all |
though in the center of the disturb
the homeless of the neighborhood,
no less than five families packing 1t
Sunday. John YANKEES house, few
feet from Theide's, was folded up
ike cardboard. His loss is $1,000.
Walter Schultz lost a barn worth
$500. All these are poor people who
can i'll afford to stand their losses.
It's Peculiar Franks
Mrs. Clark and her sixteen-year-
Did daughter, Mary give graphic ac-
counts of the peculiar action of the
cyclone. Mrs. Clark was in bed and
her daughter was asleep on the sofa
when there was a terrific roaring
sound. They were awakened by it,
Ind each was picked up. as If by a
suction, and landed on the floor
everal feet away. There they lay
n the midst Of n rain of falling hricks