Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-03-28
SAM DEATH MHIRL.

replete with thrills and pathos
were related in Chicago today by
of the great lorna
do which swept over parts OF
Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois last
night. killing and injuring hum
dreds.
Terror-stricken and fascinated
by awe the narrators of these
stories had sat in the coaches Of
a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad train, watching a great
dark cloud as it roared fastastic-
ally on its work of destruction.
In several villages they helped
pick up the dead ard dying.
The wounded and the slain
were placed on the plush-covered
seats and in the carpeted aisles
of the cars until the train, which
passed through the beginning Of
the track of the wtirlwind that
struck Omaha, reached the lat
ter city.
On the way in the injured pour
ed heartrending tales of suffering
and vivid descriptions of escapes
which seemed to them miracu-
lous.
William Conn, president of an
automobile company of Lincoln,
Neb., gave a graphic description
as he viewed it from the plat
form of the observation car.
For miles," he said, it SEEM
ed as if the train were being pur-
sued by the storm. We were APP
preaching Ralston, Neb., when |
first noticed a strange, copper
colored cloud mounting toward
the sky. Before that it had been
clear. The cloud grew rapidly
and was travelling at tremendous
speed. 1t assumed the form of a
funnel and the air was filled
with a curious noise, very pierc-
ing. Then the funnel seemed to
grow black and the smaller end
that near the ground-was
about half 4 mile in diameter. II
swished across the railroad track
and swept toward the little town,
Then the storm struck the
town. Houses collapsed as
though they were of paper. The
roofs went sailing away and the
sides fell in. The passengers
sat as though glued to their seats
when the cloud struck. Then,
as they comprehended the desc
lation wrought, a cry of terror
went up from everyone. 1t was
a terrible sight.
Then the engineer brought the
engine to a stop and the passen
gers ran over to the wreckage o.
the houses. We could hear the
groans of dying men and the
walls and shrieks of injured wo
men and children. I entered &
house, or rather what had beer
a house, and beneath me lay Z
woman. l looked and knew She
was dead. We got all of the in
jured out from the ruins and
brought them to the train.
We were about to leave wher
our attention was called to a lit.
| tie house some distance from the
others. it had been wrecked and
moved from its foundation, but
we found a mother and her little
ba by lying upon bed uninjured
A man was in a basement. His
house was carried away bodily
and he was left standing with a
very surprised look on his face,
uninjured.
There was a big tllreslling ma
chine standing near one of the
houses and when the cloud struck
it shot straight up into the air
and was carried about forty rods.
Houses were rolling and tumb-
ling along the ground. l saw a
box car carried along by the ter
rife air current for a quarter of
a mile. When it split open six
or seven men who, it transpired,
were part of a repair gang drop
ped out. Some of them lay very
still, while others feebly crawled
about.
The next station our train pass
ed through was Benson, where
the scenes were still more appall-
ing. There were several large
factories there and they were all
strewn in heaps. We picked up
a lot of injured, and / don't know
how many dead we left behind.
Then the cloud wheeled and
made toward South Omaha. We
were not far behind, and our way
was blocked by the debris the tor
nado had thrown on the tracks
Then, too, we stopped frequently
to pick up the injured. There
we're some with their limbs torn