The Elbert County tribune., 1913-03-28

Terre Haute. Ind, councii Bluffs, la
and Lincoln. Neb.. suffer property
Governor Morehead OF Nebraska has
taken personal charge of the policing
Money for homeless pouring I'm.
and tes y, shapped orr In all directions
circulate news OF the disaster. al"
Denver, March 25.-Death destruc-
tion and desolation lie In the wake OF
the tornado that swept five states
Nebraska, Illinois. Iowa, Indiana and
Missouri. At least 24O are dead AMI
hundreds are injured. many of them
so seriously that they will die.
The property loss in the five states
struck by the storm msy exceed s1O.-
ooO,oOO. The path was swept clean.
The finest residence section of the
city of Omaha was swept away and
hundreds of buildings took fire. The
fire department was helpless and the
loss of life will probably go beyond
the first named mark.
Omaha, March 25.-More than 200
persons were killed and 400 were In
jured in the wind storm that demol-
ished 450 homes. damaged hundreds
OF other buildings and caused a mon
etary loss of s5.000,0OO.
Most of the casualties were in Omn-
ha, which was stricken as mover be-
fore. Nearby towns in Nebraska and
across the Missouri river in Iowa also
suffered severely.
Fire broke out in the debris OF many
wrecked buildings in the Nebraska
metropolis and these were menaces
for some time. as the fire companies
were hindered by fallen walls and
blockaded streets. A heavy rain fol-
lowed the wind, however. and It
drenched the hupdreds of homeless
persons. but It also put out the
flames.
1t has taken Omaha and the sur
rounding country thirty-six hours 70
begin to appreciate the enormity of
the devastation wrought by the East
er evening storm of wind and rain.
The storm assumed first the veloc-
ity and destructive effects of a cy-
clone. and ended its existence in a
series OF tornadoes which dropped
fiercely on many parts of the city
and country without regard to human
life or property and visited the great
er portion of the residential part of
Omaha.
Wires were snapped off In all di-
rections and it took many hours to
gather and circulate the news of the
disaster.
All forms of communication were al
most annihilated by the wind and only
two or three wires were in working con
dition when daylight relieved night
of high tension. which at times almost
became panic Soldiers, state and ma.
tional troops. poured into the city dur
ing the day to aid in bringing order
out of what for twenty hours had been
chaos. These guardians of the peace
are patrolling the residence districts.
aiding the police to maintain order and
relieve such cases of suffering as
come to their notice.
The greatest loss OF life occurred
sectionally. Three points in the path
of the storm offered the greatest sac
rifices. These were at Fortieth and
Farnum streets where a crowd had
sought refuge in garage; at Twenty
fourth and Lake streets, where a NOV
ing picture theater was demolished.
and at Twenty-fourth and Willis ave-
nue., where poolroom had attracted
a crowd. In each of these places the
fatalities we're large.
The monetary loss will, it is estimat-
ed. exceed s5.OOO.oOO. Perhaps 1900
persons are homeless.
Aside from this, 5000 buildings
were more or less damaged. many of
these being church edifices and school
buildings. Eight OF omaha's public
schoo1a uere wrecked