New Ulm review., 1913-07-02

before the storm struck. This was
done lin making his rounds Of tn
building, and >he had scarcclyrreturf''
ed to the,. engine room; when the
structure was wrecked.
He relates that, before commenc'
ing his rounds, he noticed two storms
approaching-one from the south
west and the other from the north.
west. Their appearance was menac.
ing, and he watched them closely
To him they seemed to meet directly
over the elevator, and it was ther
that the storm burst in all its fury
It descended with roar, and then
followed the din of breaking tim.
bers and falling walls. II q
The elevator, which was erected
about ten years ago, was 168x44 feet
in size, the main portion being di-
vided into two immense cribs. AT
either side were train sheds 168 feet
long and "a feet wide, and at the
north end was an annex 4Ox6O feet
in size. The bottoms of the cribs in
the main building were twenty feet
above the ground, being supported
by huge piles, or timbers.
Coming from the west, the tornado
struck the building broadside, and it
received the full force of the wind.
Seemingly, it was lifted bodily and
carried fifteen feet toward the east.
The supporting timbers, many of
them foot square, were snapped
like matches, and the cribs settled
to the ground. One of these was
twisted toward the north and the
other toward the south, SO that they
were separated by a space several
feet in width. The cupola and the
upper portion of the building, which
rose some forty feet above the cribs,
was, dashed to the ground on the
east side, the railroad tracks being
buried under the wreck.
A fortunate circumstance for the
company wa sthe fact that the sup
ply of grain stored in the elevator
was very small, not more than 1000
bushels of barley being in the bins
when it was blown down. So great
was the velocity Of the wind that
strips of galvanized iron roofing
were torn from the elevator and
scattered over the adjacent fields,
some of them being carried nearly a
quarter of a mile.
St. Peter was on the northern edge
of the storm zone. The tornado
travelled from the southwest to the
northeast, and it's swath was some
three miles in width. In that city
the only serious damage was done
in the southern portion of the town;
other sections escaping unscathed.
At the Stone premises trees were
broken and uprooted and an unused
stable was demolished, and about
the homeof John Anderson, little
to the north, shade trees were blown
down.
Swan johnson, whose property is
in an exposed location, had two sta
oles blown down. One of these was
4 good sized building. It's roof was
;orn off and carried out into the gar
len, and it's walls razed. After the
storm a cow that had been tethered
in the barn was found outside it's
walls, having escaped without "a
scratch. The smaller barn was fiat
;ened and several trees uprooted.
A curious feature of the tornado
S that it appears to have travelled
IN bounds, descending to the earth
At one spot, and then leaping to a
ocality several blocks distant. At
;he Johnson home it ragged with
great fury, then bounded to the
Swedish Lutheran church and swept
over Minnesota Square. At the
church and about the square fifteen
,r twenty trees were blown down, and
1T NJ. Dempsey's home several were
snapped off.
Perhaps the greatest destruction
vas in the beautiful grove surround
ng the home of Harry J. LaDue.
There some fifteen or twenty trees
we're uprooted or damaged, many of
hem being ruined. In a great many
places it would appear that they
we're uprooted by suction. One tree
vas hurled against the house, but
lid no great damage.
On the opposite side of the street
rees were felled in practically every
vard. DR.. K. A. Kilander had a doz-
N damaged, and at Mat Young's