The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-03-22
MUS[ Than 60 DEAD
AND MANY HURT|N
STORMS TRAIL
Path of Fierce Gale from Texas
to Pennsylvania
PROPERTY LOSS OF MILLIONS
Death List Largest in Alabama
Were One Town was Practi-f
cally Wiped Out.

Chicago, March 22-More than so
persons are reported killed and hun
dreds were injured, some MORALLY
by storm of tornado intensity
which ragged over central, western,
southern and parts of eastern states
yesterday. Property damage will
run well into the millions. Definite
advices have been received account
ing for at least 40 persons dead, with
reports from points temporarily cut
off from wire communication by the
storm adding hourly to the list
Reports from Alabama show the
losses of life were heaviest in that
state, the number of dead there be-
ing already definitely placed at 2s,
with additional fatalities reported
but not confirmed. One town, Low
er Peachtree. was practically wiped
out. Two are dead in Indiana, two
in Tennessee, three in Ohio, two in
New York, one in Michigan and two
| in Louisiana. Accompanying the
death lists are estimates of injured
totaling more than 200, with addit-
ions coming in at brief intervals
Coming up out of the Southwest
early yesterday morning, just as
| spring was ushered in, the storm
swept with startling suddenness dia-
! gonally across the country from nor
/ thern Texas to western Pennsylvan-
ia and New York, bisecting the Mis-
sissippi valley and moving northeast
ward across the Ohio into the great
lake region. Shifting winds of great
violence, accompanied in various
| sections by snow, sleet and hail, char
acterized the storm, easily the most
/ destructive of the year and rarely
equaled in the extent of its sweep
| and the damage it did Buildings
! toppled before the blow in nearly a
dozen states and death lay all along
! in its wake
The property loss was heavy all
along the storms track. Besides de-
molishing or unroofng buildings, and
telling trees, the high winds. rains,
! hail and sleet did serious damage to
early crops. according to reports from
| some of the affected sections. Esti-
mates of loss by damage to property
| of all sorts from Indiana and Michi-
gan alone total 100000, about
evenly divided between the two
states. Early reports of losses rang
ing from $4,000 to 100000 or more
from various cities and sections scat
/ tered over the storm region indicat-
ed that the sum total would reach
| large figures.
Wires fell in all directions before
the blow. Not in many years has
I there hoan Sucb nroofration IF tala
| graph and telephone service. Chica-
| go was cut off for hours from com
munication with points east. Only
| by devious routes was connection
finally established. Last night con-
ditions had improved materially, but
! 1t will be several days before normal
service is restored Railroad traffic
was seriously delayed in many dis
| tricts, where wire communication
was crippled and washouts occurred.
The wind which wiped out so
much property and cost so many
lives, attained record velocities a,
some points. Detroit reported IS
miles an hour, the weather bureau
high record in that city. A veloci-
/ ~ of 81 miles were recorded at
Toledo and the wind was blowing IS
miles an hour at Buffalo at o'clock
Thursday night. Memphis reported
"a miles and Louisville 50 miles.
Cold weather is trailing the destruc.
| tive blow. The storm seems to have
spent its force and to be taking the
| accustomed rout of such disturban-
ces, out through the St Lawrence
valley.