The Watertown news. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1917-1919, 1917-05-28
SUMMARY OF STORM LOSS


sons were killed. 1000 or more injured
and millions of dollars worth of prop
erty destroyed by tOrnadoes which
swept Through Kansas on Friday, Hi
nOiS and Indiana on Saturday and
parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Ken
lucky, Alabama and southern Illinois
Sunday. Reports indicate that large
amount of farm implements, needed to
produce the bumper crop desired this
year. was ruined. although the spas
mOdic wind struck only here and there
in It's frightful play through the rural
regions. Crop damage is said to be not
heavy in grains.
Fiifty-Four Dead at Nation.
The heaviest toll of life was taken
at Mattoon, H.. a city of 10000 popu-
lation in the brOmcOrn country of cen
trail Illinois, where "a are known TO
be dead and 500 injured with a prop
erty loss of 100000.
Charleston, H., ten miles east of
Matto3n, was also partly wrecked Sat
urday evening, with loss of SO lives
and l 90 injured. The property loss
there lis S1.00O.0OO.
Twenty-Six Dead in Kansas
The next most serious loss was at
Andale, Kan, where % were killed and
a scor injured on Friday. Dublin, KY,
suffered 3 dead and II injured Sunday.
Soul IN Dyersburg, Tenn, was report
ed last night to have lost killed and
80 injured in tornado that swept
Dyer county Sunday. Near Blythe
vile, Ark, 9 persons were reported
killed and dozen hure.
Many Dead in Indiana
Reports from Indiana show at least
persons killed at Hebron, Kouts and
other places, and the death list may
reach 20. More than 200 were injured
in the Indiana territory swept by the
storm.
Smaller towns in Illinois lost dozen
dead on Saturday with two-score--in-
jured, while in the southern part of
Illinois windstorms yesterday killed a
half dozen and injured score.
81 Dead at Nation.
MattOOn, ILL.,, May 2S.-After a sleep
less night of uncertainty and anguish
Matte on sorrowfully faced the light of
day and reckoned her dead, the toll of
the worst storm in the history of the
state.
According to the best Obtainable fig
ures, in the absence of any official
statistical agency, "a bodies have been
81 til,
titled. Between 10 and 20 persons are
unaccOunted for. Three hundred per-
sons are badly, though not fatally,
hurt Two hundred more are suffering
from slight injuries and approximate
ly 20 are expected to die.
"a Dead in Charleston.
The tornado, continuing it's course
eastward, struck the town of Charles
ton at 3 AS, half hour after devastat-
ing M attoon. Thirty-eight persons were
killed and $50 injured. The district
north of Jackson street. made up Of
business houses and residences, was
leveled to the earth and debris scat
tered over an area of half mile The
scenes here were in every way similar
to those in MattOOn.
The work of identifying the dead
and listing the wounded and injured
in Nation has been sadly handi-
capped through the lack of any CEN
trail clearing house of informa ton. The
bodies of the dead, as rapidly as they
were recovered from the wreckage,
were taken to the four undertaking
establishments Of the city, which were
then thrown open to the public.
Relatives Seek Dead.
The work of identifying the dead
and listing the wounded and injured
has been sadly handicapped through
the lack of any central clearing house
of information. The bodies of the
dead, as rapidly as they were recoy
cred from the Wreckage, were taken
to the four undertaking establish
ments of the city, which were then
thrown open to the public.
Continuous streams of sightseers
and those seeking relatives passed in
and out of the doors. Clerks and as
sistants attempted to keep a tally Of
those identified, with confusing re-
suits.
5000 Persons Are Homeless.
All of the churches of Mattoon, the
public library, Memorial hospital and
the American hotel are filled with the
wOund<l and homeless, who are esti-
mated at between $500 and 5000.
The horde of visitors and those seek
Ing relatives became SO large that a
famine threatened and w. G. Sawin
was empowered to act as food die
tatOr.
No Looting Reported.
When sightseers, however, attempt
ed to parade through the stOrm-swept
district they were doomed to disap-
pointment. They We're stopped by pick
cts with fixed bayonets. Those seeking
relatives were supplied with passes.