Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-03-20
CYCLONE HITS
NEWCASTLE, IND;
MANY ARE DEAD
Death List Estimated at From II
to 200.
DAMAGE PUT AT 100000
Residential Section of City Swept by
Terrific Storm and Citizens Are
Crushed to Death by Falling
BuiIdinos-Doctors Rushed
to Stricken Town.

Newcastle, Ind. March 12.-Death
and devastation filled the greater part
of Newcastle last night following a tor
nado that wrecked the residential part
of the city and left the dead and dying
in wreckage and on bare ground.
Seventeen are known to be dead
and more than 100 injured. 1t is feared
that the death total may reach $50
or 200.
More than 100 houses were torn to
pieces in the worst storm Newcastle
ever knew, and over 800 were dam
aged.
Newcastle is practically destroyed.
The damage will be close to 81 ,000,-
600.
The first identified dead are:
Gray Davis.
Mrs. John r. Davis.
Mrs. Archie Fletcher.
Edward Donlop.
James Neilis.
Elizabeth Day.
Mrs. Acie Williamson and daugh-
ter Opal.
Racer, man.
- Hayler, girl.
With only one telegraph wire In use,
the town virtually was isolated from
the rest of the world and left to re-
cover it's dead alone.
The first calls for help were sent
to Indianapolis, whence physicians and
nurses started at once for this place.
Victims Trapped by Storm.
The storm broke suddenly late in
the afternoon. The victims were
trapped, as the storm seized upon
their homes and tore them to pieces,
laying them fiat or lifting them from
their foundations and bearing them
away in the wind.
The powerhouse was torn to pieces,
and the remainder of the night was
black as the blacklist hour of the
tornado.
When the storm had passed, leaving
black ruin and the bruised and bat
tered bodies of the dead in its wake,
men ran about, shouting, carrying Ian
terms where they could be found.
Women and children ran shrieking
from house to house. Members Of fami-
lies were separated and for hours knew
not whether they must mourn the lost
as dead.
Stores Used as Hospitals.
These and scenes almost beyond
description met the unorganized res
cuers who hurried into the city from
the surrounding towns and country
side.
The train of doctors and nurses
from Indianapolis was the first organ
lied rescue party to reach Newcastle.
They found many dead, but a far grea-
err number of injured requiring their
ministrations.
In lieu of hospital accommodations
stores and homes that had survived
the cyclone were made into improvised
hospitals.
Residential Section Hit.
First reports last night about the
storm which swept Newcastle, Ind, said
the town had been wiped out. These
reports seemed to be exaggerated.
From Muncie and Anderson, Ind,
and other surrounding towns came
word that about thirty persons had
been killed. Indianapolis, where state
officials were anxiously waiting for
word Of the extent of the disaster, for
hours was without definite informa-
ton.
Telegraphic reports from the capital
were meager, and said:
Several persons were killed and
hundreds injured, and more than 200
houses were destroyed"
An hour after the first reports the
telegraph wires carried the news that
the tornado passed around the BUSH
ness section of the town and laid waste
the residential sections.
Newcastle has a population Of $4,000.
Troops Sent to Scene.
National Guard troops from Indian
apolis and Muncie were hurried to the
scene at the request Of the mayor of
Newcastle.
The cyclone was accompanied by
heavy rain, and the suffering among
the women and children who were rem
dered homeless was intense.