Arizona republican., 1917-05-27
MAI l l 'T()()N
 HEAVIEST
 SUFFERER
Republican A. p. Leased Wire]


 MATTOON, Ills. May 26.-Thirty- five persons are known to be dead and lt is estimated that an equal number are buried in the ruins of Mattoon as a result of a tornado which struck the city about f o'clock this afternoon. In addition more than 200 persons were in jured by the Windstorm, many of them fa' ally
 Tonight every available vehicle in the city was in service carrying the dead and injured to hospitals, churches and other public places thrown open to them. Mattoon was in complete uArt ness except for the light of hundreds of lanterns. carried by volunteer lesc,.e workers and not until daylight can the full extent of the damage tle known.
 The funnel-shaped cloud came swirl ing it's way toward the city and before persons on the streets could seek safety district on the northern siue OI t44e city two miles long and about four blocks wide had been devastated al. most every building in the path of the storm being in ruins The property damage, 1t is estimated tonight Will tA- ceed one-half million dollars Hundreds of families are homeless.
 Immediately the plight of the com munity became known special trains bearing physicians and nurses were rushed from Hanna, Champaign, Car hOndale and other neighboring ciues. Handicapped by poor hospitals facilities, every effort was being made to care for the injured, and many of them were be- ing treated in private homes Many of the injured were struck by wreckage which filled the air for several minutes after the storm had passed.
 The T. W. Clark manufacturing com pany. in whose plant 100 men were at work at the time of the tornado. suf- -red the heaviest property damage, the loss being estimated at SZ00, ,VVV. That none of the Workmen were killed was one of the freaks of the storm.
 Pending arrival of guardsmen for pa : trol duty 100 citizens were sworn in as special policemen.
 Reports from the surrounding section indicated that the storm, passing over the city from west to east, did heavy property damage and caused loss of life from a distance of 30 miles in each direction.
 The storm. travelling from east to west. destroyed practically the entire northern half of the town. leaving rn building standing in a swath several blocks in width.
 A lumber yard directly in the path of the storm contributed largely to the damage. Flying blanks struck num- Der of pedestrians who had been unable to find shelter and the blanks were hurled for miles around the country side, one being discovered sticking through the side of farmers home.
 Bits of broken and twisted steel also flew through the air. damaging build ings entireiy out of the path of the storm. A canning factory contributed to the loss in a similar way.
 Rescue work was begun almost i'm mediately and within an hour every church and public building standing was filled with injured, many of whom were unable to obtain adequate medi- cal service.
 Efforts to estimate the casualties with any degree of accuracy were futile because Of the confusion which fol- lowed the tornado. Hundreds of fami- lies reported members were missing but it was believed many of these will be found tomorrow A heavy hail storm which followed the wind, hampered the
 Continued on Page Twol