Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1918-05-29
The Story Of A Storm

and granddaughter are on the front
porch. The old mans leg is broken.
The little girl is unhurt. In the fall
ing house, Mrs. Tanner, Garthwaite's
daughter, is protected from being
crushed by the stove. Her nose is
broken. Tanner, the son-in-law runs
for the cellar but is crushed against
the wall as the house slides. He has
eight broken ribs and may die. All
the buildings go. Over on the hill
farther on are two horses. Their
sliding tracks where they tried to
brace themselves against the storm,
are yet to be seen. The horses are
carried a hundred yards and over a
step bluff. They are buried the next
day.
Ray Landon's barn ald Fred Gov
ier's silo, are to the south of the patn
of the storm. They both go but thu
other buildings stand. The G. H.
Bennett family to the north run to a
rocky ledge north of their home. They
hide under its lea. The storm takes
their fences but spares their build
ings.
About half mile southeast of Ben
nett's and perhaps the same distance
from Garthwaite's, is the Chas.
Churchill farm. Mr.. Churchill and
daughter are in the kitchen. Mrs.
Churchill is i'll in an adjoining bed
room. The hired man, Everett Ire
loar, and the boy, John, are in the
barn. - timber falls on the COW the
man is milking and the cow falls on
the man. Neither are badly hurt.
John, the boy, is carried into the barn
yard and deposited face-down, on the
manure pile. He is unframed. In
the house Mr.. Churchill is thrown to
the corner and his face bruised by
falling plaster. The little girl is
thrown down but uninjured. The
kitchen goes but the house stands.
Mrs. Churchill is thrown from the
bed to the floor. Huge pines in the
front yard are splintered and some
thrown down. Three cows and many
pigs are killed. Here, as in most
places, all the machinery is wrecked.
The next place struck was that of
Henderson Rafferty, occupied by his
son-in-law, Harvey Croft. The fam
lily take refuge in the cellar. The
south side of the house is torn away.
The out-buildings and fences are de-
stroyed Four cows, 2 yearlings and
many hogs are killed. A Ford be-
longing to the hired man, is a sight!
Machinery goes to fine pieces.
Up the hill northeast lies the new
house and barn of James Huff. The
house is modern throughout. The
barn model dairy. Silos and other
buildings comprise fine equipment
for good farming. All go down. The
Huff family crOuches against the
south wall of the cellar and is spared.
Seven cows and two .heifers are kill
ed. A horse has it's eyes torn out.
Many pigs and chickens die. Huff is
stripped of all his possessions. He
Las $500 cyclone insurance on his
barn worth $4,000.
The Rowden school across the
road, flies away. Broken states from
the blackboard are found in the yard
but little else remains. Mournful
bits of copy paper saying ut is a
tree" Hear the Bird Sing" written by
childish hands, are to be found in the
road nearby Old Glory on fagpole,
weathers the storm, and flies from the
broken staff-bent half mast.
! Next struck is the Doc Cunningham
place rented by Reuben Johnson. The
| big barn, erected by W. E. Lathrop
and worth $4,000, is blown down. Off
to the right is Guy Walkers. His
place is out of the storms path but
his silo goes. Farther south is Geo.
| Jerrett's. His fences and windmill
| fly away Away east is Pete Stoffel's.
Pete loses 100 foot haybarn, some
| hogs and a thousand or so bushels of
oats. Pete is far from the storm CEN
| ter.
Further northeast the storm strikes
! the Smith farm. The granary is
torn down. The house shingles are
torn away. $1,000 damage is done.
| The Alexander brothers, Gorham and
oliver, are next hit. A horse is kill
] ed. One barn is unroofed and an
other blown down. He loses heav-
lily. divers place is hit even worse.
His barn and small buildings are
down. The house roof is stripped.
H. C. Vesperman, further up, loses
his barn, hoghouse, corncrib and 9TH
err buildings. He carries $500 cyclone