The Tomahawk., 1919-07-03

road miraculously escaped death when
the force of the wind blew the train
off the track. 1t happened to plunge
into deep ditch, which prevented the
cars from overturning, and few re-
ceived anything more than a shaking
up. Traffic on the road was not i'm.
peded by the wreck. III f.
The power dam in the Red rive- at
Fergus Falls was blown out and
wrecked by the storm. The Northern
Pacific depot was demolished, but was
closed at the time and there was no
loss of life there. -.- .aa.s.... -. 4.
Two small houses on the shore of
Lake Alice, on the north side OF town,
were blown into the lake with their
occupants, three in one and four In
the other. The occupants of the
houses are missing, and are believed
to have been drowned in the lake.
Debris Hurled Through Windows.
Debris from the wrecked buildings
was hurled for blocks and some Of II
went thru windows in the business
district. partially wrecking many
buildings. Iii ~,
The path of the main storm wat
about five miles wide and fifteen mile;
long, but the total destruction was In
a small area.
The state insane hospital, near the
town, was not seriously damaged;
same of the injured were taken to its
hospital ward for care. Il .
r. .. Residences Suffer Most.
EXCEPT for the destruction of the
Grand hotel, in which many lives wern
lost. the business section was not dam
aged as heavily as the residence dis
tricts," said General Rhinow. MANY
homes were leveled to the ground and
others partially wrecked"
General Rhinow said good order Is
being maintained without establishing
military law or quarantine regulations.
Organization of relief work is pro.
crossing satisfactorily, and immediate
needs are being supplied without great
difficulty. ,.ss. =.
Calls for two st. Paul companies OF
the Sixth Infantry, Minnesota National
guard, were issued by General Rhinow
and forwarded to Lieutenant Colonel
F.. G. Stutz. The general added that 10
electric linemen and 10 bricklayers
were needed and the crews, obtained
in st. Paul, left on the first train.
= Lake Alice is filled with debris and
was searched for dead and injured.
One unidentified girl was found in the
lake. ~.
Several bridges over the Red river.
of steel construction, were destroyed.
Dumont, village in Traverse coun-
ty on the Milwaukee line to Fargo,
was hit about p. m. by heavy storm
coming from the southwest.
Farmer Killed at Dumont.
The only loss of life reported Is that
of Nichol Didlot, q farmer, in the out
skirts of the town, killed when the
wind demolished. his home. The pub
lie school building, the Lutheran
church and several residences were
blown down. Edward Burke was seri'
ously injured, when caught under fall
ing timbers OF his house. Several 9th
ers, were slightly injured. H.. .
A congregation had left the Lu'
theran church only few minutes be-
fore the storm broke, which saved con-
siderable loss of life at Dumont.
Heavy crop damage is reported from
the Dumont district, and much dam.
age is feared to crops in Otter Tall
county. Many bridges were washed
out by the heavy rain which came with
the wind, and roads were made almost
impassable. The rain extended over
a wide area, and washouts are report
ed from the region Of Brainerd and
Walker. g.. .
HOSPITALS Can Accommodate Injured.
Late reports from Fergus Falls say
that all of the injured there can be
cared for in local hospitals, with the
aid of the relief doctors and nurses
who have gone from st. Cloud, Alex
andria, Elbow Lake, Wahpeton. Fargo.
and from the Twin Cities. Six physi'
clans and II nurses went from Alex
andria. .. .,.s s.. ~
Governor J. A. A. Burnquist, Adju.
tant w. F. Rhinow and National
Guard detachment left St. Paul on .
special train for the tornado district.
The train carried doctors, nurses and
supplies.
Appeal for Help.
h An urgent appeal for help from
Mayor George w. Frankberg Of Fer
gus Falls, in a telegram sent from De.
troit to Governor BurnQuist. was the
first official message to come out OF
the stricken district.
Mayor Frankberg said the loss OF
life will be large and hundreds OF
homes and business blocks are de-
stroyed. The city was in darkness
and the situation Is extremely urgent,
the telegram added.
Carpenters and electricians are
needed at once. Help from the adju-
tant generals once also was asked.
The military company is at work and
company in st. Cloud went to Fer
gus Falls. Il.