The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-09-15
Tornado Debris Yields 11Bodies
As Rescuers Speed Work
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Continued from First Page)
brother Of Bernard and Virgil, was
with the other three boys when O
house.roof Suddenly settled on them
aA they walked along the street.
He wasn't even scratched.
81 didn't see anything coming
and didn't know what had hit u.s.,
the boy said. 1.-THE air seemed t.
be full of flying wood. / scrambled
out. but the others lay still. ! ran
and got help"
why did we ever come hero7''
moaned Mrs. Oma Cornmesser,
mother of Everett. The family has
just moved here from Iowa.
The other mother. Mrs. John
Cornmesser, doubly bereft sat stun.
ned in her house in the heart Of
the stricken area.
\ Martinkas was a farm hand. His
body was found near a barn An the
path of the storm.
Fagerberg's body was lifted from
the ruins of chair factory
Bruskie was also q factory worker
ne oiSu III q AoSpASA &Lom AAS Az
That plant, where the wind
seems to have wreaked its widest
fury, was a brick structure 900
feet long and four stories high. 1t
was lifted from its foundation,
then set down again, with all but
the two upper stories tclescoped
into the basement. Not a brick
clug to the walls.
The scene outside the crafty.
twisted frame work that remained
was awful, in the strict meaning
Of that misused word, as the
xnassed forces of the sheriffs Of
flee, police and fire departments,
Red Cross and miscellaneous volun-
teers made pitifully futile efforts
to dig through mountains OF brick,
timber and machinery.
Crowds OF the curious, straining
against the ropes, were ordered to
keep silent while the rescuers list
ened for the sound OF a moan from
below. In the unearthly stiffness
a woman sobbed. A khaki-suited
milit1sman led her away.
Sometimes the listeners thought
they heard a human sound. Flash
lights pointed, they climbed down
into the precarious mass Of wreck
age. More often than not, they
came back with arms empty.
Pinned Down Hours
o. w. ohnson, superintendent of
the factory, was pinned under n
14.inch beam for three hours.
MY son Charles rescued me-"
H. @nf1 Ia 81
American Hospital.
Charles is a bench worker IN
the factory. When the twister came,
he was whirled around about Is
times by its force, then blown out
q window, clear of the buildings.
He joined the rescuers and he
recognized my voice, calling. l had
been On the second floor when l
saw the black funnel coming.
Quick boys a tornadov / shouted
and Is of US rushed for the stair.
way. We were trapped there,
lifted up by the wind and then
dropped to the basement.
Hollered for Both
"For a minute everything was
still. Then came groans. The
timber saved me from being crushed.
Albin Swenson's body was pinned
against mine. You'll have to
holler for both OF u.s. he said. 1
can't and tainted, so hollered."
Relief workers have come from
the neighboring towns OF Beloit and
Freeport. Capt. Warren Aldrich is
in command OF company of militia
patrolling the devastated area. The
American Legion drum corps, com.
pletely accoutered even to the shin.
ing tin helmets they wear on
parade, Is at the scene.
Sheriff Harry Baldwin voiced the
Quandry of the rescuers.
1T might cost several, lives to
venture into that tangle of debris
20 null otaf npa doad man