The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1938-08-11
Storm Causes
SevereLosses
In Wide Area
WEST PART OF COUNTY
IN PATH OF WIND
AND HAIL STORM

Wind accompanied by hail took
a heavy toll of farm buildings,
corn, grain in shocks, livestock
ard poultry in wide area around
MilrOy and in the vicinity of
Vesta and Sanborn Saturday eve
ming.
A roaring wind warned Of the
approaching storm which struck
about $50 and caused much con-
fusion when horses were frigh-
tened on farms where threShing
operations were in full swing
Huge hail stones caused men and
beasts to seek nearest available
shelters and fell for a half hour
and longer in some places, strip
ping and pounding cOrnfieldS,
Wrecking shocks, breaking out
windows and stripping and scar
ring trees.
Hail was so thick in some places
it had not melted and disappear
ed completely "a hours later.
Lyon county farms also suffer-
ed severe damage and other sec
tons Of southwestern Minnesota
were hard hit. Near Franklin a
twisting wind Friday morning
caused damage to farm buildings.
Traffic on highway II was
blocked for over an hour Satur-
day evening when a huge cotton
wood tree was blown across the
road about eight miles north of
SanbOrn. A highway maintenance
crew cleared the roadway.
A bolt of lighting struck a
Redwood Falls Light and Power
company pole at Delhi, splitting
it from top to bottom. Service
from the transformer on this line
was suspended for some time.
Gazette correspondents sent the
following reports Of damage in
their sectors:
JOhnsCnville-The barn on the
Robert DanieIoWski farm was
moved six inches by the hard
wind Saturday afternoon. Dam
age to corn was estimated from
25 to rs per cent in hail areas
and grain still in shocks was
damaged.
NGSId - IltI OlI L lIIlSI Gil lOSl
five head of cattle, killed by fall
ing concrete blocks, when the
front end of his barn was blown
out. SiIOS. barns and other build
ings on the Ed Larson, Ernest
Rust and H. L. Hogren farms
were badly damaged. Much of the
corn was ruined and small grain
threShed in shocks in strip eX-
tending south from about two and
one-half miles southwest Of Vesta
to the Tracy corner.
CharlestoWn - Herbert KoSel,
hired man, was in the large hip
rooted barn at the Roy Weber
farm when it collapsed but man.
aged to crawl out along some
| loose tinberS with only bruises.
He entered the barn to turn out
the horses when the storm came
up while members Of the threSh-
ing ring were at supper. Of II
work horses in the barn only
three were eXtricated from under
the debris and so tons of hay by
the large crew which worked I'M
til late at night and one of these
had to be shot because of injur-
les. The eight horses lost belonged
to Henry Hoehmann, Otto and
Roy Weber, Otto Trapp and E.
Wolf
The large barn at the Elmer
Batzlaff place was almost a total
wreck. Mr.. Batzlaff was away
threshing and his wife and son
sought safety in the basement of
their home They did not know
the barn was destroyed until
people drove into the yard seeking
shelter AT the Otto Weber place
the barn was completely wrecked
and widely scattered and the
windmill was twisted to the
ground.
Milroy-CropS on some farms
here are complete loss while on
others some feed will be salvaged.
Many windows were broken and
poultry killed by hail or drowned
and buildings demolished. The
barn on the Powell farm occup-
led by the George Dunterman
family was scattered over field.
The barn and windmill on the
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