Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1892 — SWEPT BY A CYCLONE. [ARTICLE]

SWEPT BY A CYCLONE.

GREAT LOSS OF LIFE IN A KANSAS TOWN. Fifty Are Killed and 120 Other. Injured ' —Fire in the Wrecked District Adds to the Horror ot the Disaster—The Electric Light Plant Destroyed. Property I.o*s of Half a Million. Wellington (Kan.) special; This city has had a visitation to-night (Friday) from the funnel-shaped cloud which plowed its devastating track through the business part of the town, with immense destruction of property and heavy loss of life. A storm of wind preceded the cyclone about half an hour. A fe.w minutes after 9 o’clock the• cyclone 1 struck the city, coming from jthe west. There wore no premonitory signs. Everybody was indoors, and the cloud passed with its destructive rush and awful roar Jrofterson avenue, the principal business Street, is lined on both sides for blocks»wi|u rulnsi Those known to be dead orq?. Mrs. William Asher, Frank D. Campbell, Michael Fanning, laborer; Walter,Forsyth, James E. Hastie, Ida Jones, dmmgroom girl at the Phillips house; —-McAdams, X. Silva, Mrs. Susan Slasher, burned; Kittle Strahn, two unknown men, Salvation Army soldiers. The injured whose names were learned are; Edward Forsyth, James Lawrence, candidate for Attorney General. The people were thrown into such a state of excitement and the torrent of rain which succeeded the cyclone fell so mercilessly that no organized search for the dead and dying was attempted for some time, and the darkness almost baffled the efforts of the most earnest. How many may lie dead in the ruins of the Phillips House and beneath the ragged piles of broken brick and splintered timbers everywhere about there is as yet no means of estimating. As fast as the injured are found they are being conveyed to the Grand Army Hall, which serves as a hospital, and their number is now increased to sixtythree. The number of the dead Is now reported as beirg fifty. All of the finest buildings are in ruins, and every newspaper office In the oity Is a wreck. It is now estimated that the number of buildings destroyed exceeds 200 and the majority of them are business blocks. While the Hull Wan in Progreii. A ball was in progress at the Phillips Hotel, and the guests were nearly all there when the storm broke. Seven bodies, all unidentified, have been taken from the ruins. Beneath the ruins imprisoned occupants were calling for aid, while many others were beyond earthly assistance. Some of the guests escaped as by a miracle; how many, no one knows. The proprietor of the hotel says his house was well filled and he does not see how It was possible for many of his guests, who were in their rooms in the upper stories of the structure, to have escaped. To add to the horrors of the hotel wreck fire broke out in the ruins, and it Is believed some who might have been taken out alive perished in the flames and smoke. Seven bodies thus far have been taken from the ruins ot the hotel. A Woman Burned to Death. Flames also followed the cyclone in the debris of the Robinson Block on Washington avenue. Mrs. Susan Asher was known to be In the ruins. Those who first reached there heard her calling for help. They went to work with a will, when the flames, which had already made some progress, seemed to gain a fresh impetus. A sheet of fire swept over the spot where the woman was pinned down by timbers, and the rescuers were compelled to retreat,leaviug her to her fate; Farther down the street are the offices of the Monitor, Press, and Voice papers. They were completely wrecked. Buildings and contents are alike useless. Across the street were the fragments of a big business block. Here, under a great timber, was found the body of Michel Fanning, a laborer. The wreck of every business house was much like those described. All bod occupants. That a large number of these are dead is beyond question. It was impossible for them to escape. Among the other buildings of prominence destroyed are the Wellington foundry and the First Ward School Building. One Hundred Houses Destroyed. The width of the cyclone’s path was about two blocks. In the residenoe section the destruction was nearly as great as in the business portion of the town. Fully 100 residences arq practically ruined, and, in fact, the whole north part of the city is devastated. The Presbyterian and Lutheran churches, the old stone court house, the Wellington Hotel —all are in ruins. The streets are impassable. Where buildings on the edge qf the storm’s path withstood lie fury, great trees, twisted into fantastic shapes, are prone across the roadway, while entangled in the branches and trunks is a network of telegraph wires, the whole forming a thorough bar to progress on sidewalk or street. The work of caring for such of the injured as have been extricated from the wreck is proceeding as rapidly as it is In the power of hundreds of the townspeople to expedite it. All Sorts of Humors Prevail. It is at this time utterly impossible to state with absolute certainty the loss of life. The excitement is such that It Is Impossible to speak with knowledge of entire facts as to either loss of life, injuries, or damage to property. The wildest rumors prevail, and the estimate previously given is the most conservative possible under the circumstances. That the death and damage are great no one can gainsay. Wellington is the county seat of Sumner County, Kansas. It has a population of 10,000. Thrifty and enterprising, it is located in the center of a thickly populated agricultural district, and is the most prominent town in Southern Kansas. This is the first cyclone that has ever visited the town.