Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 April 1893 — TOWNS LAID IN RUINS. [ARTICLE]

TOWNS LAID IN RUINS.

Terrific Cyclones at Work in Sections of the West. A feartul cyclone passed over parts of Western lowa and Eastern Nebraska Tuesday afternoon, between 3 and 5 o’clock. It struck at Akron and Westfield, In Plymouth County, lowa, at 3 o’clock. At 4:40 o’clock it struck at ' Page, Neb., about 100 miles west of the other places. At Akron the sky became dark about 2 o’clock, so that lamps had to be lighted. The storm came down suddenly from the northeast, and in a few minutes Akron was almost in ruins. The storm covered a wide path —the iron wagon bridge across the Sioux was torn to pieces, the great iron trusses being twisted and broken; houses were unroofed or carried from their foundations and destroyed. The grain elevator was torn to pieces, and the whirlwind carried its debris across the street, depositing it where a lumber yard had been. A good part of the lumber yard was left where the elevator had been. Several cars loaded with stone standing on a side track were picked up and carried several rods. Several stone buildings were partly wrecked and unroofed. The sstorm followed the Sioux valley south to Westfield. Its path was marked by demolished houses and barns. Two persons, a man and hiswfe, were killed at one farm-house. The names are not yet known. Several others were badly injured and many horses and cattle were killed. No reports are received of any devastation between these places and Page, Neb., where the storm demolished the Pacific Short Line depot and several houses, blew cars off the track, and injured a woman and a boy. The names are not known. The woman’s injuries are serious. The only reports are from the railroad. The storm progressed a distance of 200 miles in an hour and forty minutes. At Page City, Mo., the cyclone struck about 6 o’clock with fearful results. Many buildings were wrecked, and nearly all suffered more or less damage. It is known that three lives have been lost and at least a score of persons have been injured. Meager dispatches received from the southern part of Kansas state that a cyclone passed over that part of the State, and that the three towns of Willis, Everest, and Powhattan were laid in ruins. Hail broke hundreds of windows, and, it is feared, spoiled prospects of a fruit crop this year. Near Robinson the 14-year-old son of E. P. Pelton, a wealthy merchant, was stiuck by lightning and instantly killed. A terrific rain, wind and hail storm struck Burlington, lowa. The electric lights went out, and Egyptian darkness reigned. Torrents of rain fell. A storm lasting thirty minutes did thousands of dollars’ worth of damage at Paris, Texas. Several stores were unroofed and flooded.