Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 July 1893 — WIND’S AWFUL WORK. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WIND’S AWFUL WORK.

OVER SEVENTY DEAD FROM lOWA’S STORM. Utter Desolation in the Devastated District— Homes Demolished and Crops Ruined—Gov. Boles Appeals for Aid— Death List Not Yet Complete. Ruin in Its Wake. More complete details from the cy-clone-swept section of Northwestern lowa do not diminish its horrors. The latest reports give the number of dead at seventy-four, and it is said at least five more will die, while the injured number considerably over one hundred. A conservative estimate places the whole number that were either killed or injured by the tornado at 250. At Pomeroy alone over fifty are dead. Five blocks of residences were completely swept • away, not more than kindling wood being left of them. The disaster is the most*dire one that has occurred in lowa since the Grinnell cyclone. The loss of life at Pomeroy is not so great as at Grinnell, but the destruction of property will tq more complete. At G o’clock Thursday evening a thousand happy people sat down to their tea-tables chatting cheerily, unconscious of impending danger. Friday morning more than half of them were wandering about homeless and half crazed, depending on charity for food and drink, while strangers were winding the grave-clothes around their dead. Every house left standing was a

hospital. Every citizen of Pomeroy mourns the loss of a relative or friend. Two hufldred families are homeless, many having lost all they owned. Hundreds of people poured in on every train to view the ruins, and to every'one of them the completeness of the havoc Wrought by the tornado was painfully apparent. Sixty-five acres of debris is what is left of Pomeroy now. Imagine a gigantic pile of lumber scattered in every direction over a broad prairie and you have a good picture of this wrecked lowa city. Nothing but the occasional shattered remains of a wall or the halfdestroyed gable of a dwelling rise above the level of the ground. The numerous trees that surrounded the town have been swept away so completely that it would be difficult to believe that one ever grew there. One hundred and twenty-five residences, most a story-and-a-half or two-story frame; seven churches, all frame; one brick and a

half-dozen frame business buildings constitute the total of buildings that were wrecked. Of course, the loss on these is total. All the other business houses, probably fifty, were more or less damaged. Those who are competent to judge aav the loss in the city will not be less than a quarter of a million. All In a Minute. The storm did its terrible work in one minute’s time. Just before dark great banks of black clouds massed in the southwest and another in the west. About 7 o’clock the two threatening piles moved toward one another and then joined. The clouds took on a green tint, which was pierced with the sun’s rays for a moment. Then darkness set in •rapidly. The elements seemed to form about the combined clouds, though scarcely a breeze stirred the tree-tops in the streets of Pomeroy. Those who were watching the phenomena say that a column of smoke like a cloud, dropped to the ground and gath-

ered in strength as it ■ advanced toward the • town. They recognized it as a cyclone and" gave the alarm. Many sought shelter in cellars and others mounted horses to flee from the path of the coming destruction. There was a dash of hail, a blinding flash of lightning and deafening peal of thunder. Men and women ran wildly about the streets shouting and gesticulating. The cyclone struck the town at the southwest among the scattering houses in the outskirts. Roofs and shingles and sides of buildings were wrenched loose and were thrown to one side. On to the more densely populated district the monster of destruction swept, leveling all before it and leaving in its wake a cloud of splinters and wrecked homes, death and demoralization. The people were panic stricken and fled here and there amid the flying timbers until stricken down to the earth, mangled, torn, and dead. While the tornado lasted it was pitch dark, except for the vivid flashes of lightning which lit the weird and awful scene. The rain came down in torrents,

the roar of the thunder and tho storm was deafening. The air was full of sticks, stcnes, mud, horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, houses, machinery, bricks, human beings, and everything that was unable to resist the force of the terrible tempest. It was all over in a few seconds. Oh, what a piteous spectacle greeted the eyes of the agonized survivors'. Dead people were on every side. Husband and wife lay on the ground, their glassy eyes turned heavenward and the bodies' rent and torn in the most cruel manner. and their, littlo babies were found stark dead, with their bisains o: zing out of their crushed skulls and their life blood soaking the sod beneath them. Rescuing parties at once set out, and the dead and wounded were brought in as fast as men could work. Tne telegraph and telephone lines were blown "down, and Ed Mastcrson set out on a horse to Manson for help. He succeeded in flagging Vice President Harahan’s special train, which flew back to Manson, and help from all the towns along the lino was soon on hand. Fifteen surgeons were soon caring for the wounded. The Good Templars’ Hall was turned into a hospital, and the old postolfice building did duty as a morgue. The shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying were mingled with the agonizing moans of those so suddenly bereft of their dear ones. It was a sight that beggars description. Sweep of the Storm. As shown by the accompanying map, the tornado started a short distance west of Cherokee and followed closely the Illinois Central Railroad, cutting a swath from one-quarter to one-half mile wide and completely demolishing

everything in its path for a distance of sixtv miles. All along this striiJf in addition to the devastation wrought at Pomeroy, Fonda, Storm Lake, and other towns in its path, are wrecked homes and ruined farms. The actual loss of life in the path of the storm through the country cannot yet be accurately stated, but it is known to be great, and the damage to property is tremendous. Thousands of acres of corn alone have been destroyed. In many huge fields of corn nothing is left but the roots, and in some instances they have been torn out. It is difficult to estimate the loss, but it will reach far up in the thousands. Not a barn, or a house, or shed, or fence, or tree in the path of the storm stands. A swath was mowed through the biggest part of the woods. Huge trees were torn oflt by their roots and others equally as large were broken off at the place where their circumference was largest. Ten farmhouses and all their barns and outhouses between Pomeroy and Fonda have been wrecked. Only splinters of the largest buildings remain. GOV. BOII*. APPEALS FOR HELP. % _____ He Issues a Proclamation Describing: the Scope of the Disaster. Gov. Boies was telegraphed as to the scope of the disaster and appealed to for aid. Whereupon the Governor immediately took the train for Pomeroy. On arriving there and looking over the dbsolate waste, he issued the following proclamation: To the People of Iowa: From a personal examination of the ruin wrought by the storm of last evenintr I find that forty-two are already dead and upward ol 100 are seriously injured in this town, which had a population of 1,000 souls. The great bulk of the residence portion of the town is completely destroyed and hundreds of families are homeless and destitute, In at least one town west of here eight or ten are said to have been killed and many injured. The necessity for aid is imperative. The good people in towns adjacent to Pomeroy have supplied immediate wants for board and clothing, but it is impossible for them to supply all that will be needed in the future. Money, however, is the great necessity of the hour. We must not only help these people to live, but we must aid them to rebuild their destroyed homes. Permit me to recommend that in every city and towh of the State Immediate steps be instituted by the Mayors and municipal officers to organize relief committees and promptly proceed to collect and forward aid. Thiß may be directed to the “Relief Committee of Pomeroy, lowa," which will be organized during the day, and will consist of thoroughly responsible persons of this and other towns; so that aid will be fairly and equitably distributed to all who are in want. Citizens of lowa, it is no exageration for me to say that no more deserving appeal was ever made ta yon for aid. Be sure that yon are both prompt and liberal. Horace Boies, Governor of lowa. Gov. Boies’ appeal met with quick response from all parts of the State, and in a short while over $2,000 had been received by telegraph and mail. The Illinois Central sent relief trains from Fort Dodge, Manson, and Cherokee, with physicians and citizens to assist in taking care of the people, and

they did noble work. Unde -takers and coffins were also sent from various points. Carl ads of provisions have since been arriving by every train, and enough clothing to supply all the survivors is stacked up in the building used as the headquarters of the committee. What is needed now is rncney. The victims have plenty to eat and wear, but they are in most cases penniless. What little they had was their homes and what there was in them, but these have been blown away. Money to rebuild them is what the relief committee is calling now, and their needs are -likely to be. promptly met. Abundant evidence of' this was received in a telegram from the Mayor of Sioux City saying SI,OOO had been raised there. Another from Des Moines announced that a like amount had been contributed at the capital. Emmetsburg sent SIOO, and many towns are coming to the front in good shape. In 1890 5,735 new books and reprints were issued in Great Britain.

COURSE OF THE STORM.

SOLE SURVIVORS OF AN ENTIRE FAMILY.

THE SAELSON CAVE. WHERE TWENTY-TWO LIVES WERE SAVED.