Indianapolis Times, Volume 36, Number 267, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 March 1925 — Page 1

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF STORM-SWEPI' AREA ON PAGES 4,6, 14, 16 AND 24

Home Edition FOLLOW tie progress of the Indiana with Eddie Ash, Times Sports Editor, every day

VOLUME 3<3—NUMBER 267

RELIEF IS PUSHED IN STORM AREAS MA Y CALL LEGISLA TORE TO AID SUFFERERS

All That Tornado Left of Little To v i of Griffin, Where 68 Are Dead Or Missing

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GRIFFIN SEARCHES IN WRECKAGE FOR , BODIES OF VICTIMS

Indiana Town Literally Wiped Off Map Survivors Tell Dramatic and Pitiful Stories of How Wind Wreaked Havoc. By JOHN L. NIBLACK Times BtalT Correspondent GRIFFIN, Ind., March 20.—The town that -was Griffin, Ind. upTo' 4:15 p. m. last Wednesday, a prosperous hamlet of 350, close to the AVabash river in Posey county, still poked in the mass of boards today for her dead. That is, some half of the population poked in the debris. Some five or six score of the inhabitants are in hospitals, fifty or sixty or 100 of the rest are dead, and many more have gone to live with friends or relatives. Because there isn’t any more town. The wind blew it away Wednesday, what part wasn’t beaten flat. The Evansville fire department, the Red Cross, soldiers, •ailors and coast guards from the United States Kankakee at Evansville were present. The military patrolled the streets, while the fire department lingered to extinguish possible fifes. France Never Like This The Red Cross served food and other.comforts to such of the stricken inhabitants as lingered near their home sites. Here one old lady sat on her steps and hopelessly surveyed a pile of preserves, candied cherries, pickles and dried onions she had found in the cellar of her once proud two-story home. An elderly man and a younger one, who limped painfully, carried a trunk from their front yard and loaded it into a relative’s automobile. It contained everything of value they could find in the wreckage.

The shell fire of heavy guns used in the World War could not have more completely desolated the village, according to spectators who have seen both. The new brick sohoolhouse, emptied just a quarter of an hour before, was unroofed, and parts of the walls blown away. The Methodist and Baptist Churches are also no more, and the village gymnasium, erected to the Hoosler

State Listens in With Times

mHOUSANDS of basketball fans all over Indiana were listening In on the State High school championship tournamen today. The tournament ~is being broadcast by The Indianapolis. Times through Station WFBM of the Merchants Heat and Light Company. Blythe Q. Hendricks of The Times staff, an experienced basketball writer, is describing the games play by play direct from the Exposition building. | Broadcasting will continue during each game until the close of the final contest Saturday night. Radio fans in all parts of the State are invited to listen in. The wave length of the station is j26S meters. Telegrams from all over Indiana were pouring into The

The Indianapolis Times complete wire ghr vice of the un/ted mess Bm world’s greatest evening press association

god of basketball, is merely part of the sea of boards. Wednesday afternoon the smell of roasting flesh poured through the village from the burning debris, once the general store of George Doll. About 4 p. m. the fire department had poured enough water on the flames to enable rescue workers (Turn to Pag© 28)

Times office, indicating the success of the broadcasting. Some of the messages: MR. AND MRS. FRANK L. STEWART, Anderson—Scores coming in fine. Can almost see the games. W. F. TEAGUE, Pendleton— Games coming in fine. Great announcer. CRAWFORDS VILLE LABORATORIES—Games coming clear and loud. Keep it up. AUBEL HARDWARE CO., Kempton—Large' crowd getting radio reports of basketball tournament. Reception fine. CLAIRE RHODE. Pine Village —Getting basketball returns over radio in good shape. E. H. FISHBACK, Principal Anderson High School—Anderson Junior High School getting results very satisfactorily.

STATE DEAD IN TORNADO REACHES 104 \ Check Shows 575 Injured in ‘Pocket’ Estimate of Missing Impossible Until Storm Survivors Are Rounded Up. Times Special EVANSVILLE, Ind., March 20. The “Pocket,”- the southwestern corner of Indiana still stunned under the blow of Wednesday’s tornado, today was attempting to check Its lists of dead and Injured. The list stood at 104 known dead and 575 injured. The number of missing was • unknown-. •■ ■ The- -Red Cross .and other relief agencies had been too busy with the dead and injured to make a check of the survivors. This was the only way in which the number of dead could be ascertained, as many bodies were burnfed beyond recognition. It was feared bodies still were buried beneath the ruins at Griffin. Property damage at Princeton totaled $2.5000,000, according to latest estimates. No one had attempted to estimate the loss at Griffin. This little town was completely wiped out. $5,000,000 Damage Basing the figures on the Princeton estimate, it was estimated damage in other parts of the tornadoswept area would reach $1,000,000, figured conservatively It was fea.red the aggregate loss might go as high as $5,000,000. The known dead and injured In the various towns: At Griffin, 60 dead, 250 injured; Princeton, 21 dead, 200 injured; Owensville vicinity, 15 dead, 75 injured; Posey ville, 5 dead, 30 injured; Elizabeth, 3 dead, 20 injured. Evansville untouched by the tornado, became the headquarters for (Turn to Page 31)

WIND LIKE TERRIBLE GIANT, FLAILS FARMS

Cnee Smiling Countryside Mass of Wreckage TodayHomes Torn Board by Board and Killed.

By Times Staff Correspondent PRINCETON, Ind., March 20. Posey and Gibson Counties looked around todaj r , took a long breath and plunged into the gigantic Job of rebuilding a strip of waste land forty miles long and from half to one mile wide. It is the trail of the tornado that roared out of the west Wednesday afternoon, snuffing out towns and farmhouses as if they were straw. From the Wabash River, through the waste of boards that was Griffin, on through the country to the edge of Gwensville and ahead through South Princeton, the once smiling farm land is a waste of planks, cornstalks, dead stock, tree stumps and limbs.

INDIANAPOLIS, FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1925

KNOWN DEAD LIST INCREASED TO 641

Tlie number of known dead in the greatest tornado disaster which ever visited the United States, crept slowly past the 600 mark today- as workers searched the ruins of thirty-seven towns and hamlets in six States. The United Press recapitulation shows 641 known dead, approximately 3,000 injured, between 5,000 and 7,000 homeless and scores as yet unaccounted for. Damage is estimated at more than $10,000,000. Indiana known dead total 104 with 575 injured. In such disasters, however, there is always duplication, and the indications are now that the ultimate loss of life will not greatly exceed 650 and possibly may be less than that figure. Red Cross compilations thus far are well under 650, but the organization has not completed its poll in all the afflicted area The quick work of the Red Cross and other relief organizations, aided by the militia, in stricken southern Illinois, where the tornado wreaked its greatest havoc, has resulted in orderly processes of relief and reconstruction. Work has been undertaken to prevent the outbreak of disease. The best housing is being accorded the sufferers through erection of tents in the devastated towns and hamlets. While there is some shortage of food owing to difficulty of transportation over broken and muddy roads, all measures are being taken to prevent this situation becoming acute. The loss of life in many rural districts and on farms' has net been fully determined yet. Bu United Press ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 20.—Dawn today found deathswept “little Egypt’’ beginning to squirm out of the mass of destruction wrought by Wednesday’s devastating tornado. The hourly casualty lists—placed in various spots over the stricken area so sufferers may find out what has happened to missing friends and relatives—this morning showed 426 known dead, 736 reported dead and more than 2,500 injured.

Day dawned on a tented area. When Wednesday there were dozens of industrious little cities and towns, this morning there were tented vil(Tum to Page 28) * <* •

It is a trail of death, too, with the dead and missing at Griffin estimated at seventy-five, no one knows exactly how many died in the storm! with the farmhouses between Griffin and Princeton yielding a score of dead, coupled with the twenty-one in Princeton. Through Rich Land Add to this some hundreds of injured, many of whom will die, while others will be crippled for life, and the rest of the State may faintly realize w-hat this section suffered, not regarding the millions of dollars of property loss. For this devastated area is through the hoart of some of the finest farm land in the world. Almost every Tgk. (7'urn to Page 24)

HEALTH OFFICIAL SENTTOMKET Sanitary Survey Ordered by State Board, Seeing danger of contamination of the water supply in the tornadoswept district. Dr. William F. King, secretary of the State board of health,. today sent Dr. Thurman V. Rice, superintendent of the State laboratory, to Princeton and Griffin to make a sanitary survey. , The situation was especially serious at Griffin, where the health officer, Dr. Charles E. Stallings, was killed in the cyclone. Dr. King asked particular attention be given the Princeton water supply. He said it might be necessary to treat it with a chlorine compound to prevent spread pf disease. HOURLY TEMPERATURE 6 a. m 34 10 a. 4a 45 7 a. m 38 11 a. rtk- 47 la. in...... 37 12 (noose ..,. 49 9 a. m 41 1 p, mM .... 62 I

MS NEED tS SET Plea Broadcast as City Sets to Task of Restoring Wrecked Homes and Burying Dead —300 IVleq Work Repairing Houses. _ By Edwin V. O’Neel Times Staff Correspondent TRINCETON, Ind., March 20. An appeal for SIOO,OOO was broadcast by Princeton today, as the city, stricken by tornado Wednesday, with toll of twenty-one lives and an estimated property loss of $2;-’ 500,000, rallied to restore its homes and care for the suffering. Steps taken today were: Three hundred men at work restoring wrecked homes. High officials of the Southern Railroad in city to plan reconstruction of the shops, destroyed with ,a $1,000,000 loss. Tentative plans launched for the rebuilding of the Helntz Canning Company. M. J. Welbom. local chairman of the Red Cross, and a committee composed of Will Blair, president of the Farmers’ National Bank, Lawrence Sulivan, rice president of the People’s America i National Bank and Herman Grater, cashier of the Citizens Trust and Savings Bank, met with citizens at the courthouse and took steps toward permanent relief. Insurance adjusters were here to pay claims for wrecked homes. Losses of homes may reach the $1,000,000 mark, they said. Meanwhile Princeton was burying Its dead. Mrs. Thomas Nash was (Turn to Page 31)

Progress of Tourney Play Details of State Basketball Finals on Sport Page, FRIDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY Vincennes (45) ..I 9 a. m. | Vincennes Milford (23) j 8:30 p. m. Rushville (31).... 10 a. m. Marion Marion (33) ~ SATURDAY 2 p. m. ConneravilLe (28) ! 11 a. m. (Kokomo ! Kokomo (34) ...! 9 a. in. | West Point 1 p. m. La Porte 8 p. in, Wellington 1 2 p. ni. j Carmel | 10 a. m. Elkhart 3 p. m. Evansville 8 p. m. Gary | 4 p, m j | Frankfort | | 11 a. m. | Muncie ) 7:30 p.m. j * | ,■ r mi a frlmMiffl- -firry

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice. Indiauapolis. Published Daily Eicept Sunday.

Governor Jackson to Visit Stricken District and Make Survey of Con- • ditions Representative Cooper Urges Extra Session.

Suggestion that a special session of the Indiana Legislature be called to appropriate money for the relief of the State s storm sufferers was laid before Governor Jackson today by Bruee E. Cooper of Stewartßville, Posey county Representative at the 1925 session. Jackson took the matter under advisement and and iuV mediately arranged a special trip Sunday to the storm-swept zone in order to determine what will be the most efficacious form of relief.

Representative Cooper declared the ned for. relief to be extremely pressing, "The Illinois Legislature appropriated $600,000 for her suffereg and Indiana’s duty Is aa urgent. Your wildest Imagination could not picture the suffering that has befallen my neighbors, my friends, my relatives,” Cooper told, as perspiration streamed down his face. Cooper suggested the matter of a special session to Representative Thurman A- Gottschalk of Berne, Democratic floor-leader at the 1925 session. "The damage caused is so vast that it Is a problem to know what to do,” Gottschalk said. “I would be willing to hear my entire expenses for a special session if It were possible to aid our sufferers,” he said. Tents Needed Perry F. Crane, secretary of the Indiana Farm Bureau Federation, today told Governor Jackson that additional tents, cots and blankets were needed to provide temporary quarters for hundreds whose homes have been swept away. With supplies of the Indiana National Guard exhausted, Governor Jackson transmitted the request to Brigadier General Dwight E. Aultman, commandant at Ft, Benjamin Harrison. Aultman said he would try to fill the needs. Representative Cooper, whose home was within a mile of the tornado, rushed to Griffin when he (Turn to Page 31)

Forecast FAIR and warmer tonight, becoming unsettled Saturday with colder by afternoon or light.

TWO CENTS

RED CROSS ASKS MONEY FOR AID OF TORNADO AREA Appeal for Funds Wade by Local Chairmen —Need Great. An appeal for voluntary contribu; tione for relief of the storm r devas; tat#d "pocket” region of southwest; ern Indiana was Issued today by ~William Fortune, chapman of the Indianapolis chapter of the American Red Cross. The p’ea was Issued aft; er Eugene Foster, Red Cross repre; sentative In the territory, had report; ed the partial extent of the loss oil life and property destruction. Ho informed Fortune that the urgent need is not for food or elqthing, but money for rehabilitation es property; funerals and other expenses that will be Incurred In relief work in the stricken area. "I’m confident that the people of Indiana will come forward and do their share as they always have done In a crisis in the past,” For* tune said, “They have alwaye beert dependable for the Red Cress irt art amergency of this kind. "It le more necessary that contributions should be In money, as this will be more ,helpful in the present urgent need.” All efforts of the Red Cross irt Indiana were centered In storm relief work, directing the activities In Indiana and responding to appeals from national headquarters for assistance In meeting the mere serious conditions In southern Ilinois;. Governor Jackson issued a proclamation designating the Red Cress as official relief agency. An airplane piloted hy Lieut; Harry Mills of Dayton and R, H. Stewart and carrying 750 tubes of tetanus antbtexln, left herd ht 4:30 a. m. for St. Louis In response td (Turn to Page I©)

West Point in Lend The first half of the West Point- / La Porte game wan rather slow and uninteresting, with neither team showing to great advantage. West Point led at the half-way marw, 12 to 5. L* Porte missed a