Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1902 — LIVES LOST IN STORM. [ARTICLE]

LIVES LOST IN STORM.

DESTRUCTIVE WINDS PREVAIL IN MISSOURI VALLEY. Three Dead in Joplin, Mo.—One Killed at Omaha, and Several Near-By Town* Report’ Damage—The Crop* Are in Danger, f Loss of life and destruction of property are reported from many points in the Missouri valley as the result of severe windstorms. The most serious results were at Joplin, Mo., where at least three persons were killed and several were fatally injured. About fifty houses, most of them frame structures, and much valuable mining property were blown down, and the property loss probably will exceed-$300,-000. Sweeps Narrow Path. The worst havoc wrought by the storm was in a district about four blocks wide and a mile long en the western limits of the city. There is scarcely a building in the district that was not damaged. There were many remarkable escapes. A 2-year-old baby of Mrs. Nellie Sullivan was blown fifty yards from the house into a pond, and was there rescued from drowning through the heroism of a 7-year-old brother, who was also injured in the storm. One room of the residence of S. D. Brower, on Ivy street, was also blown away. One of his young sons was blown three blocks, but only slightly hurt. The little home of Bidwell Hunter on the Seventh street road was destroyed. The skulls of Hunter, his wife and his mother-in-law, Marian Hicks, were fractured, and there is no hope for any of them. Their 2-year-old child, Esther, was so badly injured that she died soon after the storm. Reports from Galena, Kan., and Webb City and Carterville, Mo., Indicate great damage. Dwellings were damaged and stores suffered heavy damage from broken plate glass and floods. At Sedalia many trees were blown down, as were the smokestacks of a brewery, an ice plant and the gas works. Small houses were shifted from their foundations and unroofed and much other damage was done. Fatality in Omaha. At Omaha the storm -was very severe. Robert Maxwell, a boy, was struck by a flying sidewalk on Military avenue and killed. Former Mayor George P. Bemis was struck by a flying sign at Eighteenth and Farnam streets and sustained a broken leg and was otherwise Injured. Lawrence Taggert was struck on the head by a broken billboard and seriously injured.>The storm was at its height as the stores were closing and a great many persons were on the streets. A dozen plate glass windows in downtown stores were blown in and a score of roofs were carried away. Small buildings in the outskirts of the city were destroyed and several barns were demolished. A straightaway wind, reaching at times a velocity of sixty miles an hour, prevailed at Lincoln throughout the afternoon and into the night. Only minor damage was done. Felt in lowa. A very heavy rain, which turned to snow, fell over lowa. Jefferson, Fonda, Storm Lake and other points report wind with a velocity of sixty-five miles an hour. A cloudburst occurred at Mingo, water running eighteen inches deep in the street. Telegraph wires were prostrated. A fierce north wind, carrying clouds of dust and low temperature blew in Kansas all afternoon. The wheat fields drifted badly. The effect on all growing crops was unfavorable, but as the wind was cool no particular damage was done. The wind blew a hurricane all day over eastern Oklahoma, and the thermometer dropped 20 degrees. A norther carrying clouds of dust drove a blinding storm that was the most destructive In years. Losse* in Illinois. At Bloomington, 111., the storm amounted almost to a tornado. Many buildings were damaged and wires torn down. Live electric wires killed a number of carriage horses. A heavy electrical shower followed the wind, aggregating two inches of water for the day. Reports from central Illinois show that the storm was widespread. The steadier Spread Eagle could not be managed in the high wind and, missing her landing at Alton, crashed into the gospel steamer Magiddo, which was lying at the levee, and precipitating a panic aboard the latter vessel. No great damage was done either boat.