Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1908 — HAVOC IN NEW FORM [ARTICLE]

HAVOC IN NEW FORM

Cyclone and Rain Torrent Take Life and Wreck Property in the Southwest. FOUR KILLED AT ONE POINT Many Houses Also Are Demolished or Damaged by the Wind. Floods Threaten Further Devastation —Michigan Forest Fires Abate, but East They Threaten Destruction.

Clayton, N. M.. Oct. 20.—Four persons were killed near this town as the result a tornado and rain torrent Twenty* other persons were more or less injured, three of whom it Is believed will die. The dead are W. H. Haight and J. S. Fox and his wife and daughter. Among the Injured arc Mr. and Mrs W. 11. Bowen and their five children, Thomas Downs and John Byrne. The new Union County courthouse, which cost 40,000, was wrecked, and a score of bouses was demolished or torn from their foundations. Telephone and telegraph wires were blown away and miles of poles leveled. Clayton was In utter darkness after the tornado until daylight. The water system was also put out of commission by the storm, and the town Is without water. Severe In Other Sections. The persons killed were homesteaders residing several miles from Clayton. No one was killed In the town. The storm was severe in other sections. At Folsom, where nineteen persons were drowned last August, the Cimarron river rose to within a foot of high water mark, causing a panic among the people,' who fled In terror to the hills. It Is reported that many houses were wrecked mid much damage done to outlying places inhabited by homesteaders. Two Tornadoes Hit This Town.'

Sharon Springs, Kan., Oct. 20.—Two separate tornadoes struck Sharon Springs and completely demolished three residences and Injured a dozen people. It is thought that one will die. The tornadoes were about two hundred feet wide and traveled north. Hit By a Hain Torrent. Lamar, Colo., Oct. 20. —A rain torrent struck this city, registering a fall of nearly four Inches of rain. Tire Arkansas river, already a torrent. Is rising rapidly, nnd the large bridge over this stream Is momentarily In danger of being swept away. The approaches are already washed out and the water Is surging a mile out of Its banks on either side of the river. All of the Irrigating systems north of the river are breaking and flooding valuable farm lands. Most of the croj>s, however, are past danger, and the loss will not be great. Train service is paralyzed.

HAVOC BY FOREST FIRES. Abates in Michigan But Flames Rage Furiously in the East. Alpena, Mich., Oct. 20. Reports are received from all points north of here which were In peril from the forest fires to the effect that the danger seems to be largely over. Four of the seven bodies found between Rogers and Metz have been identified as those of the wife and three children of Herman Erke, whose cremation in a logging camp was reported. A young man named Walters, who was caught by the fire near Erke's camp, and who escaped death* only by lying in a little ditch, is almost crazed by his sufferings and the horrors he endured. Detroit. Oct. 20.—Cash subscriptions here for forest fire victims th northern Michigan, total $1,950. In addition there has been- forwarded to the fire district from here two carloads of oats, two cars of baled hny and two cars of clothing and bedding and 135 stoves. Albany. N. Y., Ovt. 20.—Forest tires are raging fiercely in this state and threaten to assume largr proportions than at any time this year, according to reports received from the Adirondack#. Rain is badly needed, but the most dangerous element is the higli wind which is prevailing. The fires in the vicinity of Lake Placid are very threatening. A message received from Lake Placid says that the fire on Sad delback mountain is threatening the entire side of the lake. An appeal for help was received from Dannemora, where a fire is raging about two miles from Clinton prison. North Adams, Mass.. Oct. 20.—-The Berkshire mountain region In western Massachusetts and the foothills of the Green mountain range tn southern Vermont are covered with a thick smoke pall from fires which have burned over hundreds of acres of timber land. Softie of the fires are assuming dangerous proportions. The most serious forest fire reported Is east of Bennington. Vt., where hundreds of square miles of practically unbroken woodland art' threatened by a blaze. Dunkirk. N. Y.. Oct. 20.—Forest fires broke out with renewed fury in Chautauqua and Allegany comities and over the Pennsylvania line. The smoke be-, came so dense that schools were closed and merchants did business by artificial light.

MICHIGAN’S FOREST-FIRE DEAD Revised List is Presented—Some Re- « ported Dead are Alive. May City, Mich., Oct. 20.—A dispatch to the Bay Citv Tribune from a staff

correspondent at Alpena says: “The verified known death list resulting from the forest fires In Prtsqud laie and Alpena counties stands at flirtyone, with sevfral people still reported missing and a growing probability of severe loss of life in northern Pulawski and Krakow townships in Presque Isle county, the first Indication of which came with the reporting of six dead bodies In Pulawskl, including those of Mrs. Herman Erke and children. Two woodsmen have found the skeleton of Mrs. William D. Roke, living near Ocqueoc. "At least sixty families were living near the shore of Lake Huron In the northern half of Pulawskl and Krakow townships and practically nothing has been heard from them since the fires. At Grand Lake a farmer and wife and four children are known to have taken refuge in a boat and nothing has been heard from them since. A dozen school children, sent home by teachers, have not been heard from. Near Posen, Mr. and Mrs. Hines are still missing. “Of those previously reported killed, the following were found in the woods or at their friends’ homes: John Konieezny. who was reported dead with his wife and children In the gondola car at Metz: three Nowicki children and Mary Nowicki, their aunt; Anthony Wagner, Mrs. Anthony Wagner. Mrs. Charles Llebke, Mr. and Mrs. Pacbinski, and five of the Dust chll dren, only one of the latter being killed. ,

“Following is a revised list of the dead victims of the forest fires: William Barrett, brakeman, and Arthur Lee, fireman. Alpena: Mrs. John Konleczny and three children: Mrs. George Cicero and two chlldren£_Mrs. Emma Hardies and three children: John Nowicki and wife; Henry Kempf, wife and two children: Robert Wagner; Dust girl, fljree-years-old; Mrs. Anna Sentella and four children. Metz: Mrs. John llezerskl and three children, Rogers: Rose Sea vert. Wolf Creek; Mrs. Tillie Erke and four children; John Samp. Pulawskl: Leon Bush. Posen; Mrs. William Rose. Ocqueoc; unidentified man; unidentified body, "believed to be a child, found in burned gondola car nt Metz. • At Metz. Mrs. Fred Wagner Is still living, though the physician who visited her declares that it Is a miracle that life still exists in her charred body. Both feet are burned off. and almost her entire body Is cooked brown. She is beyond recovery. Her husband Is a raving maniac.