Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1915 — REMINGTON HIT BY BIG STORM [ARTICLE]

REMINGTON HIT BY BIG STORM

Houses, Barns, Outbuildingsand Shade Trees Wrecked. DAMAGE WILL REAGH $50,000 Telephone and Electric Light Systems Put Out of Business and thtj Streets Blockaded by Uprooted Trees—’Worst Wind Storm Ever Known There. The big rain storm which struck Rensselaer shortly after 6 o’clock Saturday evening and Which was confined here to a rainfall of 1 4-5 inches, as shown by the government gauge at St. Joseph college, while accompanied by some hail and a great deal of lightning here, was very severe in some other sections, and it is estimated that damage from wind in northern Indiana will reach a half million dollars, Allen county alone, it is said, suffering a $200,000 loss. ( In this immediate locality, Remington was the worst sufferer, and every street in the west half of that town was blockaded by broken and uprooted trees, outbuildings and other debris. Not including the damage done to shade and ornamental trees, it is probable that $50,000 would scarcely repair all the damage done in the south part of Jasper county. The writer visited Remington Sunday and found still a few streets that had not been cleared sufficiently for passage. Shade trees had been uprooted and broken down until every street west of Ohio street was blockaded. Men had worked all forenoon in clearing passage w r ays, and it was possible to get through most of the streets by middle afternoon. We are unable to give the damage to buildings in Remington in detail, but following are a few of the buildings wrecked: West grain elevator, smokestack blown down, cribs overturned and other damage done; Timothy Ponto’s barn just across the street north of the lumber yards, the former E. T. Harris place, completely wrecked; W. H. Townsend’s barn on Main street, moved off the foundation and slammed up against the house; St. Joseph Catholic church, chimneys on both the north and south sides blown down and smashed in the slate roof and rafters on each Side, while the cross on the front ■was blown over and hung by a shred; the tin roofs on the west half of the Durand block, torn off, rolled Up in huge rolls and that over the Townsend storeroom carried over against the Panhandle depot, while that over Jake Hensler’s grocery and meat market in the south corner room, was carried over across the railroad and struck the front of C. H. Peck’s department store, the grocery department, crashing in the entire large glass front with the window and door frames; Windows were also broken out by flying debris in the upstairs rooms over the Bank of Remington, and many glass were broken by hail and debris in other parts of the town; the old tile factory building t at the southwest cor-

ner of town, was entirely blown away; the barns of W. E. Culp and Mrs. Garrison on Main street,- were also completely wrecked; quite a number of the shade trees in the park were blown down and ruineo and the damage to shade and ornamental trees all over the town, was very great. The most complete wreck seen was out at the old Durand farm, about a'mile west of Remington. Here the Tenant house occupied by Frank Newbold was completely demolished, not a timber being left standing. Mrs. Newbold and her two children, aged 2 and 3 years, were in the house at the time and how they escaped being killed is a miracle. Some of the household furniture held the timbers from off them, however, and they escaped unhurt. One of the children was not found for some little time after the storm, and it was feared that it had been killed. It was later found, unharmed, lying on h shelf of a bookcase which held the timbers from off it. The house was the most complete wreck one almost ever saw. This farm is at present owned by an Illinois man and is oc-

cupied by Napoleon Marcott as tenant. Newbold was employed by Mr. Marcott as a hired hand, and occupied the tenant house a few hundred yards west of the farm house proper. The big red barn on this farm, one of the largest and best barns in Jasper county, was completely blown away. Several horses were in the barn at the time but they escaped without injury. The barn had lately been re-covered with a new galvanized iron roof,, and some of the sheets of this roofing were carried perhaps a mile, clear over the Panhandle railroad tracks, to the southeast, and were scattered all over the fields and along the roadside. Apparantly the most severe force of the wind had struck this place. The farm house was also moved and twisted out of shape, while scores -Q.t-.aijp.le trees on the south were uprooted and many of the telephone poles along the Remington-Good-land road, south of the farm, broken down. Trees were also uprooted in the yard of the former C. G. Austin farm, immediately south of 'the Durand farm, and the fine grove at Fred Burger's farm, a short-distance east, was nearly annihilated. There are not many silos over in that vicinity, but gome of these, as well as corn cribs and- other outbuildings in the path of the storm all through that section, were -wrecked. The storm came from the northwest, and considerable damage is reported over in about Morocco and Alt. Ayr, where- several barns am. outbuildings were wrecked, telephone poles blown down and many trees uprooted/

At Remington the path of the wind storm seemed to be about a mile wide, and the first damage noD efl 'is at the Jordan farm just south of Fountain Park, where the barn was completely wrecked. From rhe north edge of Remington extending on south of the town for some distance the most severe force of the wind was felt. There was considerable hail with the storm and many window glass were broken out by the hailstones being driven through them. The hurricane lasted perhaps '■> minutes. Some of the losers from damage done by the storm are partly protected by wind storm insurance, it being understood that the damage at the Durand farm is partly covered by such insurance also. W. H. Townsend, the' Remington druggist, the roof of whose building which; is occupied by a tenant, was taken off by the storm, was badly hurt Sunday; while attempting to make some temporary repairs to protect his building. He seems to have •been on a ladder in the hall above and fell to the floor, a distance of perhaps twelve feet or more, and was picked up in an unconscious condition. It was thought Sunday that his injuries might prove fatal. The telephone and electric light wires were put entirely out of business, at Remington and the 101 l lines in., several other parts of the county. At Remington some boxcars were blown across some, of the street crossings, it is reported. In the above account of the damage done at Remington, we only give the more serious as we saw it and as it was reported to us Sunday afternoon. Trees wereuprooted all along the Goodland road leading out of Remington and many telephones poles were broken off. It is also reported that-considerable damage was done to shade and fruit trees in the north part of Goodland.

In west and north of Rensselaer, especially in north Barkley and North Union, considerable damage was done to windmills, silos and corn cribs, while some barns and other buildings were unroofed. Out at Dr. 1 Jansson's place in Newton tp,. the’ barn was unroofed arid the silo blown down: Giis and Reuben Yeoman of Newton ip., are also said to have had their silos demolished; John Eger had two silos blown over in Barkley tp., and the silos on the Ed Oliver and H. J. Dexter’s farms were also- damaged: on G. E. Murray’s farm, the cribs were unroofed. Many others suffered similiar damage, but we have not learned the extent oT same. Of the damage done by lightning, the only case of stock killed that has been reported at this writing, was that at Frank Hill’s place in Jordan tp., where three steers and one hog were killed. Report was current here Sunday that a score or more people had been killed at Morocco, and that a few had been killed at Remington. This report was without any foundation. One or two people were Injured at Morocco where considerable damage was done to barns and outbuildings, but no one was killed or really -seriously hurt.