Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1886 — DEVASTATION AND DEATH. [ARTICLE]

DEVASTATION AND DEATH.

St. Cloud, Sauk Eapids, and RiceV Station, Mmnl, Swept >y a fierce Cyclone. I. - . "'V,"'V. 'j, — l —“7“’ Thirty Persons Report«*<! Killed at the Two Former Towns, and Flftjr Others Injured. All the Inhabitants of Eice's Station Either Dead or Wounded—Euin in lowa Sections. 11 tat.TftnonSjgfittHri ’ Reports received here give meager details of a cyclone, the most kostructive that has appeared in tlie Northwest for years, which passed over Sauk Rapids and St Cloud this afternoon, carrying death to fully fifty people and destruction to three times that number of residences and other buildings. The day had opened balmy ns ever did a spring day, and ut noon the sun shone brightly. Soon after clouds began to jowor and the atmosphere to change from balmy to stifling. ‘About i o'clock a fatal black cloud ap»: peared apparently two or three miles to the southwest of the city and moving with great rapidity. It came 1n n northeasterly course and swept away everything in its track, which was some 600 yards wide. It lasted but for a few minutes, .but in these few niiiiuteTTt cAfiSed 1 destruction which, in the confusion and darkness_ that followed, cannot be told as yet. ’ In St. Cloud the havoc was the same. Among the structures wrecked are tlie Manitoba freight house; Sanborn’s flouring mill, Briggs <fc Co.’s hardware store, the Central Hotel, ami the Court House at Sauk Rapids. They all lie in splinters and level With the ground It is reported that twenty-five are killed at Sauk Rapids and as many more at St. Cloud, and that 120,in all are injured. The following are killed at St. Cloud: Nick Tineinann, a fanner; Mrs. Meisman, an old lady, and a little girl; a son, 4 pears old, of Bowerski; a son, 7 years old, of Frank Gcmskorffski; Mrs. Stein, a widow ; a son, 4 years old, of P. Waldorf; Shortridge, a young railroad man; Van Hoser, a railroad man ; two |wing children of Mrs. Cens; a baby of August The following were killed at Sauk Rapids: J. Berg, merchant, and two children; John Kinard, County Auditor; George Findlay, County Treasurer; two children of C. G. Wood, merchant; Abner St. Gyr; a child of P. Carpenter, Clerk of Court; President F.dgar Hill, of the GernranAmerican National Bank, Forty are missing and are thought to be buried in the debris. Freight cars on the Northern Pacific tracks were lifted from the ground and smashed to bits. The appearance of the cyolone, its course, and progress are told by the following graphic special from St. Cloud • A few minutes alter 4 o’clock, the skies becanie overcast by.a dark cloud, and a great black mass rose over the hills southwest of the city, and coming with terrible velocity toward the western outskirts in a direct line for the Manitoba freight yards. The clouds hung low and rolled over and over like smoke over a battlefield, and were accompanied by a loud roaring and cracking sound that resembled a conflagration in its fury. The cloud was funnel-shaped and the point dragged along the ground like the tail of a huge aerial beast lashing -everything that came in its path into atoms. Citizens had hardly time to flee to their cellars and seek other points of refuge before the whirlwind was on them, and the air was filled with flying boards, shingles, bricks, and other debris, that were strewn over the country and piled in promiscuous heaps. It came from the southeast and moved in a northeasterly direction until it reached the river, where its course was diverted, and it followed the river banks until it reached Sauk Bapids, where it diverged to the left, passing directly through the center of the town. The utm6st excitement prevailed. Women end children fled from their houses and rushed . aimlessly about in the midst of the daTk cloud of dust and an avalanche of boards and brick. Men lost their presence of mind and stood in silence and inactivity in the presence of the wind demon. It was hardly noticed before it was on the city in all its fury, and people were not warned of their danger before it vans upon - them, -and tbey-fell like grain before a reaper’s sickle. The portion of St. Cloud struck by the cyclone was the southwestern, and was the residence portion occupied by the laboring class of people, a majority of them being foreigners employed on the railroads. Their dwellings were lightbuilt houses, and became an easy prey to the monster that had so viciously pounced upon them. They were like cockle shells in the grip of the whirlwind, and were picked up and tossed in the air and rent into a thousand pieces and scattered to the four winds of heaven. The earth was plowed up in the line of the and the path over Vhich it passed, to a width of nearly a quarter of a mile, looks as though it Rad been upheaved by a .terrible volcanic «**#SSp>stbn. It had hardly begun its terrible work before it was finished, and the scene that greeted the eyes of those who had escaped its fury was one that caused the stoutest heart to sliudder. Cries and shrieks of wounded rent the air, and the ground was strewn with the bodies of the dead. Among them were stalwart men, weak women, and weaker children. Citizens almost to a man rushed to demolished districts, and, summoning physicians, began their work of rescueing those who were still living from beneath the piles of dirt and fallen buildings. Brainerd was promptly telegraphed to for medical assistance, and she immediately responded by sending a dozen physicians and surgeons by a.special train, but it was lata in the evening when they arrived on the scene. St. Paul and Minneapolis were also appealed to, and a special ear was sent out with twenty-three surgeons and physicians for the scene of the disaster. The scene on the streets after dark was impressive. Knots of men stood on the corners discussing the disaster, and speaking touchingly of their friends and acquaintances who -had either been killed or terribly wounded. On the grounds the scene was a.ghiistly one. The rain poured down in torrents, and hundreds of mejp. wandered over the ground, many of them carrying lanterns, searching for bodies among the ruins. The hotel lobbies were filled with excited citizens, many of whom yet suspected that some portion of their families or their friends had fallen victims to tho terrible disaster. Women, seemingly uneonscius of the rain that was failing, were in the streets, and, ignoring The glitters and turbid streams, glided througb the streets sobbing and moaning in their fright. Tlie scene defies description. Gov. Hubbard at once sent messages to the Mayors of all cities and large towns in the State, asking that steps be taken at once to secure money and things needed, and forward them as speedily as possible to Senator Buckman for the destitute. Brief dispatches have just been received, saving that between .forty and fifty bodies have been recovered from the ruins at St. Cloud, and the search not completed. The town presents a scene of the utmost desolation as seen by light, flickering lanterns, and the groans of the wounded and the lamentations of those who have lost relatives are heartrending in the extreme. Not until daylight will the full extent of the havoc be known. I The dead-were taken to the Little Giant engine house and stretched out on the floor, while the wounded were sent to St. Benedict Hospital, where they were promptly cared for by a corps of physicians *und nurses, among whom were several ladies Who had volunteered their services. There were twenty-eight wounded stretched out on cots in the various wards, and every facility of the hospital was tested to its utmost to fiUithe requirements. The scene in the hospital was heartrending. Men, women, and children lay in broken shapes, bathed in their own blood and faces blackened and grimy a’d arms and legs broken and scalps torn and bodies lacerated. ~ The scene at the engine house was more horrible. Eighteen lifeless bodies were stretohed on the floor in two rows, draped in sheets and blankets, while around and. among them moved men with lanterns uncovering faces, trying to recognize in the distorted faces some familiar line in which they might trace relationship. The Cyclone in lovya. fOmaha dispatch.] .The cyclone struck the town of .Coon Rapids, lowa, and completely demolished most of the place. One boy was killed and numerous persons were injured. Twenty-five houses, two churches, one schooltoise, and several l ouses were destroyed. A-freight train—except the locomotive —was blown from the track and demolished and the-contents ruined. The cvclone swept over Western lowa, doing considerable damage. It started about three miles east of Griswold, then passed north and slightly east, then going about- nine miles northeast of Atlantic, and passed two and a half miles eastof Brayton. The cyclone had the appearance of a funnel-snaied cloud. Southeast of Atlantic Away, and his hired man was badly injnred. John Kirk’s big stable, 300 feet long, was destroved, together with his house. In RentoA Township ten houses were totally destroyed and one woman fatally injured,. Near Brayton the dwellings of James Reynolds, William Briutner and Donald Brintnerwere destroyed, and also the Brintner school boos :. The pupils escaped, however, by running with the family into Brintner’s cave, .or cyclone cellar, they having seen the cloud coming. Mr. North graves, in that vicinity, was dangerously huit. Much stock has been kHled. Reports frem the cyclone are very meager so far, but it is beSeved that great damage hss been done and many lives lost. ■ v -