Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 June 1899 — FIERCE WIND STORM KILLS. [ARTICLE]

FIERCE WIND STORM KILLS.

Tornado Spreads Death and Ruin in lowa and Nebraska. Four persons were killed, one fatally injured and several others seriously hurt by a tornado which swept over a part of Dakota County, Nebraska, and Woodbury County, lowa, late Sunday afternoon. The storm, after demolishing several houses in the outskirts of Salix, lowa, passed on to the southwest, uprooting, trees and laying waste all in its path. This is the sixth tornado which has visited that section since winter. It missed the thickly settled portion of Salix by only a few hundred feet. As it was, debris from the wrecked buildings was scattered through the town, adding to the consternation which the approach of the funnel-shaped cloud spread among the residents. The Malloy family was at supper when the cloud was first seen and Dick Malloy told his parents to go to the cellar. He ran to the home of Mrs. Hassell. a widow, across the road, to warn her and her seven children. He took them to the cellar a moment before their house was whirled away and all escaped injury. He had to hold one boy by the legs as he was being drawn up by the suction of the wind. The members of the Malloy family only remained in the cellar about five minutes, the father suggesting that the cloud meant nothing more serious than a rain. All came up and in an instant the house was demolished and four of the family ' killed. The storm cloud, which formed in Nebraska, crossed the river just opposite Salix about 5:30 o’clock, when nearly all the townspeople were on their porches. The black funnel seemed headed directly for the little city and the inhabitants were panic-stricken. Many rushed into their homes and hid in the corners of the cellars. Other* fled to the open fields, where they lay prone upon the earth awaiting the furious wind. In a few minutes the rain began to fall, but the cloud passed south of the town, where four houses were laid in ruins, Homer, Neb., a revival tent was bio® over