20
THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MAflCH 30, 1913.
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In the Traok of the Tornado
" .v- ...
Lnfce Street, Between Twenty-third nnil Twenty-fourth 8trectn
fc'aruam from Korty-flrst to Forty-second
three were killed, deorrfe J. Duncun, Miss
Mabel McUrlde and tho venerable A. J.
Peck, and a fourth, Itpy Talbot, barely
escaped, coming out with revere, though
not mortal, Injuriei.
Ccllnm Mniinlit for Nnfetr.
People generally, where possible, rushed
to cellars and basements for safety and,
as the facta show, the vast majority of
tliotn did not go lit vain, though scores
did.
Next to the Iocs of life and homes, the
destruction of shado trees was disheart
ening. Beautiful maples, elms, oaks and
others by the score were destroyed, some
whipped Into shreds, some torn from their
sockets' by the roots and others badly
disfigured. While such devastation was
common all along the path of the storm, 1
It was most noticeable, perhaps, In
Semis park, where thu trees In their pris
tine glory so graciously adorned that ,
picturesque section. It has been the cur I
rent comment that it will he 'years bo
fore these old frlotids will tin replaced, i
If they ever are.
Ili-Ht'uers Work .Mwlit.
The public utilities, especially elcctrla
light and power, were badly smitten by
the storm. Unfits went out and strcot
enrs stopped in the very spots where tho
tornado overtook them. Alittiv fires wero
caused by overturning stoves or furnaces
or gas lights and the firemen had a
strenuous night of It, vlelng with the
policemen and others In th work of
rescue and salvage. All night long: men
oarrylng lanterns could be seen search
Ing ruins for missing men, women and chil
dren, and now and then strode solemnly
by four men In khaki uniform bearing a
stretcher, on which lay a dend or dying,
In the Track of the Tor nado
,
McBrldo Homo at Forty-Second nnd Farnam
(Continued from Page One.)
and Iron went down aa If It had been a,
fragile paling fence,
Now', over the hills to beautiful Ilcmls
park lufche the Infuriated demon, lick
ing up telephone and tclogrsph and elcc
trla ijght polos a It goes, scattering h
feW more structures, uprooting trees and
shooting them In some cases block
away) skirting the vast building of Sacred
Iftart convent, Thirty-sixth and Hurt,
and thrusting a glance blow sldewlso ut
the residence of the Ut. itov. Hlohard
Seanrfell, Catholic bishop, disfiguring the
largo' new, haU-oomptettd home of Louis
flash and demolishing others nearby,
I.au&h at Wooded Hollow,
Here once more It reached u snurp de
cllna and takes the grade Into lleuiis
park like the winning auto On the last
lap Of the speedway. Here It truly
'coilrfl over the land," and "ploughs
up thft whole deep from the lowest bot
tom" for hot a spot of iiemls park seems
tO havVbeeft missed. U borrows Into tho
hollow, and rolls "vast billows" of trots
and earth and furniture from Cuming
street hollies' over against the north side
slope.
Un might Imagine that to great a de
pression hi the trce-toitlpled lowlands of
Bcmla park would break the velocity ol
the wind, but ho would not imagine ,t
after gasing upon the sad ruin of thu
ofica handsome homes that densely
crowded upon the hills of this cholse
residential' district. There they lay an
Indliorlmlnato mass of material Inter
mingled with the shattered trunks and
limb of the splendid old trees that made
Ilrfnls park as pretty and Inviting a
p6t for h home as ever the eye of hu
artlsi feasted upon, '
A If gathering new Impetus the funnel
cloud oh scaling the Mill back at Fortieth
and Farnam streets cama hurtling north
with a queer quivering of the eastward
wing, wrought, It seemed, to nn Insati
able fury, no now It rears its stblo head
over the Ilcmls hills and up tho steep
Incline of tho old Cretghton farm abut
ting on Thirty-third street and extend
ing east.
WreoUnae on the Lowland.
Aha, from the summit of this last le
vatlon It looks down upon Its comploteat
conquest, the low plateau to the northl
Speed on. thou wanton purveyor of
fleath, speed on! Kecd thy ravishing
Passion upon the precious lives of menl
Tear thy way lo thent through this dense
forest of hometL built by their frugality
ind skill! Snatcn them from each other
In the quiet of an Easier Sunday's oom
munlon and regal? thyself In their bloodl
Attd eo It did. It passed down Parker
iild Dlondo streets eastward to Twenty
fourth street, hero expanding the width
of It path to about six blocks and as
far north as take street It wrought Us
worst devastation. It took house aftr
house and converted It Into kindling
wood, strewing streets with a mass of
rubblih and splinters, which but a few
seconds before composed dwellings for
hundreds. And In these somber ruins
were to be found the largest toll of vic
tims, dead, dying or badly Injured.
Apparently Split Twice.
Home descriptions of the cloud Indlcato
that It separated twice, once at Forty-
eighth and Leavenworth streets, when a
spur took down the Belt line, and again
on North Twenty-fourth street, the more
destructive part moving along Lake, Ohio,
Maple, Locust and Tilnney streets until
It crossed the river on the east. These
apparent separations must have been the
widening of the path, as, for Instance, In
the vicinity of l"tirtleth and Farnam
streets, when, at the time It veered east
ward, the western extremity was at
Hsunders school on Forty-first and Cass
streets and the eastern away over near
Thlrtr-slxlh street and further north,
It was no respecter of persons or
things, and besides making a clean awtep
most of the way, shook out windows and
some doors blocks dlstnnt from Its regu
lar line of travel. Wherever buildings
withstood Its ravages at all, they were.
mostly, the brick or stone structures. As
a rule the frame simply crumbled up like
egg shells, no matter how well built. One
Illustration of the relative resist one of
a frame and brlok house under similar
circumstances Is found on Thirty-eighth
avenue near Farnam, where a two-story
frame, or the crushed rtmna&U of It, lie
Hurled attnst a brick, comparatively
free from serious damage. Of coarse.
there It room her for a freak of the
storm also.
Centers of Chief Dssuuj.
The centers of chief damar
around the Fortieth and Farnam section
from Fortieth to Forty-seoond and from
the Child Baring Institute on Howard
north to Dodgsi In Bml park and for
radius of a few block around Twenty
fourth and Lakt. Of court, the damage
don the scores ot most costly dwellings
nn Thirty-ninth. Thirty-! ghth and
Thirty-sixth, from Farnam to a tuning,
was exUnstr, chUfly boauM of th
jrr4 valuta of th bandings, but the
density of destruction, whit tremendous
and eompUU In spots rn hro, wm not
(o b compared with (b devastation In
Uemls park, alone Cuming street and
ovtr In th north bottoms, war fat
whot block hotuo wrfa dimply UvaUd,
Here, too, wo th BreuUi U of lif.
In JdUwIld halL tun Vortn Twenty
fourth, tho largest single body of Uvea
wus lost, thirteen In all. This was an
old two-story brick struoturo, not far
from l.ako street, owned and patronized
by colored men. Home Wore In It playing
pool, othors for rofJKo from the storm,
but most ot them woro burled In tho base
ment when the floors fell In mid the walla
out and water filled up the cellar
t
Its Work Among: I'oor.
Here, also, on this north side, was tho
greatest amount ot slifierlAg, for the ma
jority of liOmtis belongud to or Were occu
pied hy poor families, n large portion of
thorn negroM. To some It wn a com
plrte affaaement of 11 lifetime's savin
and nculn destitution. Many of tho
people, wago earners, white and colore
wero buying modest liomea on thp I
atallmeht or building loan plan nnd lo
their lioinus ns well ns their furnltur
consequently were turned out nrtrlff Wit
nothing but tho clothing upon their ba l
nnd, .ns the death list shows, all too man
came nlit even minus their lives. Ont
whole family, a father, mother and flvi
llttlo ones-the Nathan Krlnrky family
wns completely Wiped out.
It was nt first rrporlnd that nnotlii
thirteen men and wotnerr went down t
death In thn Diamond moving" plcturi
theater On Lake street, near Twefit)
fourth, where oho nugro escaped after six
hours of confinement In tho ruins, ullv
and well. But time proved that ho deaths
occurred here.
Bevoral wero kilted within a radius ot 1
three block ot the fatal Fortieth aim
Farnam' corner. On tho south sldu of
Scono at Twenty-fifth nnd Grant
or injured victim of the vicious wind.
Boldiers from the federal forts were
quickly on hand with their ambulances
and did heroic service. So along this
same lino did civilians, many ot them
owning autoa putting In the whole night
at this humane task.
Hospitals were thrown open and filled
with malned sufferers. Physicians and
nurses had a busy time of It. Private
homes in many cases were converted Into
havens of refuge. Names were not asked;
the only requirement for admission was
to be Injured or homeless.
Monday .Hortilnir'a Atvnkenlna.
The city officials, led by Mayor Dahl
man, Pollco Commissioner Ryder, the
other city commissioners, Chief Of Police
Dunn, Fire Chtff Salter and others, were
quick to respond to the call for help and
put In, most ot them, a ceaseless night
of toll, laying Immediately plans for the
Important relief work to be oarried on
indefinitely.
The city awoke, a cities usually do un
der such circumstances, stupefied by the
appalling disaster, not yet prepared fully
to comprehend or appreciate what had
happened. The morning was still cold
and this long lane of devastation pre
sented a bleak and forbidding spectacle,
lndeod.
Monday became largely A holiday,
thought not formally so. People men,
women and children tramped, trampod,
tramped all day long over every vestige
of the waste places, though hot all simply
In curiosity, for over and always there
was the helping hond outstretched. V f fl
out delay the work of restoration really
began In tho efforts to clear away debris.
Tho city set large numbers of laborers
to work and private Individuals looked
out for their own and others, but a day
of ever eo strenuous toll made but little '
Impression upon tho twisted ruins.
Heller Work Organised.
Bright and early Governor Morehead,
came up from Lincoln, made n tour of
the ruined districts, repaired to his hotel
appalled at the magnllnde of the disaster
to reflect upon what to do. Before leav- '
lug Lincoln he had ordered out four com
panies of tho Btato mllltla and soon he
augmented the forces to 600 troops. Mar
tial law was declared throughout the
x'ortc of destruction, lines stretched and
s:)iUfclB placed in charge.
At midnight Police Commissioner Ryder
had devised a sy'stem of "passes" to be
us6d In case of necessity in getting
through the lines and these were printed
and ready for distribution at daybreak.
The city police and officials co-operated
with the young men of the National
CSUard and soon the system ot patrol was
established on a. systematic basts.
Tho big task now was relief to the
stricken. Hundreds) ot people had to be
housed and fed and clothed and . that
would require vast sums of money, stores
of provisions and raiment, and the city
bent to as It it had been schooled in the
facilities of such a service.
Aj.cltlzena relief committed was at once
formod of Police Commissioner Ryder, T,
(Continued on Page Three.) ,
im
Crowd at Idlowlld Hall, Beforo Lines Wero Stretched, Vlewinit Recovery of Bodies
Removing Debris at Twenty-eighth and Parker Streets
National Fidelity & Casualty Company
National Fidelity Casualty Building,
OMAHA, "NEB.
Health,
Surety
Accident,
Fidelity,
Bonds,
Plate Glass,
Burglary,
Liability.
It shouldn't take an Omahn cyclone to con
vince jrou of tho hazard of every day life and the
Importance of carrying accident Insurance.
m1bbHIHI
I rjjjjBjMlBp The Largest Measure
ISBWMMBBMjH of Protection for H