The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, June 20, 1912, Page 1

VOL. XXXIV. 26 DIE IN CYCLONE THAT SWEEPS ACROSS NORTHERN PART BATES COUNTY Many are Injured—Hundreds of Head of Live Stock are Killed. Property Loss Over $100,000 Twenty-six people were killed and fifty injured in Bates county Sat- urday evening between six and seven o’clock when a cyclone swept across the northern part of the county leav- ing death and destruction in its wake. Twenty-six persons are known to be dead in this county, more than fif- ty injured, six or eight of whom may die, hundreds are homeless, and thou- sands and thousandsof dollars’ worth of property and live stock destroyed. The storm in Missouri tore its way through Bates county and parts of Johnson and Henry counties. A cyclone hit the earth near La- cygne, Kans., and increased in fury as it swept northeast into Bates coun- ty, killing whole familes until its force was expended five miles northeast of Drexel, Mo. Women and children were its chief victims, and these, together with the bodies of men, were found in remote cornfields and pastures, often far from the cyclone’s path. The dead and injured are: Merwin. Dead: Henry Cameron, farmer, 38 years | old. Mrs. Henry Cameron. Maude Cameron, 12. Chester Cameron, 2. An infant baby son of Cameron. W. H. Alexander. Mrs. Oscar Alexander, 23. Oscar Alexander. Morris Alexander, 3. James Alexander, 2. Fred Groves, 28. Gibb Groves, 25. Mrs. Frank Cory, 50. Mrs. Albert Cory of Kansas City, 20. Mrs. George Reid, 50. Miss Lucy Cox, 18. W. M. Todd, 38. Two unidentifed persons near Mer- win. Among the most seriously injured: Mrs. W. M. Tucker, two ribs brok- en. Glen Chambers, both arms broken. Nail Corey, leg and arm broken. Miss Piney Todd, internal injuries and badly lacerated face. Mrs. P. H. Hainsell, sister of W. M. Todd, who was killed. Mr. Becksey. George Panos. George Trougers. Twenty-one Greek laborers. Creighton. Dead: Mrs. J. L. Parker. Gerald Stevens. : | Vera Stevens, 15. An unidentified child. | Adrian. | | Dead: | 5 ' Feathers were blown from chickens H. M. Howe. Mrs. Joseph Johnson, 80. Mrs. E. M. Bice. Injured: Mrs. Robt. Kizer and son. Dr. Tuttle Dan Yates. | a hospital in a special train. killed were broken. the Fidelity Trust Co. in Kansas City, | the barnyards. | The Alexander home was swept away. ; The Cameron baby’s body was blown | K. H. Penley. Joe Cope. Hugh Howe. Kim Howe and sister. | The Storm at Merwin. | three miles. 'Fred Groves were found half a mile work train, with fifty Greek work- men aboard, half of whom were so badly injured that they were taken to West of Merwin the brick house of Marion Stitt was destroyed. At the Corey home the storm was merciless. The legs of two women Albert Corey, héad bookkeeper for was in Drexel, and escaped with his wife and three children. He had come Saturday afternoon to visit his father. The others went on to the Corey farm, but he stayed in the village to see an uncle. His wife and children and his relatives had just reached the farm house when the storm broke, killing his wife and mother. Mrs. Albert Corey was Miss Stoner, of Perry, Ill., where all formerly lived. House Scattered Over Two Acres. A big brick residence near Drexel, in which lived two families of seven persons, was scattered over two acres, but no one was injured. Twelve houses were destroyed at Prairieview Church, east of Drexel. The handle of a pitchfork liad been | stuck in the stump of an oak tree in the Corey neighborhood. The iron prongs were twisted by the storm. whose bodies by hundreds bestrewed The path of the storm when it hit within half a mile of Merwin, was half a mile wide and five miles long. The bodies of Gib and from where their home stood. The homes of Charles Garnes, Jas. Tine, John Bennett, Silas Buth, Mrs, At Merwin the tornado blew from ; Dade, Lester Gode the track a Kansas City Southern| were swept away. ther, stripped of their clothing, standing a hundred yards down the road from the front gate. and John Weir witand Dress Sensations Big Reduction on New Goods Right when you need them. This offer is really exceptional—quality. Our newest and most up-to-date garments have been placed on sale. 25 white serge suits and dresses, worth $15 to $25, now on sale at YZ Regular Price New Linen Dusters. styles, special $2.50 to $5 This season’s smartest New Fancy Parasols, large variety to select from, special from 98c to $4 100 pairs ladies’ oxfords, broken sizes, uel L $1.50 evy Mercantile Co, worth up to $3, at per pair Sane outbuildings aid ofshaide were cleaned away. The last freak of the storm in Bates County, when it destroyed the Gal- lowap home and scattered its timbers, was to leave the Galloway family, fa- mother and three children, From Merwin the storm jumped toa point near Adrign, and then swept across Southern Johnson and North- ern Henry counties. Losses Near Adrian. The homes of O. C. Johnson, Jas. Addleman, Robt. Kizer, H. L. Wright, F. P. Lankford, Dr. Tuttle, Lewis Tuttle, E. M. Bice, Geo. Benstead, Bud Ficklin, Joe. Brown, F: M. Gil- pin, Ed. Sliffe, H. H. Penley, Joe Cope, W. H. Dunn. H. M. Howe, Jessie Smith Farm. The Mingo school house was totally destroyed. Barns, outbuildings, haysheds and orchards, were torn to pieces. It is impossible to estimate the loss of live | stock. Left Desolation in Path. Sheriff Bullock drove along the/ path of the storm near Adrian early Sunday morning, and his account .of the scenes gives some idea of the ir-) resistable power of the storm. “The desolation left by the cyclone} beggars description,” said the sheriff. “One must see for himself to fully) comprehend the complete devastation | | Where once handsome! .) . wrought. homes, great barns, vast haysheds | and granaries stood, now remains | only heaps of boards Eu sca ay ti debris. Twisted and machinery, household fuenituves a most unrecognizable, and bed cloth- ing torn and soiled, tell a story of de- stroyed and desolated homes. Whole sides of meat, hams and shoulders, and provisions of all kinds were scat- ; tered broadcast along the path of the storm. “The loss of live stock will amount to thousands of dollars and it is most impossible to estimate the value of the animals maimed and_ killed. | Near the Billy Dunn place in a space not more than a quarter of a quarter of a mile were found 150head of dead Hogs were found dead with timbers | driven entirely through their bodies | jorcrushed by falling debris. Near | the George Benstead farm we came © (upon a fine cow alive with a scant-, Hing driven through her side, the heavy timber still sticking in the ‘body of the poor beast. Her we | promptly killed to end her agonies. “All along our route we found | |chickens and other fowls dead, and | tho’ remarkable as it may seem, many | of the chickens were as devoid of | by a professional picker.’’ “A fine large draft stallion belong- ing on the Howe farm, was picked up, carried across Elk Fork creek and barn. He was stillalive when found. A horse on the Kizer farm was blown from the barn and found dead aquar- ter of a mile away.”’ “The ‘freaks’ of the storm were many, but the most marvelous sight of it all to me was at the Brown place where wheat straws were driven into pine boards, an inch in thickness. In several places along the route corru- gated iron roofing was wrapped com- pletely around telephone polesas tho’ by gigantic hands, and at the Ben- stead farm a heavy 2x10 burr oak plank was planted upright in the earth so firmly that it was impossible for a strong man to loosen it. It must have been driven into the ground to a depth of 5 or 6 feet,” “We found uprooted hedge trees in the roads and meadows, dropped by the storm far from any hedge, and aniron pump, piping and all was pulled from a well and carried a dis- tance of 300 feet. On the Bice farm a wagon was torn to pieces, and on the rear axle, when found, one wheel was completely rimmed out and de- al- |g animals, and many others crippled. y | who feathers as if they had been stripped dropped some 250 yards from the| the fire place on the first floor was found upom the ruins of the second floor. A clock which was sitting up- ona shelf im this house when the storm strwek, was found setting up- right im the ruins apparently intact although it had stopped at 6:35. The tree tops and telephone wires along the storm’s route are grotesque- ly decorated with clothing, feather beds, sofz pillows and rags of all de- “About a quarter of a mile south- west of the Benstead farm, the cy- clone, which was traveling ina north- easternly direction, developed into two distinet storms, one going almost due east striking the Bice place which it destroyed; the other continuing northeast to the Benstead place where the debris of the destroyed buildings were carried in a circle to the south- west, this section afterward turning to the southeast about half a quarter where the clouds again joined, and heading again to the northeast de- stroyed the Ficklin farm.”’ “Parties who watched the progress of the $1 ve told me that al- though it iied and twisted with | great velo traveled .compara- tively een in time might ij have | asily out-run.’ slow, FOSTER. | Lore don t We are | 1 Wele! visited with Saturday and/ visitors the home of Mrs. elk it Sun- r son stof town. the ice ristian church The proceeds was a busi- Friday. Sam good sized ved to Hume. nd wife, Dr. r to Hume ar’s auto. and Fri- y moved from tothe Mrs. A, south Foster. Do see t ed home to Livingston, poorly the past lite week. L s of Oklahoma, is | visiting | s, Mr. and Mrs. J. |L. Bell. Mr jlett Tu | her daug’ | Shelton ret nd little grandson 3 s City Cora Marks. tt, He ed from the city Mon- jday, where they had gone to see if any of their relatives were hurt in Saturday's r Miss Winnie Frankenfield visited with her sisters in Rich Hill, the first of last week. E. L. Hamilton is reported quite poorly with pneumonia fever at his home in the northeast part af town. Mesdames Collier, Chamberlin, Wirt and Davis were the guests of Mrs. Joe T. Smith, at her beautiful country home Tuesday of last week. A man traveling in a_ prairie schooner, enroute to Texas, camped on Quality Hill Tuesday night. He purchased a bird dog of Lee Mullis for the sum one dollar. Wednesday morning he left for the Lone Star state, well pleased with his purchase, but before night Lee had the dollar and the dog too. Whether Lee had the dog trained to “‘hoo-doo’’ travel- ers, or not, we are unable to say. Will Fester’s Time Come Next? May and June has been two months that storms seem to center in West- ern Bates. In these two months four stroyed while the other remained in- tact, and I was told that at the Hyatt farm the steel frame of a wind mill was twisted intoa resemblance of a steel cable.” “At the Dr. Tuttle home which was destroyed, the second floor was blown out to the southeast and the jamb of|clouds and the other on the cellar, very severe storms have passed here; two south of Foster and two north, which have done a great deal of dam- age, to life and property, but fortu- nately Foster has escaped so far. People have kept one eye on the © report Une le Robert | has been dangerously | ifamily were city | | nry Briscoe and Lee | is spending the summer NUMBER 35 this spring, until hey are almost cross-eyed. Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? One of Fester’s old land marks, that has stood the storms like a tam- arack since the birth of the town, has been sold and soon to be laid in the dust of the grave. The old livery barn that was built in July, 1883, by W. B. Arbogast when the town was born and the peo- ple from all points of the compass were having a jubilee, and christened the new town the “Roaring town of Walnut” and it has never had a jubi- lee since, and if this old barn could add many episodes on the pages of Foster history. A. E. Perkins Dead. News reached this place Friday morning that A. E. Perkins, formerly an old and highly respected citizen of Foster, died at his home in Hume at 10 o’clock Thursday evening, after an illness of several months. For many years he was engaged in town was in its infancy, and hasa wide circle of friends who will deeply regret to learn of his death. He was a member of the M. E. church, and the funeral was held at Hume Sunday and interment made at Independence. He leaves a wife, son and aged monther who has laid the remaining one of her family to rest. We, with a host of friends, extend jour sympathy to the bereaved family jin this their hour of bereavement. _ DINAH. | VIRGINIA. | | A new boy at Payton’s. Sick list.—Miss Maud Burk, Olive | Nightwine, Mrs. Lewis Lent, Anna Malone, Grandma Snail, Mrs. Smith- erman. Vane Walker hawed his new silo out from Butler Saturday. Mrs. John Foster has treated her- self to a new oregon, Miss Mary Allen, who is attending jschool at Wa rrensburg, got her foot badly mashed Monday. She phoned her folks that she was getting along nicely. John Becket of Adrian is building a new house for Mr. Martin, north of Virginia, Owing to the rain Elder J. W. Rogers did not preach Saturday night or Sunday night, but Sunday morn- ling he,preached a powerful sermon on the Christian voters’ duty on the liquor question. Boys, you had better Young Aaron writes about the pretty | wedding before you go serenading. Mrs. Mary Saterlee of Joplin came | Sunday to visit her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Foster. J. H. Park has some good bred to visit; Duroc Jersey gilts for sale. Goble of Humbolt, Kansas, with his Lester | uncle, Everett Drysdale. Mrs. Everett Schwenk and son, Raymond, of Amoret, spent a few last week with her cousin, W. M. Hardinger, and family. Mr. Darnes of Nyhart has returned from a visit relatives at Nnobnoster, Mo. W. A. McElroy and wife of Butler spent Wednesday of last week with E. F. Burk and famiiy. Howard Leonard had the misfor- tune of getting his driving mare bad- ly cut on the wire one day last week. Mrs. Shacklet and two sons of Gass city, Kansas, spent last week and with her uncle, Everet Drysdale and wife. Mr. Meinenis painting the Enterprise school house. The Endeavor social at Robert Mc- Cann’s Wednesday night of last week was well attended’'and a good time injoyed by all present. YOUNG AARON. Funeral Notice. All Master Masons are requested to meet at the hall at 1 o’clock p. m. Thursday, June 20, for the purpose of attending the funeral of our de- ceased brother, Charles Dixon. Services will be at the family resi- dence, one mile south of Butler, at 2:30 p.m. By order of FRANK T. CLAY, W. M. A. H. CULVER, Secretary. the drug business here when the . wait until ”