Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 1

i JlnJE r7; i 17 Mi i Tr ui Two MATTOON, ILLINOIS, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 28, 1917. ty-Thlrd Year, No. 43. -r V. xl i i i i i ii.

7 -r Sullivan, Allenville and other places were swept by the' storm. PATH13MF WILE WIDE the path of thetornado, east of the city along the -state aid highway, suffered quite as' much as did the people living in the devastated area in the city. Jt is reported that the Hashbarger Several bodies were brought to this city from Gays, which little village was in the direct path of the tornado. Bodies were andjShea homes, as well as all barns and outbuildings, werbrought to Mattoon from -other nearby places, as they. could IS CUT THROUGH CITY reduced to ruin, being nothing but a mass of wreckage.

not be for in the villages where they met their death. i i LIST OF DEAD, SO FAR AS IS KNOWN, AND LIST OF INJURED LISTOFTHEDBAD MRS. CHARLES TEMPLE, North Twentieth, 88, dlte after reaching Memorial Hospital. MRS. EMMA HYbE 1401 Piatt, Mlled outright MRS.

ORA HERITAGE, SOS North Thirteenth, IS, struck en head, MRS. OWEN WAGGONER. lr CHILD Of CHARLES HICKE8, aged 12 rSre. 7 i 40, Prlnoeton, Ky, employe as I. section hand.

4 MRS. NANCY: 4. 908 North Nineteenth street JAMES TURNER, elty scavenger, 804 North Twentylghth. ihirtV-Eight Bodies, List of Dead Thus Far Re Eitrected That This Hunibsr will be Swelled Whether death and injury came from the visitation of the elements in that section is not known, as no definite report could be received from there. The only-news that was brought In from that sction was by several persons coming down from Humbolt and other sections that vicinity outtid eof the storm zone.

It is feared a number are dead and injured there. NOTHING SAVE JILES OF WRECKAGE. Where once the homes of prosperous, contented and happy residents had stood were nothing save ghastly piles of wreck age, showing that the work of the terrible monster had been to Perhaps Three Times hat HnmfeJefore the Wreckage Has Been Completely ESCAPES FROM DEATH MIRACULOUS. The instances where escape from death were by the narrowest of margins were so numerous that they cannot be enumerated here. Richard SteidPand several boys who' were in the SteWl Brothers' packing house in North Twenty-second street, went into the huge refrigerator, and strange to say, this was the only thing which was left standing and unharmed of the 'Ming after the storm had passed.

Not one of the occupants of the refrigerator was hurt Mrs. Nash and her daughter, seeking a place of safety, went into a clothes closet and shut the door. Suddenly they heard bricks tumbling down about them, Instantly realizing their danger, sought the only thing near, an ironing board, and held that above their heads. They feel that they would have been killed but for this precaution, but as it was they were unharmed. .4 TREE BRANCHES BLOC KSTRKETS.

Over and txamniec; complete in its deadly course. Beneath these ruins were pin ioned men, women and children, mostly women and children, as it was a little too early for the menfolk of the family to have returned from their employment. From these ruins it became OWEN WAGGONER. L. BEAVERS.

MRS. GRUBB, North DAVID80N BOY. MR8. LEE TAYLOR and two children- VIRGIL' MELTON, 14. -7- SWAN80N, 7 or years.

JOHN wIlXfAMS, colored, age unknown, New Orleans, worked for I. EOWIN DAUGHERTY, ton of M. H. Daugherty, S21 Moultrie, 10. IGNATIUS 8PITZ, 1721 DoWitt, 70, father of rrnk Spitz.

LIST OF' THE3 INJURED Ruseell rickes, 808 North Twelfth, years, head hurt; probably In tornally Frank Shelby, 89, head and anno hurt A toirnAdo, dealing death and widespread devaUtioa in wake, struck the riorfhetn portion of the city about 3il5 the 'painful duty of those others more fortunate to-extricate clock thf afternoon. At least thirty-eight person are known and care for as best they, could. Jt was no unusual sight for 9 be dead, while the injured, many of whom feared will uccumb from their hurts, will reach into the scores. It is be-ieved the death' list ttiay reach between 75 and 100 when the the workers to dig from some place beneath brick and mortar the mangled form of some woman or child, "ghastly in deth. Jsmw Beavere, 1200 PlatV 48, bruises from head te foot.

uins hair'e been thoroughly examined. 4 Others, were maimed and dying. MEMORIAL HOSPITAL SOON FILLED, 1 Mr. Cora Beavers, hurt, but Injur lee unknown. Throughoutr thi wind-swept area the streets in every di rection were effectually blocked by huge trees, which' had lit j) The path of the itorniwa about half a mile iirwi4tl nd Memorial Hospital was soon filled almost to overflowing Ixtended the full length the city, sweeping all before it and with the in jured, while the dead were taken to the various erally been orn up by the roots and hurled in all directions.

People were1 able to thread their way from houses to houser but eveling dwelling, barn, outbuildto'g W1 tree if they had morgues of the city." The bodies were placed in rows on the been mown down by a giant it was a difficult matter to get automobiles and other vehicles floors of the undertaking establishments, and there1 awaited SPECTACLE HEARTRENDING ONE. used for ambulances into the devastated district Willing hands. identification. i It left a Spectacle heartrending in the extreme, sickening however, soon reached the scenes, and within a comparatively Lon Dixon, 2117 Marehall; was sa IcdCKam wasoifeft Mo 5 Mrs. Jack Reed, 90 North chest hurt 1 Charles Reed, son pf Jack'Reed, 7, and John Reed, 8, bruises oe the Harry Myers, 1118 North Tenth head cut and braised.

1. 1000 North- Tenth, head and ohouldere eeriousiy braised and cut Thomas Polsn, 1218 Piatt, SO, left leg and head hurt Mrs. 8. W. Hardy, 809 North Ninth, head wounded.

-4' ArleU Tudor, little daughter of Prank Tudor, $220 Piatt, abdomen cut and other bruises. i Mrs. Frank Tudor "snd three children slightly Injured, Mrs. R. RlohardSbn, 718 North Nineteenth, 81, arm Injured.

1 Miss Beulah Suel, 1713 Plstt, 82, arm bruleed and other bnileesV Charles Flckes, 808 North Twelfth, LaVange Flckee, age 2, and Raymond, 9, all suffering bos bruises. Andereon baby Injury unknown. 3 The expression was freely heard that Mtton had its new to those who, being the first on the scene, were forced to wit short time trees and big branches were lifted to one side, and hospital just in time, as the old building, which recently was torn down and removed, would have been far from adequate to care for the large number of. injured which were hurried to iess men, women and children, many of them dead, others dy-'ing, and still others hurt to such an extent that they were un the work of rescu became more rapid. As.

the business district and the central and southernpor-Hons of the city were virtually free from the path of the storm; it softer the storm. conscious, carried front the debris and placed on improyised 'stretchers, or in automobiles and other conveyances hurried to it was a half hour or more before the more fortunate residents MANY DWELLINGS BURN. the scene of the catastrophe. Still others, alive and unharmed, of the city realized the terrible calamity which had befallen In the western edge of the devastated section, where the hut with, the thought that their loved ones were buried be- Mattoon. However, the news soon spread like a prairie fire, and within an incredible short time automobiles, containing rescuers, rushed to the scene, and each' man did his bit in car ruin wrought seems to have been the greatest, fires from cook stoves developed and soon the ruins were a mass of flames.

It is feared many Were burned to death or -were suffocated. ing for the dead and dying and seeing to it that the sufferings CLOUDS OF INKY BLACKNESS The storm was preceded by clouds of inky blackness, hav of the injured were alleviated in every way possible. CHURCHES THROWN OPEN. ing begun to form shortly before two o'clock. A few minutes jieath the ruins wrought by the storm, were hysterical, women and children moaning and trying and wringing their hands in intense agony.

The storm seems to have struck the city at a point about Twenty-fourth street and Grant avenue and leveled all before it as it tore its way through the city, almost directly from east to west. Not a dwelling, barn "or outbuilding of any descrip-tion stood, in its entirety, after the storm. Most of the struc- tures which lay in the path of the tornado had absolutely collapsed. The trunks' of trees were left standing, in many in- before they descended to the earth and the terrible wind struck Churches of the city were thrown open to the injured, and in them many who could not be accommodated at the hospital the doomed section of the city in all its tremendous" velocity, were taken. Homes generally just outside the devastated area, they turned to a greenish yellowV With a roar the tornado as well as in other sections of the city, were thrown open for Forest Davldton, 2512 Moultrie, 7, head, bacftvfid Shoulders, hurt af Steidl's Packing plant when, building fell.

Mrs, Forest Davidson, tn mother, finger hurt Clint 917 Piatt 23, right leg hurt Mrs. Nellie Anderson, twenty-flrot and OeWltt, 80, right leg-to be am putated. ..,1, 'Child eight years old, unknown, big gash I. Elderly man, whoee name appeara to be Carrar, seriously hurt Mrs. Owen Hedges.

801 Piatt, 8, ribs broken, hips probably broken Owen Hedges, 801 Piatt four ribs, gash en head, shoulders bruised, re moved to 1020 Broadway. rra. D. 0. Piatt, 820 North TwentyIrst 43, leg and other brulsea Harry Piatt, seven monthe, head and eyes hurt.

Tim Foley, 903 Piatt, 80, fifty years a resident of Mattoon, head hui probably Internal Injuries. Carl White, 604 South Twenty-seventh, 86, hesd, arms and back bruised. Mrs. Ethel Cartwrlght, 82, head eut and bruleed, bsck hurt Mrs, Mary Thorpe, '1401 Piatt 43, breast head and lege bruited. Albert May 1401 Piatt'S, bruited body and srms.

1 George Illinois Central foreman, 1401 Piatt, slight bruises. Joseph Yunt 821 Piatt 43, cellar bone broken, probably. Internal ln Juries. a- i s. Bottle Child, 2, probably serlouely hurt.

Mrs. Nora Yunt, 621 Piatt broken, probably Internal Injuries. 0a4ys Yunt 18, probably Internal lirjurlea Harry. Yunt 12, baok wrenolv ed. Allle Davis, 1709 Piatt extent of Injuriee unknown.

re, -Alma My ere CinclilnaU, 18, back and side hurt. An unknown baby taken to the home ot lre. George Schlek, 1201 Broadway, uninjured. William Myers of Cincinnati, vlsltlno mother-Jn-lsw, Mrs. Stella Parte, struck, and the devastation wrought was more terrible than the care of the injured.

anything which the people of the city have ever before been x. stances, while others were torn up by the roots and hurled into eajje(j ii ICMIIKH II TMIH 1CI '1 COW WRAPPED, AROUND TREE. A peculiar sight, one of th6 freaks of the storm, was seen toe streets and elsewhere, Be urunns or tne trees were en Peoble of the citv srenerallv. at the annroach of the! atarm. J.J t.V.

IJ L- ..1 .1 7 it. Mtk .1 Tnn 1 Tl re.y wu mHWnB at the ominou, appearaiice of the swiftly-approach ill nwKiii incuiu an v-H mivui uo ivu viw uci which either had been outside tied to a stake, or had been in ano popiars ceing smppea ana oUl or an or jng about tn. their former shapes. where they believed they would be freer from dangef than in the barn, had been picked up by the tempest and literally wound around a tree. The animal had struck the tree with its back, and apparently its back had been broken by the terrible impact i -The storm's southernmost extremity appears to have, been at Champaign avenue, as south of that point, beyond the1 fact some, other portion of the.

placed-Some rushed to. tne. cellar, only to be crushed to death by the brick and mortar which were that trees generally were torn up and twisted out of shape, and its death was instantaneous. It lay in that position after piled -therein when their homes were crumbled by the mighty dwellings and other buildings were not greatly damaged. Oc- 24, srm hurt 'It casionally, a dwelling suffered somewhat from the effects of the the storm.

'v ROOFS GENERALLY SUFFER. While the worst havoc was wrought in the direct path of the storm, roofs generally oyerthe city, even south of the cen wind, 1 I GOVERNOR ASKED TO SEND MILITIAj. Governor Lowden was sent a message, asking that he send company of state troops to this city to patrol the devastated wind south of this point, but they were few in number, and a Leon Hill, 804 North Twelfth, 34, head snd hips hurt 1. M. Mires, 916 North left shoulder, side hurt Mrs.

Mollis Hill. 32, wife of Leon Hill, 804 North Twelfth, body bruises In several placet. David Hill, 9, severe bruises. Bonn, slightly lajured. Byron 8cott, operator for the Big Pour at Starr, badly-injured when block still further south, or at Richmond avenue, little actual bone and preserve order and protect property.

tower turned over. tral portion, suffered considerably. In many instances dwel I damage was done' except to trees. TWO STORMS COME TOGETHER. CHARLESTON APPEALED TO.

Gus Strldley, 700 Platf 9, hurt an over. .1 Mrs. Ora Hermitage, 905 North Thirteenth, .35, head snd back hurt J. "Smith, 1018 Piatt head and arms bruised. Mrs.

Smith, head 2 Those who had watched the approach of the tornado for lings were damaged to this extent, while small outbuildings were especial objects of the terrible wind. ALL TELEPHONE WIRES DOWN. telephone service of the city was absolutely knocked and shoulder hurt Saved their grandchildren, Aril no Allen, 6, and Jane Allen, 3, by runnfng to place of safety. A special train was hastily made up at the, Big Four shops, as Soon as the damage wrought by the storm was ascertained and sent to Charleston for the purpose of bringing) back phy some time before it struck the city, say it was in the form of two different and distinct clouds, -which seemed to come to sicians and nurses to assist in caring for the injured. out as a result of the storm.

When the tornado struck the city, Ii, gether and then, in an incredible short space of time, the storm j' burst upon the city with a terrible roar. Mrs. Msyms Myere, 1401 Plstt, IS, on Friday, head hurt and other serious bruises. 1 Joe Ohm, 1800 Piatt, arm' hurt -7' Agatha Phelpe, daughter of Jette Pbelps, 1713 Piatt internally hurt when debris fell on her. Three Itfther children In- family unhurt.

N. B. Allison, 1717 Wabath. Internally hurt when In North Twenty-see- The physicians of Gays also responded promfatly to an the telephone operators were ordered to' leave their places at appeal for aid, coming as quickly as possible. the switchboard.

HAILSTONES OF IMMENSE PROPORTIONS. A The storm was accompanied by hailstones the sixe of which ond street hi WESTERVELT WIPED OUT. 1- BIG FOUR SHOPS ESCAPE. The Big Four shops escaped with but slight damage, the was never before) iwn It th nennlM of trti Tliw mail. Although the news was meager, it was reported.

that the A. D. King of 805 North Twenty-second, leg broken, Mre. Maggie hesd. Mrs.

George Smith," 801 Piatt, head -y i Mits Zikee, head Injuriee, terious. -r Mre. Lotrle HIckey.jGrsnt Park, colored. 32. head hurts.

Ci village of-WestervelV near Shelby-viHe in Shelby couKty, was iped out bya at the Same thoe that which exacted ich. terrible. toll in this city. buildings being located just south of the storm area. The huge smokestack was blown' down, and portions of the foofs of the various buildings were torn away, but otherwise the property of the company did not suffer greatly.

Stella, 8, head-hurt p. OTHER CITIES DEVASTATED; aire. Jamee jumkr, 804 North Twenty-eighth, head hurt, body ht Sexton, 708 DeWItt, 66, right side Injured. Charles Harrlv 1409-Edaar. 19.

hurt while workino en north rd to ured seven and a half inches in circumference, sounding like rocks hurled on the roofs of buildings and against the windovj pjanes of business houses and dwellings sis they descended with terrible velocity; 'The stones resembled icy snow balls, COUNTRY HOMES LEVELED. It is reported that the dwellings of the farmers living in i i. t' Although news seeped through but slowly, it was The roof of lb Washington School, the pride of the north Charfetior. port, that Charleston had suffered quite as much from the visi ern portion of the city, was torn away, the building was Mra. Thomas Dolan, head and breast hurt Mvj.

Martin Snea; north road, extent serious Injuries. of MrsTi. en t- otherwise damaged. 1 tation of the elements as had Mattoon, while Windjbr, Gays,.