STRUCK BY A TORNADO.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1707, 26 March 1913, Page 7

STRUCK BY A TORNADO.

MANY LIVES LOST. ' > RUIN IN OMAHA CITY. ENORMOUS DAMAGE DONE. i By Tolesraph—Prc63 Association—Copyiiihl Vancouver, March 21. A tornado swept the city of Omaha, an(! killed a hundred and fifty people. A iiro broke out in the ruins, aiid a whole section of the town was destroyed. , The Diamond Picture Theatre collapsed, and thirty people were crushed, in the ruins. Communication with tho outsido world has been out. off. ' Later. Thp latest news from Omaha minimises the. loss of life, but the damage to property is enormous. A score of bodies have been recovered. The'injured are expected to number hundreds.. . : Twenty negroes were caught in a p<>ol- : room when it collapsed, and nono escaped. The district is practically under martial law, and soldiers are camped in the streets. ' .. ' j* ■ ■ Tho storm first struck Ralston, and moved eight miles north-east 1 through Omaha, cutting a swathe ot destruction •four blocks wide.

Much -looting followed tho fire', but the presence of the soldiers acted as an effective check. ' A second tornado followed, completing the ruin. ' , Communication was paralysed, and definite news of the disaster did npt reach the'-outside world until twenty-four hours had elapsed. The wildes-i stories wero at first.afloat. ' The town'.of Outan, in Nebraska, suffered .severely by the same tornado. Houses were. Unroofed, and ten people killed. BUILDINGS LIFTED BODILY. DAMAGE PUT AT THREE MILLIONS. . (Rec. March 25, 9.10 p.m.) Vancouver, March 25. The Omaha passengers on a Chicago, Burlington, ami'■ Quincy train saw tho tornado strike Omaha. Buildings were whirled bodily in tho air, and bodies could be seen falling out of them. When tho .train was stopped passengers who ran to assist were overwhelmed. At Ralston there were dozens of dead and dying, and the latter were asking, to be. put ' out of their misery.. Whole acrcs wero covered with wreckage. A railway box-car was carried in mid-, air for a quartor of a mile. ' The train proceeded laden! with dead and injured,land entered Benson, where the scenes were ia repetition of -those at Ralston. ■ ' 1 ' ' .■ ■ When South Omaha was hit the scenes baffled description. The fire in the town was visible for. miles. -People rushed panic-stricken into tho streets, and. the police were unable to cope with the (lis- , . order.

Special trains brought assistance to the stricken districts. • The tornado cut a swathe twenty-four blocks tons and three blocks wide th'rough t]io wealthiest part of Omaha City. Twelvo hundred bouses were wrecked, and tho' damage amounts" to ,£3,000,000. A hundred bodies havo.been recovered. ; Milwaukee 'hos'j.'aUo'- suffered from' a rain-storm, which flooded' the city and .otliei smaller centres were'similarly damaged. . . .., .... ■

; Omaha is the largest city in tho State of Nebraska, and has a population of about 125,000.; It is situated on a plateau sloping up from the west bank of the'Missouri'River. The manufacturing and jobbing'''district adjoins .the river, wliilo pleasant residential quarters occupy tho high ground. v Omaha,'-the "Gate City,", owes its commercial importance to ; its position as ono of' the chief gateways to ■tho "West, and has grown rapidly since its foundation in 1854. 'Among the chief articles ; of its' trade are Brain, butter, wool, and agricultural implements. The total value of the products of the manufacturing industries in. 1807 was '.£14,000,000, . The city is a railway centre of great importance, being, practically the eastern terminus 'of ■ tho Union Pacific Railway and in more or less direct communication by nine, different routes with.all tho chief cities of tho east and south. Among the more important buildings are the Federal Building, Court House, n city hall, two high schools, one of which is the finest in the country, a convention hall, the Auditorium, and tho Public Library. Omalm is the see of Rijman Catholic and Protestant. Episcopal' Bishoprics.. The city received its first charter in 1857. Its population lies* risen .steadily from 30,518. at tho census of 18S0 to four times that figure inl9lo. ,