5 KILLED, 21 INJURED, WHEN TORNADO HITS WESTERVELT.

CHURCH COLLAPSES, PINNING NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN WRECKAGE.

Westervelt, Ill., May 26. -- Sweeping through a twenty-mile stretch of country between Westervelt and Owaneco, a tornado late today caused the death of five persons and the injury of twenty-one, three of whom probably will die. Nearly all the injured were children practicing a Children's day program in a church which collapsed, pinning them under timbers.
The dead:
MRS. HERMAN CHRISTMAN, 60 years old.
MISS MYRTLE CHRISTMAN, 40.
MRS. SADIE JACKSON, 63.
DAVIS McDONALD, 66.
EUGENE McDONALD, 20.
Physicians from Pana, who hurried here in response to distress calls, hardly had time to administer to the injured when they were summoned to Mattoon, likewise devastated by a tornado.

The Indianapolis Star Indiana 1917-05-27
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!