Chicago, IL City Struck By Tornado, June 1892

THE WORK OF THE TORNADO.

WIDESPREAD DAMAGE CAUSED AND LIVES LOST.

CHICAGO'S DEATH LIST SWELLED -- DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY GREATER THAN AT FIRST REALIZED -- REPORTS OF WRECK AND RUIN.

Chicago, June 14. -- Yesterday afternoon's storm was much more destructive than first reports indicated. At lease eight lives were lost in Chicago and vicinity, and fifteen persons were more or less injured, while it will probably take hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the damage done by the tornado.
The Killed.
GUSTAVE DORPING.
EMMA KLIMA.
JOHN MICHON.
CHARLES J. ROBERTS.
HARVEY STEWART.
Three Unknown Men.
The Injured.
MR. BURNS, struck by bricks; severe scalp wound.
E. ERICKSON, caught under a falling pile of lumber and injured internally; removed to the County Hospital, and will recover.
EDWARD HOUSMAN, ear cut off by falling telegraph wires.
MAX JACOBS, leg broken by falling roof.
ANNA KLIMA, collar bone broken and shoulder blade fractured.
MAGGIE KLIMA, right hip and right foot crushed.
JOHN LIAL, blown to ground from roof; skull fractured; will die.
WILLIAM LORSEA, skull fractured by falling bricks; may die.
JAMES McGINN, left leg fractured by falling lumber at lumber yard; removed to his home.
J. J. P. O'DELL, President Union National Bank; back of head, forehead, and thigh cut by glass.
SEVERINO OLSON, injured internally; may die.
MRS. ANNIE PADDY, struck by lightning; no outward marks, but is in a critical condition.
MRS. M. SLATTERY, left ankle sprained.
MRS. SHOAL, deep scalp wound caused by falling transom.
MAY WEELLEY, hurled against telegraph pole and to sidewalk; badly bruised.
When the storm struck State Street its violence appeared to have been at its height. Then it seems to have lost strength as it howled toward the lake. Its greatest force centred between Twenty-third and Twenty-fifth Streets, and the manner in which it twirled and destroyed objects along its path would indicate that it had a rotary motion and was a veritable though not a highly dangerous cyclone. It was violent enought, however, to tear the roofs off the buildings and send them flying through the air and to break telegraph poles as if they were pipestems.
While it lasted its path on State Street was a scene of intense terror and excitement, and the people between Twenty-third and Thirtieth Streets every moment dreaded death, and there was reason for their fear amid the flying of bricks and signs and limbs of trees and the crashing of glass and telegraph poles.
On the west side of State Street every telegraph pole from the one in front of 2,320 to one in front of 2,945 was snapped.
A seven-story brick building at 246 West Madison Street was so badly shaken up that it is thought it will crumble. The Manufacturers' Building at the World's Fair was damaged $6,000. The portion of the north end of the building between the centre and northwest corner pavilions was blown down and almost entirely ruined.
The telegraph and telephone poles in the path of the storm were torn down and the wires completely tangled, entirely demoralizing the news service as well as the commercial business. Not a click of the sounders was heard in the Western Union office for a few hours. It was the worst storm that Chicago has experienced in many years.
Hundreds of persons vesited the Democratic National Convention wigwam to-day to view the work of the storm. The broken centre pole and the huge strips of canvas scattered about were all that rewarded sightseers. The building itself showed no evidence of strain. Thousands of feet of planking were delivered during the day, and the labor of erecting a timber roof instead of the airy canopy originally proposed was in full swing. Night and day shifts of men will be on hand constantly till the wigwam's construction is complete. No fear is expressed that the hall will not be ready on time.
The steamer Juliet, with the graduating class of the Northwestern University, reported lost as the Viola, arrived at the dock near the Northwestern Station at 3:15 o'clock this morning. All on board were safe despite the experiences of the evening and unaware of the anxiety which their failure to return had caused, or of the reports of the disaster to the craft. The trip, while eventful, was not at any time considered dangerous. On the Juliet's arrival at the Anchor line dock, where her passengers disembarked, some of them stated in reply to questions that the steamer had a very rough voyage.

The New York Times New York 1892-06-15

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!