Salina, KS Tornado Causes Death And Damage, June 1897

DEATH AND LOSS BY STORM.

MOTHER AND TWO CHILDREN KILLED, AND MUCH DAMAGE WROUGHT BY A TORNADO NEAR SALINA, KAN.

HAVOC IN MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

Salina, Kan., June 24. -- A tornado passed fifteen miles northwest of this city about 10:30 o'clock last night. Three persons were killed and a number dangerously injured.
The dead are MRS. ANNA GEESEY, aged thirty-four, and her two children, NONA, aged thirteen, and IDA, aged nine. Four other members of this family were badly hurt.
MR. GEESY was away from home. The remainder of the family had retired, and when the storm struck they made for their cave. Before they had gotten out of the house, however, the tornado had destroyed it. The work of destruction was not known until this morning, when neighbors found the dead and injured members of the family lying in the debris.
The three dead were found about fifty feet east of the house, and near them the baby, alive, but buried to her waist in dirt. The other members of the family were found some distance west of the house. A two-by-four scantling was driven through one of MRS. GEESY limbs.
At MRS. STOREY'S, a half mile east of the GEESY place, the family were sleepingin a stone basement with a frame upright part. The framework was torn down and fell upon the family below, but none of them was killed. The stonework was uninjured.
The track of the storm was narrow, but very crooked. It came from the east, and after doing its damage here the main storm divided, part going west and the rest north. There are rumors of other casualties.

The New York Times New York 1897-06-25

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