Stillwater, MN & Madison, WI Tornado and Lightning, July 1893

SLAIN BY TORNADO AND BOLT.

PROPERTY DAMAGED, FOUR MEN KILLED, AND MANY OTHERS INJURED.

Stillwater, Minn., July 14. -- Stillwater was visited by a death-dealing tornado a few minutes after 3 o'clock this afternoon. It lasted less than two minutes, but two men. WILLIAM ANEZ and SAMUEL SIMONSON, were crushed to death, and about a dozen other persons were injured.
The day had been the most sultry of the season, averaging[sic] 93 degrees in the shade up to 2:30 o'clock. At that hour a breeze sprang up, and dense yellowish-green clouds were seen gathering in the northwest. They came up slowly, apparently increasing in density, and had a rolling motion from south to north.
There was plenty of time to run to cover, but hardly anybody felt apprehensive, and most of the laborers about the city remained at their work. At 3:05, accompanied by a few vivid flashes of lightning, the storm burst furiously upon the city. The greatest damage was at the ATWOOD Mill on Lake St. Croix, where the whirlwind seized the rafting sheds and hurled them into the lake, killing SIMONSON and ANEZ. A large quantity of lumber was also blown away. A dozen boys fishing on the slip were hurled into the lake, and some were injured by flying timbers, but all will recover. Considerable damage was done to property in the residence district, and several persons were injured, none seriously.
The storm swept across to the other shore of Lake St. Croix, much to the detriment of houses and timber there, but no lives are reported lost.

Madison, Wis., July 14. -- A telegram from Camp Douglas, where the First Regiment, Wisconsin National Guard, is in camp, says a terrific storm passed over that place to-night. A bolt of lightning struck in the quarters of the Darlington company, killing two men and seriously injuring ten others.

The New York Times New York 1893-07-15

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