TWO KILLED BY TORNADO; SCORE INJURED.

CRACK LIMITED LIFTED FROM TRACK BY TWISTER.

BOY KILLED WHEN BASEMENT WALL CRUMBLES AFTER HOUSE IS TORN AWAY -- MOST OF SERIOUSLY INJURED TO RECOVER.

Moorhead, May 28. -- (AP) -- Whipping through two western Minnesota counties with a suddenness that defied efforts to gain cover a tornado took a toll of at least two lives Wednesday and injured many others and caused thousands of dollars damage a check up revealed today.
The Empire Builder, of the Great Northern railroad, east bound into Minnesota from Seattle, was wrecked as it swirled out of North Dakota, killing ANDREW ANDERSON of Montesano, Wash., and injuring more than a score.

Boy Killed In Basement.
MELVIN HATLEDAHL, 18, was killed as he crouched in the basement with other members of the family at his farm, 8 miles north of Watt's Siding. He was struck by a concrete block dislodged from the foundation of the house which was over the heads of the family.
According to a statement issued today by attendants at St. Ansgar Hospital, Moorhead, MRS. EMILY HANNAN of Seattle who it was believed Wednesday was near death, spent a fair night. Unless complications set in she will recover. It was not determined today to what extent she was injured but it is thought that her back is broken and she is suffering from possible internal injuries.
MRS. N. TROLL of Minot, N.D., who was reported in serious condition Wednesday spent a good night and is well on the road to recovery.
Bad cuts about the head made the condition of MRS. HILDA QUALLEY'S baby serious but hospital attendants said today the child was out of danger unless complications set in.
MRS. ALICE MOORE of Everetee, Wash., is suffering from lacerations about the head and two broken ribs. Her condition is not serious but she will be detained in the hospital for a few more days.

Fifty-Four Injured.
Railway officials after completing a check today said that of the 117 passengers on the train 45 received minor injuries while three were in a more serious condition. Nine employees were injured also.
Virtually all traces of the wreck were erased by crews today. Traffic through the area has been restored and the funnel-shaped cloud did such a clean job of tipping the coaches on the prairie while leaving the locomotive and tender on the tracks that the roadbed scarcely was damaged. All but a few cars had been taken away.

School Teacher Imprisoned.
At the HATLEDAHL farm where MELVIN HATLEDAHL, 18, was killed, MISS LILLIAN JESSNESS of Morris, Minn., school teacher staying at the HATLEDAHL home, was imprisoned half an hour before she was released by neighbors.
"I was upstairs when I saw the black cloud approaching," she said.
"I heard MRS. HATLEDAHL scream and run to the basement. MRS. HATLEDAHL and three younger children were in one room and MELVIN was attempting to hold shut a door which led into another part of the basement."
"As he tugged at the door, the house was lifted over our heads and a section of the concrete wall, about 8 feet long, broke away behind us crushing MELVIN to the floor and imprisoning me in it. The boy's head was at my feet. It was a long time until men came and moved the concrete so I could get out."
"MELVIN didn't say a word although he did not die at once. I was holding his wrist and could feel his pulse for some time."

Home Is Wrecked.
The HATLEDAHL home is a total wreck. It moved 30 feet off one wall slightly away leaving exposed on the second floor with the furniture in order the room which the school teacher fled to the basement.
After taking its toll at the farm the twister cut a swath through trees half a mile north and demolished the Concordia Lutheran church.
Members of the congregation today visited the site where the structure stood only to find splintered kindling among the gravestones and debris filled basement. Standing in the center of the ruined walls is the organ seemingly unharmed by the wind which tore the floor from under it.
All 12 of the steel coaches were lying on their sides in the ditch when wrecking crews and medical aid arrived. The engine still was on the tracks.
The dead man had been pitched from the train through a window.
The scene of the wreck is near Sabin, Minn. The train was to have arrived in Minneapolis at 10:10 p.m.
Because telephone and telegraph lines were blown down in the Red River Balley, the extent of the damage wrought elsewhere by the tornado could not be determined Wednesday night.
It was known that one farmer living near Walls Siding, 13 miles southeast of Fargo, had been killed. The home of the farmer, ANDREW HATLEBAL, was blown away. Cattle and poultry were said to have been killed in a number of places in the valley. The tornado struck also near Dilworth, Hawley and Ada, Minn.
GUS KRAMER, 55, who lived at the Salvation Army home, 18 Hennepin avenue, Minneapolis, was the first heat victim of the year. He collapsed at the home, dying shortly afterward. His body was taken to the county morgue while police began a search for relatives.

Storms Hit Many Areas.
Meanwhile sections of northern Minnesota and South Dakota continued to report damage caused by the storms which swept a wide area late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
WAINO FORSTROM of Kinross, Minn., was killed when he was blown from a barn roof.
Two children, GWENDOLYN EDWARDS, 8, and BERNARD FLYNN, 9, were injured at Hibbing, Minn., in the same storm. They were hurled to the ground when a lookout tower, used by boy and girl scouts, was wrecked. They were not seriously hurt.

The Evening Tribune Albert Lea Minnesota 1931-05-28
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!