TORNADO KILLS 14.

CUTS DOWN TOWNS IN ITS PATH IN EASTERN NEBRASKA.

FORT CROOK IS DAMAGED.

RAILROAD TRAIN RUNS RACE FOR TEN MILES WITH "TWISTER."

Village Near the Army Post a Wreck -- College Students in Panic at Bellevue -- Farmer Killed in His Home -- Father and Son Drowned by Frightened Horses -- List of Deaths May Be Increased When All Is Known.

Omaha, Nebr., May 12. -- Fourteen persons are known to have been killed and a score injured by a tornado which swept the northern part of Sarpy County at 5 o'clock this afternoon. The storm, which gained velocity on its way south, struck Omaha about 4:30 p.m.
At Bellevue the college buildings were damaged to the extent of probably $50,000, and several persons were injured, none fatally.
The casualty list so far as known, is as follows:
The Dead:
MRS. FRANK HESTER, living near Louisville.
CHARLES LEADER, near Richfield.
Two Men in Louisville village, unidentified.
Seven Persons, Names unknown, in sand pit near Louisville.
CHARLES MARTIN, near Meadow.
MARTIN TEITH.
JAMES TEITH.
The storm was the most severe that ever struck Eastern Nebraska. The damage to the college buildings at Bellevue was heavy. The tower was blown from Park Hall and the building wrecked. Lowry Hall and Rankin Hall were unroofed.
The panic stricken students ran to the basement and in this way many fatalities were probably averted. The college stables were wrecked and all the horses killed. Several small buildings and stores in the village were blown down.
Moving south, the tornado struck Fort Crook, damaging several of the barrack buildings, but no one was injured. In the town of Fort Crook, however, many buildings were wrecked and other damage was done.
Strikes Several Blows.
The storm lifted and dipped at intervals, continuing to move southward, doing much damage to farm property. The last town struck was Papillion, eight miles south of South Omaha. At that point the damage was not great, the funnel shaped cloud apparently lifting sufficiently to pass the town. It again descended, however, as the storm moved toward Richfield, four miles south of Papillion. In its path was the farm of GUS LEADER, whose farm buildings were entirely destroyed and his son, CHARLES LEADER, aged fourteen was killed outright. All his live stock was killed.
EDWARD MARTIN'S farm was the next to be swept. His home and all his barns and small buildings were destroyed and MR. MARTIN was fatally hurt by being crushed under his home. The little town of Richfield was almost blown to pieces, but the casualty list was small.
Center Of Fatalities.
At Louisville half the town was wrecked, and at least eight persons lost their lives. MRS. FRANK HESTER was killed in her home. Seven men who took refuge in a sand pit north of the town were killed, their names not being available.
Two miles north of Papilion, MARTIN TEITH and his son JAMES were driving along the Little Pappio River, when their horse became frightened by the hail and plunged into the swollen stream. Father and son were drowned.
An officer from Fort Crook arrived in the city tonight and said the damages to the buildings would amount to $100,000 at the army post alone, and that the village was almost a total wreck.
There was a remarkable scene when the officers realized that a tornado had struck the post. Six hundred troops of the Sixteenth Regiment were brought to battalion formation and, in the midst of flying slate roofs and other debris, they were marched across the parade ground to the substantial buildings, where they were put at "rest" and took to the cellars.
The roofs of several of the large buildings were blown off and other damage done.

Raced With Death Ten Miles.
Plattsmouth, Nebr., May 12. -- A Burlington passenger train on the Lincoln - Plattsmouth line, this afternoon, had a ten mile race with a tornado, and only by the best possible work of the engineer and fireman was the train saved. The race only ended when the railroad track took a sharp turn southward and left the track of the pursuing storm.
The tornado was first observed near Louisville, Nebr., and at the time was immediately behind the train, and coming down the river at the rapid speed.
The railroad track here follows the river banks and was directly in the lead of the "twister."
The engineer opened the throttle wide and the train flew down the track with the storm closely following. For ten miles the race continued, the storm all the time only a short distance in the rear, and gradually gaining. A sudden turn in the track carried the train out of danger. Many of the passengers fell on their knees in prayer when they saw the great danger in which they stood. From the car windows, a number of houses were seen to practically melt into the air when the storm struck them.

Greater Loss Of Life Feared.
Springfield, Nebr., May 12. -- A tornado late this afternoon wrecked the towns of Louisville, Bellevue and Ritchfield, killing several persons and injuring a large number. The heaviest loss of life and injured is reported from Louisville, a junction point of the Missouri Pacific and Burlington railroads, in Cass County.
There were four distinct tornado clouds, as seen at Springfield, and they made their appearance shortly before 5 o'clock. Heavy damage was done in the country, and it is feared there was great loss of life.
There were severe storms along the Missouri River, farther south, at Nemaha City and Falls City.

The Washington Post District of Columbia 1908-05-13
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!