Kansas City, Missouri Tornado

May 15, 1909

TORNADO INJURES 25.

Suburb of Kansas City Swept by Severe Storm--Five Victims May Die from Wounds

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 15.--Twenty-five persons were hurt, many seriously, and much property damaged by a tornado which struck Mount Washington and Fairmount Park, suburbs of Kansas City. It is believed five of the injured will die. Among the most seriously hurt are: Mrs. James O'Gara, her father, mother and five-year-old boy; Mrs. Mary Robinson and baby girl; Mrs. George Root and two children, and Mrs. Ferguosn [sic]. All were injured when the houses they occupied were blown down.

A heavy wind accompanied by a blinding rain and hail storm prevailed throughout the city. Much minor damage was done, and traffic of all kinds seriously interferred with.

Turtle Mountain Star, Rolla, ND 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jackie Harral.  Thanks Jackie!

IN JUST 5 MINUTES OF WIND

MOUNT WASHINGTON SHOWS TO-DAY WHAT A LITTLE TORNADO CAN DO.

The Morning After Reveals Streets Choked With Wreckage and Families Homeless – Only One Victim in Danger – Incidents of the Storm.

Condition of the Injured To-Day.
Orthell Davis, carpenter, working with George Archer on house at Ninth street and Arlington avenue, head cut; not dangerous.
Seth Greer, 19 years old, body bruised and cut; not dangerous.
Leeboy Greer, 5 years old, bruised; will recover.
Mrs. Newton Bird, Independence and Overton avenues, right hip and ankle bruised; not dangerous.
George Archer, Ninth street and Arlington avenue, head and face wounds; taken to Sheffield hospital; will recover.
James O’Gann and wife lived near Mount Washington Cemetery; house blown over; both bruised; will recover.
Mrs. Sarah Jenkins, daughter of Mrs. O’Gann, and her 5 year-old boy, cut and bruised; not dangerous.
Mrs. John Reed occupied a tent in Fairmount addition; bruised but not dangerously injured, taken to the home of John Allen.
J. M. Patterson, Fairmount addition; head cut by timbers; not dangerous.
Ethel Ferguson, 5-year-old with Mrs. Robinson, bruised on head and face; Mrs. Robinson and child taken to home of H. A. Neal in Fairmount addition.
A. O. Root, Fairmount addition, left leg lacerated.
Mrs. A. O. Root, left knee broken, face and head cut and side bruised.
Ruby Elbes Sheffield, sister of Mrs. Root; left side and back wrenched and bruised.
Mrs. Josie De Barnardi, 61 years old, corner of Independence and Overton avenues; right arm broken; will recover.
Mrs. R. J. Jenkins and 5-year-old son; Fairmount addition, cut and bruised; not dangerous.
Mrs. Harry L. Ferguson, Fairmount addition, left side bruised and head cut; will recover.

From the time last night’s wind storm in Mount Washington wrought its first destruction in Watt Webb’s orchard, one and one-half miles east of the Blue river, until it lifted on the crest of the hill in Fairmount addition, two miles northeast, less than five minutes time elapsed, according to the sufferers. In that brief time thirty building were either demolished or damaged and twenty persons were injured.
Physicians said this morning that none of the victims was in danger, with the exception of Mrs. J. W. Robinson of Fairmount addition. She is injured internally and her condition is critical.

IN A STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH.
Not until daylight this morning was the full extent of the damage revealed. Beginning at the intersection of Arlington avenue and the Chicago & Alton tracks the storm traveled in a northeasterly direction. Its path was narrow. Not a house on the west side of Overton avenue escaped. On the east side of the avenue little damage was done until the wind reached Independence avenue.

After wrecking Mount Washington Christian church at this point the wind veered to the east and demolished three houses on the east side of the street. Its course was thence northeast across Independence avenue and through the vineyards of Lohse’s wine garden to Fairmount addition. The valley through which the Missouri Pacific tracks run escaped the force of the wind. After carrying the buggy shed at Lohse’s place the storm did not strike again until it encountered the rise at Fairmount addition. Her the last damage resulted.

THE CHURCH SUFFERED THE WORST.
Overton avenue, from the Fairmount park tracks to Independence avenue, was choked with wreckage this morning. What had been trim front lawns were piles of splintered lumber and plaster. Broken roofs of houses lay in the street, with pieces of furniture, tangled wire and uprooted trees.

The worst wreck is that of the Christian church at Independence and Overton avenues. Scarcely a whole board remains. The structure was blown across the street and piled in a mass on the opposite corner. The other houses on the west side of Overton avenue either were unroofed or moved from their foundations. Their walls, or parts of them, still stand. The outer walls of some of the rooms were blown out and the furniture whirled into the street, while other rooms were not damaged.

The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.  Thank you, Jenni!

WIND BROUGHT DEATH TO HIM.

A Clerk Struck by a Brick From a West Bottoms Building.

One death has resulted from the storm late yesterday afternoon. Henry Shock, order clerk for the Carr Manufacturing company at 1324 West Eleventh street, was struck by several bricks that were blown from the Rhodes Implement company’s building at 1308 West Eleventh street. He died of a fractured skull at the German hospital. Shock was 22 years old. He lived with his parents at 321 Ann avenue, Kansas City, Kas.

The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.  Thank you, Jenni!

IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM

Some of the Incidents of the Mount Washington Tornado.

The Rev. Clark W. Comstock, pastor of the wrecked church at Mount Washington, was not at all discouraged this morning as he looked at the pile of kindling wood which had been the church edifice.

“We’ll have another building at once.” he said. “Our new home will be larger and better that the one destroyed.”

The wrecked church was dedicated two years ago. A little frame Methodist church, a block away, was unharmed.

The damage to Mount Washington cemetery from the tornado was slight. The storm passed over the southeast corner of the grounds. A few elm trees were uprooted, but the monuments and building were unharmed.

W. F. Smith, manager of Fairmount park, had just moved to the park for the summer and occupied cottage No. 13. Although so close to the path of the tornado, the park was only slightly damaged.

Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Cain of 700 Overton avenue, were at supper when they heard the storm. They believed at first it was a train on the Chicago & Alton railway a short distance from their home. Then a big elm tree was blown over on the roof of the house. Mr. Cain took their year-old baby and put it in a cupboard. The house was wrecked, but none of the occupants was injured.

The home of J. W. Robinson, in Fairmount addition, was demolished. It was a new modern house.

John Wirthman, employed in Mount Washington cemetery, worked and saved seven years to obtain an apple orchard back of his home at 640 Arlington avenue. He had about 200 fine trees that he believed would bear a good crop this year. The tornado swept the orchard clean. What trees were not uprooted were snapped off close to the ground.

The wind played the usual freakish tricks. A piece of metal roofing was driven into a tree several inches. A heavy timber, picked up somewhere, was blown into the front door of the house of Jewel Evans, 649 Arlington avenue. Half of the timber was inside the house and the other half outside. In the yard of the home of A. J. Ream on Overton avenue a great elm tree was uprooted, while a few feet away a flimsy grape arbor was untouched.

J. M. Patterson, who lives in Fairmount additions, was in the yard of his home when he saw the storm across the valley toward Mount Washington. He ran for the house but before he had taken a dozen steps the wind caught him, picked him up and blew him against the front of the house. He was stunned. Members of his family carried him in and called a physician. Mr. Patterson’s only injuries were severe bruises.
“I saw the wind ripping off the tops of trees across the valley.” Mr. Patterson said this morning. “But it was so still and peaceful where I stood I didn’t realize my danger. I guess I must have been fascinated by the sight. Then I heard the roar of the wind and I knew I was in the path of it. It wasn’t twenty yards to the house, but I didn’t have time to get there. I tried to throw myself on the ground, but the wind got hold of me and that’s all I remember. It was all over when I came to.”

Seven little swans, four weeks old, were on the lake at Mount Washington when the tornado passed. They paddled under an overhanging willow tree and were unharmed.

The home of J. H. Peak, a four-room cottage at Independence and Overton avenues was overturned and split in two. Mr. Peak is manager of the Fairmount Lumber company. His wife is the bookkeeper. They were in the office when the storm broke. Their household goods were scattered over the neighborhood. A big heating stove was blown nearly a hundred yards.

The Fairmount park spur of the electric line will be out of service some time on account of the storm. The tracks are blocked with big trees, pieces of houses and other debris. Trolley poles and wires were blown down.

A fortunate circumstance attending the destruction was the absence of fires. Many lamps were burning in the wrecked houses and nearly everyone was cooking over stoves, but no fire started anywhere. In many cases, stoves were blown out of the houses into the yard and there the rain quickly extinguished all flames.

The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.  Thank you, Jenni!

TO THE CELLAR JUST IN TIME.

The Addintons, in the First House Struck, Barely Escaped.

The family of W. M. Addington at 657 Arlington avenue, just north of Chicago & Alton railway tracks were the storm’s first victims. The Addingtons heard it coming and ran to the basement. The next moment an “L” bedroom was blown from the house. Pictures and clothing hanging on the inner wall of the room were undisturbed. Everything else in it was carried away.

“It was all over in a minute,” Mrs. Addington said. “It struck the house before we could get to the bottom of the cellar steps and then everything was quiet again.”

The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.  Thank you, Jenni!

BEAT THE STORM THREE HOURS

Two of the Victims Bought Tornado Insurance at 3 O’Clock.

S. M. Bird was moving into his new house at Independence and Overton avenue yesterday. On the next lot east of him George R. Baker was building a new home. At 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon both went down town and took out tornado insurance on their dwellings.

“I had been intending to take out the insurance for some days,” Mr. Baker said this morning, “but I hadn’t had time to attend to it. Yesterday afternoon the rain was so bad I couldn’t work, so I went down and took out the policy and Mr. Bird went along and got his.”

One house was wrecked and the other damaged.

An amazing escape from death was that of Mr. and Mrs. Newton Bird, the parents of S. M. Bird. They were at supper in a one-story addition to their house on Independence avenue near Overton avenue, when the storm struck. A brick chimney crashed through the roof of the dining room carrying the whole roof with it. Mr. Bird was taken out uninjured. Mrs. Bird was struck by the falling timbers, but her injuries are not dangerous.

The Kansas City Times, Kansas City, MO 15 May 1909

Transcribed by Jenni Lanham.  Thank you, Jenni!

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