USA > Iowa > Calhoun County > Pomeroy > The story of a storm, a history of the great tornado at Pomeroy, Calhoun County, Iowa, July 6, 1893 > Part 10
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failed to get rendered us some very good service. Several persons having slight injuries were examined and were then taken to the homes of their friends.
" Friday afternoon a relief train brought a delegation of surgeons and nurses from Sioux City, Cherokee and Storm Lake, who, disregarding the previous organiza- tion, called a meeting of surgeons and established sur- geons' headquarters in the lumber office near the rail- road. Dr. E. Hornibrook, of Cherokee, was chosen chairman, and Dr. R. F. Condiff, of Sioux City, secre- tary. Doctor Jepsen, of Sioux City, was elected surgeon- in-chief. I do not remember the assignments made at the time, only that Doctor Edgar and myself were left in charge of the Richards Hotel 'hospital.' Up to this time we had been short of clothing for the patients, but on Saturday a good supply was received, and from that time until the hospital was broken up and the patients taken either to their homes or to the Sioux City hos- pitals, we had sheets, pillow cases and night robes suf- ficient for a change every day. Let me say here that Mrs. Van Dorne, of Sioux City, who had charge of the wardrobe for our hospital, did some very efficient work.
" We had been greatly annoyed by the crowds of sight- seers, and it was almost impossible for nurses to attend to their duties properly. Seeing this, I went to headquar- ters and reported the facts, when I was authorized to use such means as were at hand to keep the crowd out. I made our want known to Captain King, of Company G, and he kindly placed guards at the front and rear entrances to the hotel, which helped us greatly, although at times causing considerable dissatisfaction, for, when the relief came and a new man was put on guard duty he would stop everybody, and even the landlord, Mr. Rankin, and his family were often annoyed by being
-
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compelled to have some of the surgeons pass them in when they had been out and the guard had been changed during their absence. But, for all this, we could have done little good for our patients had not the visitors been kept out.
" On Sunday morning a regular nurse corps was organized, with J. Sims head nurse for the day, and H. Larson head nurse for the night, these two gentlemen and Mr. Mclaughlin having been granted a week's leave of absence from the hospital at Independence, Iowa, to go to Pomeroy and do what they could for the sufferers, and by their able assistance we were enabled to thor- oughly systematize our nurse work and keep our clinical reports in an intelligible manner. Day nurses began their work at 8 o'clock in the morning and were relieved at 8 o'clock in the evening by the night nurses. Follow- ing is the list of patients in our charge, with their nurses :
"August Meyer, aged fifteen, fracture of fifth and sixth ribs on left side, puncturing thoracic cavity, with extensive internal hemorrhage and emphysema, in region below axilla. Patient was considered in a critical condi- tion, but gradually improved and was in a fair way to recover, until the evening of July 17. On this evening, after taking nourishment he had slept quietly for a half hour when he suddenly sprang out of bed and ran across the room, then awakening he returned to the cot on which he had been lying, on which he fell. Secondary hemorrhage setting in, he died in a few minutes. His mother had been his nurse since the storm, with the assistance of Aunt Becky Young, of Des Moines, who has a historical record for her efficient nurse work in Secretary Tracy's New York regiment, 'during the rebel- lion.
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"Carrie Meyer, eighteen, scalp wound, injury to right hand and left eye and right thigh ; required nursing but a few days when she was pronounced convalescent.
" Charles Rushton, two, fracture of both tables of the skull, on right side a depression of bones with escape of about six ounces of brain matter. Owing to the extent and severity of the injury, and to the fact that the patient's body was badly bruised, an operation was not deemed advisable. Died July 7, at II o'clock P.M.
" Minnie Stankin, twenty, contusion of right eye and right side of face, right arm and shoulder badly bruised. A piece of wood had been driven into the back part of her left hand, fracturing the second metacarpal bone. Nursed by her parents, and taken home on July 13.
"Augusta Lundgren, fifteen, incision through lower lip - suffered more from shock than from severe injury. Nursed almost continuously by Mrs. D. Brown, who took her to her home in Sioux City on July 14.
" Edith Maxwell, nine, extensive scalp wound, body badly bruised.
" Isabel Maxwell, twelve, scalp wound, extensive laceration of left limb below the knee, severe wound in abdominal wall on right side. Isabel and Edith Max- well were both nursed by Misses Hattie and Carrie Hani- land and taken by them to their home in Fort Dodge, where Dr. C. H. Churchill gave them medical attention.
" Mrs. Lundgren, forty-seven, deep incision on back of neck, behind right ear ; scalp wound over left eye, injury to right leg and suffering severely from shock. On account of erysipelas setting in the day before the patients were removed to Sioux City, this lady was left in care of Miss Ida Battell, one of the Red Cross nurses.
" August Hjelm, forty-nine, dislocation of left shoulder, left side of body badly bruised and several slight scalp
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wounds. Nursed by friends, whose names I failed to get. Was taken to Sioux City and placed in St. Joseph's Hospital.
" Mrs. Hjelm, thirty-nine, severe scalp wounds, left side of head and body severely bruised. Was taken, with her husband, to hospital at Sioux City.
"Antoine Lindblad, thirty-nine, injury to back and chest, slight scratches on face and head ; was convalescent on July 10 and helped care for his children.
"Mrs. Lindblad, severe scalp wound, tongue badly lacerated, and several teetlı broken, lower lip badly lacerated, and body bruised. Several parties helped care for hier, whose names I did not learn. She was taken to Sioux City and placed in the Samaritan Home.
" Anata Lindblad, three, injury to liead and neck ; convalescent July II.
" Anna Lindblad, slight injury to left eye ; convales- cent July 10. These children were nursed by Mrs. D. L. Pratt, of Sioux City.
" James Mellor, forty, fracture of the sixth, seventh and eiglitlı ribs on right side, with hemorrhage into thoracic cavity ; was taken to Samaritan Home, Sioux City.
" Mrs. Mellor, thirty, scalp wound and suffering from nervous prostration. Taken with her husband to Samar- itan Home. Mr. and Mrs. Mellor were nursed by Rev. H. B. Clearwater, Miss Taylor, and another young lady whose name I do not now recall.
"Mrs. Jacob Paap, twenty-one, scalp wound, wounde. on face, injury to right shoulder and punctured wound in right ankle, from which was removed a piece of wood. Nursed by Miss Anna Spies.
" Nancy Rushton, fracture of left thigh, scalp wound, deep lacerated and punctured wound in right popliteal space, right hip badly bruised, and injury to back.
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Nursed by Mrs. G. W. Young and Mrs. D. L. Pratt. Was taken to Samaritan Home, Sioux City, where she died from septic poisoning.
" Randall, scalp wound; was not confined to bed, but came to hospital for meals and had head dressed every day for a week.
" Jesse Pruden, nine, incision in left ankle joint, exten- sive laceration of the calf of left leg, punctured wound in left gluteal region, with fracture of tuberosity of ischium and fracture symphysis pubis ; laceration of the muscles of right forearm, deep scalp wound on back of head, incision over left eye, passing downward across the nose where there was a fracture of nasal bones ; laceration over right eye, passing around outer margin of orbit and under the eye, and a compound fracture of the lower jaw. Nursed by Joseph Wheeler and Guy Haniland, of Fort Dodge. Was taken to Sioux City and placed in Samari- tan Home, where he was kept for two weeks and then brought back to Fonda, and the last I heard from him he was recovering."
AN INTERESTING CASE.
" This case of Jesse Pruden was the most interesting we had, from a surgical standpoint. I first saw the boy at about 3 o'clock on the morning of July 7. He was lying on a quilt near the door of the washroom of the Richards Hotel, and, to a casual observer, there was nothing to do for him but to let him die as easy as pos- sible. But, on arousing him to ascertain the extent of his injuries, I soon came to the conclusion that he still retained an unusual amount of nerve and vitality. I gave him a tablespoonful of whisky, with a little fluid extract of digitalis, washed his face as best I could and left him. At about 4 o'clock he was complaining of pain
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and I gave him a small dose of morphiia. I did not see him again until sometime during the forenoon, when we assigned him to a bed and his wounds were dressed by Dr. Edgar. On the 8th he was attended by Dr. G. E. Townsend, of Gowrie. On the 9th Dr. J. D. McVay, of Lake City, dressed his wounds and reported him doing finely. On the 10th Dr. Wheeler, of Fort Dodge, dressed his wounds, except the fracture of the jaw, which was left until afternoon, when I, with the assistance of Dr. Wheeler and his son, wired the fracture and put on a heavy leather splint which was bound in place with a four-tail bandage. This held it in good shape until the next day, when, after his other wounds having been dressed, the patient asked if the bandage could not be taken from his head, and, upon being told that it could not, he reached up with both hands and with no apparent effort on his part slipped the bandage off, which allowed the pieces of cork that had been placed between his teeth to drop back into his mouth. One of these pieces got into his throat and I had to remove it with a forceps to keep him from choking to death. I can't understand yet how he succeeded in pull- ing the bandage off, as it was wrapped tightly -but the nurses and I will ever remember his language which upon this and other occasions was more emphatic than elegant. His father said the boy had never had an opportunity to go to school much, but I think all who had anything to do with poor 'Jess' will agree with me that the extent of his vocabulary was something wonder- ful. On Tuesday, the 11th, his wounds were dressed by Dr. H. D. Ensign, of Boone, and the patient was appar- ently doing nicely. Drs. M. F. Patterson, of Fonda, and H. D. Ensign and A. A. Deering, of Boone, had charge during the night of the 11th. At about 10 o'clock Jess complained of severe pain in the left hip. The three
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doctors held council over him and decided to administer chloroform and explore the wound in the gluteal region, which they did, and, on making a deep exploratory inci- sion, they found a pièce of wood two inches in length, by one and a third inches in diameter, which in its pass- age had severed a piece of the bone as smoothly as the surgeon could have sawed it. Another splinter which had been previously removed had passed forward and up- ward, fracturing the pubic bone, near the symphysis. After the operation the patient dropped into a quiet sleep, and, from that time until he was taken to Sioux City, gradually improved. During all his suffering Jess dis- played more nerve and true grit than it would seem pos- sible for a piece of humanity of his size to contain. Neither was he without well defined ideas of thrift. He had lost all his clothing in the storm, and he wouldn't take medicine nor allow the surgeons to dress his wounds unless we paid him tribute. When taken to Sioux City he had $6.60 that he had received in this way. I asked him what he would do with his money and he said he 'guessed it was none of my d-d business,' but, when in better humor, said he would get some clothes and 'not go around Sioux City without any pants on.'
"James Mellor was the Bill Nye of all our patients. This, he claimed, was the sixth tornado through which he had passed, and his description of his experiences was at times quite interesting and amusing.
" Too much cannot be said in praise of the nurses who did such excellent and untiring work in caring for the sufferers at the Richards Hotel -and I am informed that at the other hospitals there were those who did just as faithful and efficient work. From the hospital at Inde- pendence, Iowa, were Ella Blade, E. E. Wiggin, Dr. J. Sims, H. Larson, McLaughlin ; from Sioux City, Mrs.
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D. L. Pratt, Mrs. G. W. Young, Mrs. Dr. Brown, Mrs. W. F. Thomas ; Mrs. Dr. Smith, of Des Moines ; Charles Whitney, of Fonda ; Misses Hattie and Carrie Haniland and Joseph Wheeler, of Fort Dodge; Anna Spies, of Pomeroy ; Rev. H. B. Clearwater, of Jolley, and Agnes Spangler, of Gowrie.
" Patients were all suffering severely from shock when taken in charge at the hospital, and, in addition to the wounds they had received, there was an inactive condition of all the organs of the body, and in many cases a semi- comatose condition, the victims not realizing for several days what had happened nor where they were. While it looked like severe usage for a wounded person to lie in wet clothing, with a wet quilt for a bed, for twelve to fourteen hours, yet I have since thought and now believe that in some cases it was rather beneficial than otherwise, as the cold, wet clothing to a certain extent kept the tem- perature down and thereby mitigated the ill effects of a raging fever following reaction.
" The physicians who assisted us and rendered note- worthy service at our hospital were Drs. M. F. Patterson, of Fonda ; H. D. Ensign and A. A. Deering, of Boone ; G. E. Townsend, of Gowrie; J. R. Thompson, of Jolley ; Mary Settlemyr, of Des Moines ; Wheeler, of Fort Dodge ; Smith Townsend, of Jewell Junction ; Stephens, of Storm Lake."
LOOKING FOR CAUSES AND PREVENTIONS.
" I want to get there -right there, into the business end of the storm where the tornado is generated. I want the tornado's secret, its agent, and, God helping me, I shall have it. If electricity, then we may be able to dis- sipate Jove's awful wrath and relieve our great cities of
GUARD HEADQUARTERS AT RUINED SCHOOLHOUSE, POMEROY.
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their worst nightmare, their most insidious and most implacable foes."
The man who made this bold and striking remark to a representative of the Philadelphia Press is Prof. Henry Allen Hazen, expert meteorologist of the United States Weather Bureau, who has at this writing nearly com- pleted arrangements for a series of not less than 1,000 high-altitude balloon ascensions, to be made as often as three times a day, under a new and original principle of gas conservation, with new scientific instruments made in England expressly for the purpose. If Professor Hazen has ever witnessed the workings of a real "twister," he is certainly a very brave man to venture upon the mission indicated in his remark. It has long been a dream of scientists to wrest the secret of tornado phenomena from Dame Nature, but so far the dream has been very slow of realization. Even a sure means of foretelling the appear- ance of a tornado yet remains to be discovered, and, though the scientist were on hand when the phenomena does occur, he is not likely, while riding through space on a cloud, or dodging missiles in a cellar, perhaps, to be in an ideal condition of mind for taking scientific observa- tions.
The pet theory of amateur meteorologists is that elec- tricity is the prime mover in the disturbance which is called a tornado - that the latter is nothing more nor less than a battle of electrical currents, in which wind plays a secondary and unimportant part. Facts which seem to indicate that the course of these storms is sometimes affected by railroad and telegraph lines, are cited in sup- port of this theory. One Rockwell City man asserts that he has seen two or three little tornadoes pass over the northwest corner of Calhoun county, and that they were all moving in a northeasterly direction, and all rose high
10
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in the air and lost their funnel form upon crossing the track of the Illinois Central railroad, which here runs east and west. Then it is believed by some that the zig- zag course of the Pomeroy tornado was caused, to some extent, by its having encountered a counter-current formed by the same line of railroad, it being noted that the course of the cloud seems to have been always directly east, or north of east, until nearing the railroad, when it would deflect to the south for some distance, then return north- ward again, repeating this operation a number of times before reaching Pomeroy, and the tornado cloud having " gone to pieces," as it were, after having finally crossed the railroad track a short distance east of Pomeroy. These may be only peculiar coincidences, but, in the field of human ignorance, uncertainty and speculation upon the subject in hand, they afford the basis for a theory which is "as good as any," until future ages shall find out the right. Perhaps enough such facts might be observed in connection with the Pomeroy tornado alone to justify the making of experiments along the line hinted at by Professor Hazen when he observed that "if" the secret agent of the tornado should prove to be electricity, "then we may be able to dissipate Jove's awful wrath," etc.
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THE WORK OF RELIEF.
Out of a population of 1,000 souls, only twenty-one families left with no dead or wounded of their own to care for ! That was the situation in Pomeroy on that awful night of July 6. Imagine, if you can, the field of a battle in which women and children, as well as men, had been ruthlessly_slain by a merciless foe, and you will have something of an idea of what the situation was. It seems almost a wonder that the few survivors did not become helpless from very horror. At one time it looked as though at least three-fourths of the inhabitants of the town must be seriously wounded, excepting those who
were killed outright. And at this time there was only one physician in the town, and the usual means of communi- cation with the outside world were entirely cut off. Help was needed badly and at once. Doctor Wight, the remaining physician, realized this fact, perhaps, more forcibly than anyone else, and he promptly delegated Ed Masterson, of the Pomeroy State Bank, to procure a horse and ride to Manson to notify the people there of the terrible calamity that had befallen their sister town. Mr. Masterson secured a horse at Hudson's livery barn and started on the trip, which was not an enviable one under the existing conditions. Rain was falling in torrents, accompanied by hail, and the roadway was almost blocked in places by piles of débris. Reaching Purgatory creek, one and a half miles east of town, he found the bridge had been washed out, and his horse
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refused to venture through the flood. Dismounting, he attempted to cross on foot on a timber that remained of the broken bridge, but fell into the water and had to swim ashore. Just as he reached the opposite side he heard the whistle of an engine and at once started for the railroad track, which was only a few rods distant from this point. By taking off his coat and waving it vigor- ously, he succeeded in flagging the train which proved to be a special, on which were Vice-President J. T. Harahan and Division Superintendent C. K. Dixon, of the Illinois Central Railroad. Masterson was a very hard looking personage at this time, and the railroad officials hardly knew whether to take him for an escaped lunatic or a mischievous tramp. He was almost exhausted from the exposure and unusual exertion, but succeeded in inform- ing them that Pomeroy had been blown in pieces and that surgeons and chloroform must be had at once. Messrs. Harahan and Dixon could hardly credit the story, but they wisely concluded that it were better to not take the chances of its being untrue, and immediately ordered their train back to Manson. There they secured all the physicians in the town and as many nurses and helpers as could be found on short notice, and wired the news to Fort Dodge, with orders for a special train to come out from there with further help and supplies. Pending the arrival of the second train, the ringing of the fire bell in Manson brought out almost the entire population of that little city, and a large force of willing workers was organized to join the Fort Dodge delegation in rendering aid to the victims of the terrible catastrophe.
In the meantime J. W. McKeen had volunteered to ride to the town of Jolley, seven miles southwest, for help. He was fortunate in having a fearless steed, and the journey was accomplished, without any serious
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mishap, in about forty minutes time. The first man Mr. McKeen encountered upon his arrival was Dr. J. R. Thompson, Jolley's only physician and surgeon, who had just returned from a call in the country. Upon being notified of Pomeroy's misfortune the doctor mounted a horse and rode post haste to the scene of disaster. He was followed by some fifteen or twenty of his fellow- townsmen, who did noble work in caring for their help- less neighbors.
A WILD RIDE.
Upon the return to Pomeroy of the special train bring- ing the first relief from Manson, night had settled on the sickening scene. And a wild, terrible- night it was. Wind, rain and hail combined in a tempest whose fury seemed almost equal to that of the tornado itself. The force of surgeons and helpers on the ground was yet much too small to cope with the great amount of work before them, and Superintendent Dixon decided that the " Clip- per " express train-then due in Pomeroy within five minutes - must be flagged and sent back to Fonda for help from that town. It might be that the " Clipper " was a few minutes behind time, and, there being no time to waste in waiting for trains, Mr. Dixon climbed on the engine pulling their special and ordered the engineer to " cut loose " and make the best time he could toward Fonda until they should sight the headlight of the incom- ing train. The engineer thought this was a rash pro- cedure, but, upon his chief's informing him that he intended to remain with him and help watch for the " Clipper's " light, there was no time lost in considering the matter. Mr. Dixon held his watch in his hand and directed the engineer to run for three minutes at the best speed of which his engine was capable. The time was
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barely up when a light was seen, apparently but a short distance ahead, but investigation proved that it was from a lantern in the hands of some farmer, probably looking after stock crippled in the storm. The perilous journey with the engine was then resumed, though at a more moderate rate of speed, and Fonda was reached in due time, to find that the "Clipper" was several minutes late. It was discovered here that the disaster had been more far-reaching than had at first been supposed, and the Fonda physicians and many others were in the country caring for the injured in that vicinity. But a small party was made up, nevertheless, and sent down on the "Clip- per." After the train had gone Superintendent Dixon went to look for his engine on which to return to Pome- roy, and found that it likewise had gone- the engineer having thought that he, Dixon, would return on the train. Mr. Dixon then hunted up the section men and started to make the return trip on a handcar, and came very near having a serious collision - for in- the mean- time his engineer had discovered lıis mistake, and was on the way back to Fonda after the superintendent, when the unexpected meeting of engine and handcar occurred on the way.
Messrs. Harahan and Dixon remained at Pomeroy as long as their presence was needed, and also placed at the disposal of the stricken town the service of the Illinois Central Railroad so far as it could be of any benefit to the sufferers.
A NIGHT OF TERROR.
The artist whose professional instincts led him to gloat over the death agonies of a fellow mortal, is quoted as having exclaimed : "Ah ! that I could but paint a dying groan." More than this would be required of the pen
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that would picture the terrors of that night of July 6 in Pomeroy, where the heartaches of the physically unin- jured oftentimes equaled the sufferings of those whose · mangled bodies could not much longer contain the breath of life. Men, women and children were tortured in nearly, if not quite, all the cruel modes that the ingen- ious savage could contrive-for, while none were con- sumed by flames, yet many were badly scorched and burned by the subtle fluid accompanying the death-deal- ing tornado. Some had rough stakes thrust into their bodies to a depth of several inches ; some had members crushed or broken or almost torn from their bodies, while others were scalped in a fashion that a Sioux Indian might not disdain the credit for - one lady's scalp was torn back on top of her head and then a nail had been driven an inch or more into the tender place left open. People were rushing to and fro, frantic with grief and anxiety, searching for missing relatives or friends, but with the majority their grief was too overwhelming for expression in words or cries.
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