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 12
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dead bodies of animals. There was never a surplus of helpers for this kind of work. Toward night the crowds began to leave on the outgoing trains, and when darkness settled down few remained but the residents of the town and those who were actually engaged in doing something for the relief of the sufferers. At 9 o'clock the night police, appointed especially for guarding the property, went on duty, and Company G also continued on guard duty, being relieved every three hours. The streets were very dark, and the only light came dimly flickering through store windows or from a hand-lantern carried by some searcher in the thoroughfares. At the surgeons' headquarters there were frequent inquiries for doctors, and every want was supplied. There was a great deartlı of sleeping places at this time, and many of the doctors, nurses and volunteer helpers had no rest except that obtained in a chair or lying on the bare floor.
On Saturday the scenes were very much the same as those of the day before, except that better organization was effected and more thorough work accomplished. Crowds of the curious continued to pour in on every train, but a system of passes was adopted and placed under the direction of Superintendent Hotchkiss, and none were allowed on the grounds among the ruins but those who had business there.
Several of the railroads arranged to run special trains on Sunday, for the accommodation of those who desired to visit the ruined town, but the authorities at Pomeroy considered that the presence of the immense crowd that would be inevitable might tend to make worse the condi- tion of some of the badly wounded, and requested the Illinois Central railroad to run no trains on that day. This road kindly complied with the request, but yet several thousand people came in that day by private
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conveyances, some 1,500 coming from Des Moines and towns along the Des Moines, Northern & Western rail- way to Twin Cuts, Jolley and Fonda, and thence across the country on foot or in any kind of conveyance that could be obtained. To accommodate the sight-seers the officials decided to have a parade, and at about 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon the procession started from the east part of town. A newspaper account describes it as a wonder- ful parade, people riding in every conceivable convey- ance, some on bicycles and the remainder walking. The committee stationed a man on either side of the road with a hat to solicit the crowd for contributions to the relief fund. About $200 was realized. The procession, headed by the militia, passed through all the town and viewed with evident interest the scenes of destruction. There were 250 teams in line and over 7,000 people. Most of them were farmers from the surrounding country, some having driven thirty miles or more.
Of the trials of the Des Moines people who came to view the wreck that day the Leader of July 1I said :
" Though it was widely published that the Des Moines, Northern & Western would not, owing to the refusal of the Illinois Central to handle it, run a train any further toward Pomeroy than Fonda, eight miles west of the cyclone stricken town, about 600 people, all eager to go, were at the depot Sunday morning bright and early im- patiently awaiting the departure of the train for Fonda, at which place many of them expected to engage vehicles and drive to Pomeroy. Colonel Martin was much sur- prised when he saw the number of people who wanted to go, and ordered three additional coaches attached to the train. These were comfortably filled, but when the train had passed three stations the standing room had become exhausted, and there being no more coaches at hand the
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capacity of the train was increased by the addition of three cattle cars, which were quickly filled. Soon coaches and box cars were covered on the roofs and sides with a dense mass of humanity that looked like a swarm of bees had settled on the train. At Redfield, Jefferson and inter- mediate , towns hundreds were at the depots, but were compelled to give up the trip because there was no room on the train for them. Arriving at Fonda about noon and learning that there would be 110 train over the Illinois Central to Pomeroy that day, the cheerful idiots, to the number of about 400, struck boldly out on foot and walked to the scene of the cyclone's desolation. Mean- time, 2,000 or 3,000 people, most of them fromn adjacent towns, and farmers living within a radius of twenty miles, had swarmed into Pomeroy, and provisions being scarce the swarm of invaders who came only as sightseers could get nothing to eat, and the Des Moines contingent were compelled to undergo an enforced fast until their return to Fonda five hours later. They had eaten nothing since leaving Des Moines in the morning, had walked sixteen miles, and on reaching Fonda they were almost famished. They cleaned up everything edible, and would have eaten the cooks had they not escaped. The train arrived in the city Monday morning at 2 o'clock with about 500 of the most fagged out and totally discouraged people on earth."
CAPTURING A TRAIN.
Such episodes as that of capturing a railroad train are not uncommon in war times, but it remained for County Attorney E. C. Stevenson, of Rockwell City, to demon- strate that occasions may arise making the like possible in times of peace. For some reason news of the Pomeroy disaster did not reach Rockwell City until about 7:30 o'clock the morning after it occurred. Mr. Stevenson
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happened to not get down town that morning until sev- eral minutes after that time, and when he heard the ter- rible news every procurable conveyance in the town had been taken by parties going to the wrecked city. About the time he discovered this state of affairs, a freight train on the Des Moines, Northern & Western railway pulled into the town from the north. Mr. Stevenson went imme- diately to the depot and informed the trainmen that they must go back to Fonda to convey to that place fifty or more Rockwell City people who wanted to go to Pomeroy. The trainmen informed him they could not do that with- out "orders," and there was no chance of their getting the orders. But Stevenson dispatched to headquarters for permission to run the train back to Fonda. Then, without waiting for a reply, went and notified the people of the town that a train was going to start for Fonda within fifteen minutes, and requesting all who could to go to the relief of Pomeroy. A crowd was soon at the depot, bearing such supplies as they thought might be · needed, and permission was received for the train to take them as far on their way as Fonda, the junction of the Des Moines, Northern & Western with the Illinois Cen- tral railroad. Arrived there, Mr. Stevenson telegraphed the Illinois Central trainmaster and secured the services of an engine and stock car from that road to transport the party the remaining distance to Pomeroy.
DISPOSING OF DEAD ANIMALS.
One of the greatest needs at Pomeroy directly after the storm was for workmen to assist in disposing of the dead bodies of animals. The grounds were literally strewn with remains of the brute creation, for every alley in the town had been swept clean - hardly a barn having been left standing, even in localities where little other
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damage was done - and the destruction of animal life had been even comparatively greater than that of human life. It may well be imagined, therefore, that the dis- posal of these bodies, in which so soon began the process of decay, aided by the intense, melting heat of the July sun, was decidedly a vexed problem. It was a work that many, very many, shrank from engaging in, and it was soon discovered that its accomplishment in time to avert serious consequences would require a great amount of labor, with skilled management. As soon as County Attorney Stevenson had arrived on the scene he was placed at the head of this work, with full control over the ruined district and authority to use the credit of the town to its utmost limit, and adopt any means he saw fit . to accomplish the "cleaning up" in the shortest time possible. It was at first thought best to bury the car- cases, but this was found to be impracticable and crema- tion was resorted to, with final success, but not without encountering many serious difficulties. The débris from- wrecked buildings was used for fuel, and a dozen barrels of coal oil were also consumed before the work was fin- ished.
To make sure that the sanitary conditions in Pomeroy were correct, Superintendent Hotchkiss asked Governor Boies to send there the chairman of the State Board of Health, to make a personal investigation and issue such orders for the further prosecution of the work of cleaning up as he might deem advisable. This was done, and Dr. J. B. Hubbell, field agent of the American Red Cross society, superintended in detail the carrying out of the board of health official's directions. Another prominent worker in this department was Congressman J. P. Dolli- ver, of Fort Dodge. That there was not a period of marked unhealthfulness, if not an epidemic, in Pomeroy
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following the tornado, was no doubt due to the fact that this important part of the relief work was placed in such competent hands and attended to so promptly and thoroughly. Even after the dead animals were all dis- posed of there yet remained immense quantities of refuse matter scattered everywhere. One could hardly gain an adequate idea of the situation in this regard without hav- ing seen it. The town appropriated $150 for this work alone and hundreds of days' work were wholly donated. Thomas Miller, of Pomeroy, acted as superintendent of the cleaning-up gangs of workmen, and filled the position creditably.
IN THE HOSPITALS.
The hospitals in Pomeroy after the disaster were un- like the hospitals that anyone had ever seen before, unless it were near a battlefield or where a disaster similar to this had occurred. They were all badly crowded and were not supplied with the conveniences one is wont to see about places where the afflicted in body are to be cared for. Some of the wounded were lying on quilts spread on the floor, while others occupied cots, tables, benches, and anything that could be improvised for the purpose. But skilled surgeons, and nurses- both profes- sional and inexperienced - were at hand to administer to the needs of their suffering fellows as best they could under the circumstances, and the results would almost seem to indicate that nature sometimes repents her deeds of violence and steps in with remedies of her own to restore that which she herself has shattered. The condi- tions and surroundings in the Pomeroy hospitals were not such as any surgeon's scientific learning or the knowl- edge of experience would lead him to choose for a badly wounded patient, yet, with few exceptions, the patients
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here seemed to do as well as they could have done any- where else. A dispatch to the daily press, under date of July II, said :
"The wounded are all doing well-wonderfully well - when the extent of their injuries is taken into account. They can only be compared to the injuries inflicted by savages in their unnatural fury. When the awful wounds were dressed even the nurses, used to such sights, turned away sick, and two of them fainted away and had to be carried out of the wards. The wounds are mostly of a bloody nature, consisting of incisions of the head and body made by flying splinters. One man had his scalp nearly taken off, and when he was found it had flapped back, as if an Indian had started to take his hair and been surprised at the job just before he had finished. The case was that of Michael Quinlan, the section hand, who lost his wife and child. Another man, a teamster, named Joseph Demar, has two incisions in his back, the size of a saucer, and so deep that it takes over two yards of gauze to fill up the wound. There are numerous other injuries that have required the utmost skill of the surgeons, and operations that are only attempted as a last resort liave been performed with wonderful success. No amputations have yet been made.
" One of the most critical cases is that of Roy Keefer, a young man of eighteen years. The house that he was in was smashed to kindling wood and two of the occu- pants killed outright. Keefer lay out in the wet half the night, and it was twenty-four hours after the cyclone that the surgeons removed the rung of a chair from the poor fellow's back. He has been delirious nearly all the time since, and his recovery is doubtful, though a wonderful constitution may pull him through. 'At least twenty of the injured are small children, a few are babies in arms,
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Most of the little ones are suffering from scalp wounds, and almost without exception one of their limbs is broken. It is a pitiful scene to see them lying on their cots, their heads done up in cotton wool and bandages, their little limbs in splints. Their cries and groans often disturb even the serenity of the doctors, and the nurses often turn away with tear-bedimmed eyes. The most touching case is that of the little boy Gieke, who lies in the big tent hospital with a wound in the head and a broken leg. No kith or kin attend at his bedside, his mother and father having been killed. The boy is a favorite with the nurses, however, and every attention is shown him."
During the first three days and nights after the storm the surgeons and nurses were greatly overworked, but after that new relays arrived in sufficient force for a reasonable amount of rest to be taken by those who had worked so hard. Tents were provided for sleeping places, and though there were 110 spring mattresses or sheets, yet a comfortable shake-down awaited the weary watchers when relief came. The private car of Vice- President Harahan, of the Illinois Central, was placed at the disposal of the relief committee during this time, and many of the doctors and nurses found luxurious repose in its comfortable berths.
One of the remarkable things in connection with the storm is that among so many severe injuries so few ampu- tations were found necessary-only three having been reported the entire length of the tornado's track, and but one of these was in Pomeroy, it being the case of Mrs. N. Fecht, who had a very bad wound four inches in length between the right ankle and knee. She did not with- stand the operation. Very few of the tornado's victims were crippled for life.
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The supplies of medicines for the Pomeroy hospitals were furnished mainly by the physicians. Each doctor who came brought a well-filled case with him, and, upon leaving, left what medicines he had not himself used. Bandages by the barrel were required for dressing the many wounds. From two to four people were kept busy making bandages, and, besides, large quantities were sent in already made.
After the first day or two the management succeeded in getting order out of chaos so that the hospitals were run quite systematically. At the doors were stationed guards who allowed none to enter except such as could show that they had business there ; the nurses were all registered, going on duty in relays, with watches of twelve hours each, and the surgeons were required to make reports at regular intervals, at surgical headquar- . ters. £ Complete records were kept, therefore, by secre- taries appointed for that purpose, but these records disap- peared at the time the wounded were removed to Sioux City hospitals and much interesting data it is now impos- sible to obtain. The militiamen doing duty as hospital guards, and those guarding the ruined district as well, were very strict in carrying out their orders. Even Chief Surgeon Jepson received a stab from a bayonet one night when, in the course of duty, he thoughtlessly attempted to pass the lines without giving the password.
The physicians who were registered up to July 8 were as follows :
J. W. Somers, Callendar, Iowa; F. E. Seymour, Fort Dodge; W. E. Green, Webster City ; E. H. Kin- ney, Humboldt ; J. J. Millar, Sioux City ; A. M. Browne, Sioux City ; H. S. Miner, Fort Dodge; D. W. Wight, Pomeroy ; R. H. Heros, Rock River City ; R. W. Cavett, Lake City ; C. I. Burt, Lake City ; M. S. Butler, Chero-
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kee ; W. W. McMackin, Lake City ; J. D. McVay, Lake City ; O. H. Wright, Pomeroy ; W. T. Speaker, Manson ; A. W. Stevens, Storm Lake; F. E. Devereaux, Fort Dodge; R. Evans, Fort Dodge; J. N. Warren, Sioux City ; C. J. Sanders, Fort Dodge ; R. E. Conniff, Sioux City ; Edwin Hornibrook, Cherokee; J. J. Schlawig, Sioux City ; D. J. Townsend, Lohrville ; D. W. Edgar, Fonda ; J. S. Nelson, Fort Dodge; J. R. Thompson, Jolley ; H. Mullarkey, Jr., Manson ; A. L. Belt, Gilmore City ; L. R. Cleaves, Cherokee ; G. E. Townsend, Gow- rie ; A. A. Prall, Pilot Mound ; Drs. Schott, Hoyt, John- son, Jepson, Browne, Wade, Murphy, Rich, Bergen, Parke, Sioux City ; C. F. Swenson, Melbourne.
There were more than sixty nurses who did regular duty, but the losing of the records makes it impossible to give the list of names.
REMOVING THE WOUNDED FROM POMEROY.
As has been said before, the patients in the Pomeroy hospitals mended rapidly and did remarkably well in every way, considering the surroundings and the lack of proper facilities for doing the work, but as the weary days and nights dragged by, the continued hot weather and the fact that the care of so many seriously wounded patients precluded the possibility of making any material or permanent improvements in the surroundings admon- ished those in charge that a radical change might be effected to the advantage of all concerned. It was accord- ingly decided that fifty of the most seriously wounded, or about one-third of the whole number being cared for at Pomeroy, should be removed to the Samaritan Home and St. Joseph's Hospital, at Sioux City. The distance from Pomeroy to Sioux City by rail is a little more than one hundred miles, and some were afraid that the journey.
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would be too much for many of the patients, but, with the precautions taken by those who had the work in hand, the removal was accomplished with splendid success.
On July 12, Superintendent Hotchkiss wired the Pull- man Car Company to send two sleeping cars to Pomeroy to be used in transporting the wounded to Sioux City. The cars were sent at once and their use freely donated by the company. On the evening of July 14 it was announced that the hospital train was in readiness, and at about 8 o'clock the work of carrying the patients 011 stretchers from the hospitals to the train was begun. For this purpose three state tents had been cut up and made into stretchers by the Des Moines ladies who were making a specialty of doing needlework for the sufferers. · So much depended upon the success of this removal of the wounded that everyone in Pomeroy was deeply inter- ested in the proceedings, and no other business was going on in the town from the time that this work was begun until, at about II P.M., it was announced that all the patients were comfortably ensconced in their berths, and, without the ringing of a bell or the blowing of a whistle, the solemn-appearing hospital train moved out almost noiselessly with its load of mangled humanity.
The proceedings of this night brought more sadness to the hearts of many of the physicians and nurses than they had before experienced in their work. They were to be relieved from very onerous duties, it was true, but now, about the first occasion they had had to stop and think over matters seriously, they realized that they had become attached to the patients with whom they had worked so hard and whose fate, it seemed, had been almost left in their hands, and the responsibility was not given over to others with the feeling of relief that they had anticipated. The measured tramp, tramp of the helpers as they con-
A STREET SCENE IN POMEROY.
From Copyright Photo by Garrison, Ft. Dodge.
WHERE A BARN ONCE STOOD.
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veyed their precious burdens from hospital to train sounded to the sensitive ones much like a death march, and the flickering light of numerous lanterns, occasionally giving one a glimpse of a tired, drawn face, whiter than the stretcher upon which it lay, only added to the serious- ness of the scene.
The hospital train was made up of the two Pullman sleepers, an ordinary day coach and a baggage car. In the latter was a well-appointed restaurant to provide anything in the culinary line that might be needed on the way. The train moved slowly the entire distance and without making unnecessary noise, arriving in Sioux City at 6 o'clock on the morning of July 15. 'Stops were made at Fonda, where some doctors got off and a supply of bread was secured that had been telegraphed for, and at Storm Lake. Just as the train arrived in the union depot at Sioux City, Ed. Doyle, one of the wounded, breathed his last. Doyle's case had not been looked upon as serious by the physicians and his death was a great surprise. His principal injury was a bad contusion of the leg, in which gangrene had set in, and the poison probably reached his heart, immediate death resulting. Ed. Flaherty, a brother-in-law, and J. W. Clancey, a friend, accompanied Doyle on the train, and they returned to Pomeroy with the body the same evening, where it was buried the following day.
Numerous wagons, the police ambulance and other vehicles were at the Sioux City depot to help convey the wounded to the hospitals, and by II o'clock all of them had been removed. A large crowd of spectators was at the depot, and the services of a detail of police were required to keep the sight-seers from interfering with the work. Senator E. E. Mack had charge of affairs, as rep- resenting the relief committee, and Dr. Jepson, the chief
12
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surgeon, directed the movements of nurses and helpers. Sixteen of the wounded went to the Samaritan Home and the rest to St. Joseph's hospital, and details of physi- cians were sent to care for them. Drs. White, Reynolds and Barnard went to the former hospital, and Drs. Boot, Settlemeyer and Stevenson to the latter. The doctors were all volunteers in the work, and they remained with the wounded for some time. Dr. Reynolds is a lady physician of Des Moines, and Mrs. Dr. Settlemeyer is of the same place. Dr. Barnard's home is at Independence. Dr. Boot lives at Vermillion, and Stevenson at Sioux Falls.
The patients taken to the Samaritan Home were :
Jesse Pruden, large wound on leg, fractured jaw, large pelvis wound ; considered precarious.
Mrs. Rushton, fracture of femur, wound in sacral region.
Mrs. Lindblad, wounds on head and body.
Mr. Thomas, fractured ribs.
Mrs. Thomas, wounds on ankle.
J. W. Black, contused wounds.
Mrs. Black, slight contusions.
Black children, two girls and one boy, all fractured arms and cuts.
Mary Soderstrum, fractured arm.
Linda Oleson, deep contusion of body.
Mrs. Blomberg, wounds on face, severe contusions.
Dena Blomberg, fractured skull.
Della Blomberg, contusions of face.
Roy Keifer, deep wounds in back, contusion of skull. Those taken to St. Joseph's Hospital were :
Jacob Paap, wound of arm.
Mrs. Paap, ankle wounded.
John Koklantz, slight contusions.
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Mrs. Koklantz, fractured rib.
Koklantz baby, lacerated wounds.
Henry Werefe, fractured skull. Frank Forche, broken arms.
Arthur Forche, fractured femur. Mrs. Geicke, exsected coccyx and sacrum.
Henry Geicke, fractured femur.
Joe DeMarr, compound fracture of ribs, wound in back, pleuritic effusion.
James Mellor, fractured ribs.
Mrs. Mellor, slight wounds.
Mrs. Gilbert, part of backbone removed, sacrum.
Mr. Fitzgerald, fracture of arm.
Mrs. Fitzgerald, compound fracture of arms.
Michael Quinlan, scalp wounds.
Mrs. Linder, extensive wounds on leg.
Linder children, boy and girl, lacerated wounds.
Mr. Loll, lacerated shoulder.
Mr. Harmon, lacerations.
Emma Harmon, wounds on head.
Helen George, broken leg, lacerated head.
Arthur George, lacerated head.
Mrs. Maxwell, bruised and lacerated.
August Hjelm, head and shoulder injured.
Lottie Hjelm, shoulder, back and head injured.
Baby George, lacerated wounds on right thigh.
George Guy, contusions.
Mrs. George Guy, contusions.
Miss Addie Guy, slight wounds.
Of those who entered the Sioux City hospitals, Joe De Mar, Roy Keifer, Mrs. Rushton and Mrs. Giecke died within a week or ten days after their arrival. At the end of two months all of the others had sufficiently recovered to be able to return to their homes. The
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patients on departing expressed sincere gratitude to the hospital management and to the people of Sioux City for their humane conduct in a time of need.
THE SITUATION IMPROVING.
While in Sioux City on this mission of looking after the removal of the wounded, Senator Mack talked to a Tribune reporter as follows :
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