Last Sunday evening about 6:30 o'clock a general storm of very varying severity swept over this county coming up from the south and southwest. After it reached a given point the wind at that point was sometimes from the south, sometimes from the southeast, or southwest, while the results were quite as various.
In Golden Belt, Valley, a part of Vesper township, and in Indiana, Elkhorn, Franklin and Beaver townships and the southern part of Marion there was rainfall that ranged all the way from heavy to tremendous downpour of an hour's duration.
On Spring Creek and upper Bullfoot there was a large amount of hail fell, but the damage was very slight compared with the volume of hail. It generally fell almost perpendicularly, which accounts for the damage done being no greater.
Spring Creek, Mule Creek and Bullfoot, lying in Golden Belt, Vesper, Indiana and the western part of Elkhorn townships, ran bank full within two hours after the rain began.
Daniel Vonada, on upper Bullfoot, sustained considerable damage done to his wheat. James Farquharson's wheat was also badly injured, in the same neighborhood.
Eyewitnesses declare that the sudden rush of water on Spring Creek brought down a large quantity of hail, which accumulated in an eddy just above the bridge at Jacob Grubb's place. The water receded quickly, leaving a drift of hail which was four feet deep at 9 o'clock Monday morning. If this hail had come with a gale behind it the entire neighborhood would have been devastated beyond any power of recuperating this year.
On Bullfoot eight miles southwest of Lincoln, the lower story of W.E. Marsh's house was flooded four feet deep. It takes a perpendicular raise of 20 feet to reach the doorsill, so the entire rise was 24 feet straight. Bullfoot has done this twice for Mr. Marsh since his house was built. The house has a two-story elevation on a creek side, the cellar being a "bank cellar," on a level with the first story. From the upland side the house appears as a one-story structure. The family removed nearly everything upstairs, out of the reach of the water, but the inconvenience of cleaning up after the water fell was great, of course.
George Veitengruber, living four miles southwest of Lincoln, had a large field of wheat flooded, pat of it being under three feet of water. A portion of his place had hail lying four inches deep on a general average. All his fruit is almost completely destroyed,
On upper Bullfoot, in Vesper township, the creek rose 12 feet. Wheat was damaged some by hail, but not much of it was hurt seriously, according to Clerk Rahmeier. In that vicinity there was considerable corn washed out.
W.H. Haywood of Valley had 500 peach trees loaded with fruit and there was very little left when the storm had passed over. That constitutes his principal damage.
J.R. Wolford of south Indiana had a late planting of four bushels of kaffir seed washed out. His wheat was somewhat damaged.
Mrs. Reinhardt of Valley township, lost 20 hogs and a lot of chickens by hail, and the hail caused a great deal of suffering among the stock.
One of the Dresselhauses, living on upper Bullfoot, on Monday morning found a cow down, with hail drifted about her until she was unable to get up. Mr. Dresselhaus had to shovel her out. A part of Mr. Dresselhaus' fence was washed away by the flood and an embankment of hail was left in its place of which enough remained on Wednesday to turn stock.
Conrad Dunki the nurseryman, had hogs and chickens swept away.
The senior editor of The Beacon saw a nine-foot embankment of hail and trash Wednesday noon ' what remained of a drift 18 feet high, on the farm of Jacob Weidman, the famous Bullfoot nurseryman. A waterspout (probably) brought a great flood of water tearing down Bullfoot, and at a certain place the current set in against a natural embankment of earth, forming an eddy out of which the water had to back. When the water had receded Monday morning there stood a mass of impacted hail stones (with some debris) 18 feet high and 40 by 25 feet on the ground. Wednesday noon half that mass of ice remained ' a pile nine feet high, with only trash enough mixed through it to be noticeable.
M. Moss of Franklin, estimated that if all went well he would have 300 bushels of peaches. Nearly every peach was knocked off and pounded into the ground, and a good prospect for an apple crop vanished in the same way.
In Franklin township G.E. and Ira Smith, brothers, had nearly all their fruit beaten off the trees. They estimate that about 10 percent of the fruit on the trees before the storm remains.
Only a little rain fell in the northern part of Marion township.
M.A. Jackson, three miles west of Lincoln, had his wheat badly damaged by hail, but it is thought that it will recuperate in a great degree.
T.F. Brann's place joins M.A. Jackson's. His garden was almost ruined, apple and peach trees badly skinned and the fruit knocked off.
J.A. Melrose, on Lost Creek, had all his fruit badly damaged.
August Lundstrom lives on Yauger, half a mile northeast of town. The principal damage which he sustained was from corn washing out from an excess of rain.
In Battle Creek township scarcely any rain fell ' at some points none at all.
Along a narrow strip down Prosser and Rattlesnake creeks in Scott township, the hail seems to have fallen before a heavy wind, as a large amount of window glass was broken out, besides great damage being done to fruit and crops. C.E. Burkepile and others were severe losers.
Last Saturday evening between 7 and 8 o'clock a hail storm swept down on Highland, Golden Belt, Valley and Franklin townships, and adjacent parts of Ellsworth county, doing great and permanent damage to this season's crops.
The hail was driven by a stiff, west wind, and in some places smashed clear through shingles and siding.
The wheat, corn, gardens, fruit and window glass are utterly destroyed over most of the 144 square miles mentioned above. Sometimes one or two farms would be skipped, here and there at irregular intervals, but the devastation was sweeping in the four townships.
In places where the wind could make an "eddy" the hail would be drifted by the wind from a foot to four feet deep, while in prairie grass and in the timber, where the wind could not get tight to the ground it lay from four to six inches deep over thousands of acres.
There was the most extraordinary precipitation along the line of this storm ever recorded in the county. From four to six inches of rain fell inside of an hour. The drainage from the hills added to what fell on the open prairie made the open prairie and the fields a series of running streams headed in every direction according to the lay of the land, and from one to three feet deep.
Thousands of chickens and dozens of pigs and calves were either drowned or beaten to death by the hail. Hundreds of jack rabbits were picked up after storm, with legs and ribs broken and skulls smashed in.
Highland
This storm, as near as we can figure out, originated, or at least struck the earth as a hail and wind storm, in the southern part of Pleasant township and was headed south. It seemed to be a different "movement" from an adjacent storm in Russell county. On the township line, just inside Pleasant, all of A.T. Biggs' growing crops were cut to the ground and smashed in.
At Orbitello 14 lights were broken out of the north side windows of the church. D.O. Miller, M.B. Best, J.P. Roulston, Chas. Holle and Paul Matthews lost about everything that had that was growing. In that neighborhood the storm veered to the east and followed almost a due line eastward for 18 miles.
Golden Belt
The sufferers in Golden Belt ' those who lost everything ' were Fred Plagermann, Lewis Brust, Ed Pugh, James Allen, Patrick Gorman, George Huehl, Charles Krueger, Henry Hayman, Noah Scott, Robert Broker, H. Clinesmith, John Parli. Daniel Kottman lost 200 acres of wheat out of a total of 250 acres, but 100 acres of it was insured.
Vesper
Only the south line of Vesper, like Pleasant and Indiana, was touched, but it made a clean sweep for several miles, taking in William Rahmeier and sons, Carl Reiner, Jacob Winkler, Fred Huetter, Albert Pankau, August, Henry and William Reinert and William Krueger.
Valley
In Valley township the following farmers lost their window glass and everything they had out of doors in the way of crop products: Henry Walker (including 145 acres of wheat), Charles Walters, Fred Eckhardt, John Kottman, J.R. Wolford, Albert Hundertmark, Henry Osterman, Henry Lantz, Rudolph Voss, William Weinnelager, ---- Douglass, Henry Benien, Herman Panzer, George Walker, George Walker (nephew of first-named), Henry Walker (cousin of first-named), Barney Dohe, I.M Lyne, William and Charles Krueger, Herman Wacker, Barney Dresselhaus, William Mollenkamp, Otto Olsen and Henry Hosterman.
Indiana
A few of those enumerated for Valley live in the south edge of Indiana, among them Charles Grimm, who lost everything, along with nearly all who were struck, but 60 acres of his wheat was insured. Upon it he will receive $240, having already settled with the adjuster.
Franklin
In Franklin township the wind veered to the south-southeast, taking the force of the storm across the county line. Only the west half the township was seriously damaged, and much of the remainder was untouched. J.H. McFarland, Donley Brothers, John McDonough, Patrick Cannon, Henry Aufdemberg, William Kruckenberg, John Meier, Frank Edenburn, Ernest Hammond, Fred Noble and D.S. Mason were the heaviest losers. Mr. Mason had 125 acres of wheat utterly ruined.