Iowa Old Press
Alton Democrat, May 23, 1903
Local Occurrences:
The graduating exercises of the Alton high school takes place at the opera
house on Friday evening may twenty-ninth. There are four graduates this
year. They are the Misses Jeanette Hyink and Josie Frederiks and Messrs.
Will Stronks and Otto Lieb. The invitations were turned out of this shop and
we must say they are beauties. The program is as follows:
Choru----"Te Deum----------------------Buck
High School
‘Duet-------"Spring Song"--------------Lassen: Mary Schmidt, Mabel Gleysteen
"What Career"----------------------------Will Stronks
Boys’ Chorus------"Fisher’s Song"------Tugts
"Silent Influences--------------------------Jeanette Hyink
Trio--------"Dewy Dell"------------------Smart: Milo Gibbs, George Bowers,
Lynn Folger
"America’s Contribution to Literature"—Josie Fredriks
Chorus---------------"Sweet May"-----------------Barnby
"Wanted a Man"------------Otto V. Lieb
Presentation of Diplomas------------------
Chorus--------Good Night"--------------------King
High School
Hawarden Independent
May 28, 1903
HORSES KILLED BY GIANT HAIL
LIVESTOCK MURDERED, ROOF PIERCED BY ICY ONSLAUGHT
PILES EIGHT FEET DEEP
An Accompanying Cloudburst Drowned Cattle In Their Pastures
RAILROADS ARE TIED UP
Great Northern Passenger Stopped Eighteen Hours-Floyd and Little Sioux
Rivers Reach An Alarming Stage
Sioux City, Ia., May 26.---The Sioux City Tribune says of Sunday night's
storm:
Terrific cloudbursts and appalling hailstorms devastated Plymouth, Cherokee
and O'Brien counties Sunday and forced the Floyd and Little Sioux rivers up
to the flood stage.
Aside from flooding the valleys of these two rivers, and submerging all the
low lands of that section under lakes, the most outright damage was done by
the hailstorms.
At Dalton, the hail was so great that cattle were killed in herds. The
cloudburst swept everything before it and two miles of track of the Great
Northern railroad were carried away. As a result, the passenger train which
left here last evening for St. Paul and the one which left St. Paul
yesterday for Sioux City, are still standing at Dalton.
STARTED FLOODS.
The great quantity of water which fell about Dalton and Struble found its
way into the Floyd river and that stream rose eight feet at Merrill last
evening. Warnings sent to Sioux City were communicated to residents of the
Floyd valley area by the police, and a number of families living near the
river moved out last evening.
The Little Sioux river, which was already out of its banks, received a great
volume of water from a cloudburst about Cherokee and Quimby, resembling the
famous Cherokee flood of thirteen years ago. People farther down the river
are expecting a great deal more land will be submerged.
At Onawa there was a very heavy rain last evening and the town has its
cellars half full of water. Judge Oliver, who came to Sioux City from Onawa
this morning, said that vicinity had had fifteen inches of rain in the past
few weeks and he doubted if there was a basement in Onawa that does not have
from ten inches to four feet of water in it. His father, Judge Addison
Oliver, is moving his house to get away from the lake underneath him.
ENORMOUS HAILSTONES.
F.E. Mossman of Morningside college returned this morning from Marcus, where
he preached yesterday at the M.E. church. He declared the storm at that
point was the worst he ever saw. The hail covered the ground and the water
came as it could only from a cloudburst. He said that after the rain was
over, he picked up a hailstone that had lain in the water some time and it
measured seven inches around one way and six inches the other. Chickens and
hogs were killed by the hail and larger stock injured.
The Omaha railroad's passenger train which left here at 10:55 yesterday
morning, was stopped by a wash-out between Seney and LeMars last evening.
The train went on after three hours. A freight was held up six hours. All
the windows on the west side of the train were shattered by the hail and the
passengers and those in charge of the train confirm the stories of the
nearby towns as to the phenomenal size of the hailstorms.
FRIGHTFUL HAIL STORM.
Cattle Killed Near Dalton by the Onslaught From the Skies.
Dalton, Ia., May 26.---A hail storm that out did the worst yarns of old
settlers was a feature of a cloudburst which struck here Sunday. The stones
which showered down in an almost perpendicular line, were fully as large as
a man's fist. The people of the town could scarcely believe their own eyes.
Farmers began coming in this morning with stories of stock killed by the
hail. One man reported that he had lost seven cows which had been struck in
the head and many others had been cut up and were bleeding. Many windows
were broken, but if the hail had had some slant, nothing breakable would
have been left.
The cloudburst, it is understood, occurred between Struble and LeMars. The
mass of water which fell in an incredibly short time, swept everything
before it. Two miles of track of the Great Northern railroad were carried
away. The north-bound passenger, which arrived here at 8:45 o'clock last
evening stood in one place till 11 this morning. It then ran ahead a mile,
when another washout was encountered, which is still holding it. The
washouts also stopped the south-bound train from St. Paul, which is due in
Sioux City at 8 o'clock this morning.
John Lewben lost twelve head of cattle which were killed by the hail, and a
team of horses owned by Fred Harms met death in the same way. Two horses
belonging to Job Kennedy ran into a wire fence and will die.
There is not a window left on the north or west side of the houses of Grant
township.
Six or seven cattle were killed near Seney. In spite of the fact that the
blinds were closed on the place of Close Mammon, of Grant township, 157
panes of glass in his buildings were broken.
DROWNED IN PASTURES.
Water Went Over the Herds of Cattle at Seney-Windows Smashed
Seney, Ia., May 26.---A storm of hailstones fully as large as hen's eggs
deluged this town Sunday shortly after noon. When the storm was over the
hail collected in piles eight feet high. All the windows on the north and
west of the houses about here were destroyed. The hail went through the
shingles and roof of the home of John Osborne.
Two cattle were drowned in a pasture near here. Their plight could be seen
from the town. While water does not regularly run through this pasture, it
came in such torrents that it rose to their heads. Hogs and chickens were
killed by the hail.
South of here about 300 feet of the Omaha railroad tracks was washed out.
EVEN HORSES KILLED.
In Three Townships of Plymouth County People Sought Cyclone Cellars.
LeMars, Ia., May 26.---Later reports of the hailstorm which swept over a
portion of Plymouth county Sunday show the storm was the heaviest ever
known. Grant, Elgin, and Fredonia townships were swept by a terrific
downpour of hail, accompanied by some wind. Horses, cattle and hogs were
killed by the storm and a number of cattle were drowned in the overflow of
the Floyd river between here and Seney. Hailstones bigger than a man's fist
fell and pounded holes through the roofs of houses. Many people took refuge
in cyclone cellars.
The Floyd overflowed its banks at 9 o'clock last night and there is water
all over the lowlands. The roads leading west and north from town were under
water and the rural mail carriers were unable to make trips. Groves were
stripped bare and the bark of trees was peeled off by the force of the
hailstones. The growing small grain and grass were pounded into the earth
and corn recently planted was washed out by the scoop fulls. It is difficult
to estimate the loss and some say the crops will recuperate, as they are not
advanced. The Floyd is receding. Every farmer coming to town from the north
and west in a radius of ten miles reports losses.
IN PLYMOUTH COUNTY.
Great Damage Done by Hail and Many Cattle Are Reported Drowned.
LeMars, Ia., May 26.---LeMars was visited Sunday by a terrific downpour of
rain and hail. The storm broke about 11:30 and torrents of rain fell for an
hour. Storms of less violence followed in the afternoon and evening. North
of LeMars, the storm was a cloudburst and hail as large as nutcoal fell,
doing great damage. Many people took refuge in cyclone caves. At Seney the
window lights in every house were broken.
In east LeMars, cellars were flooded and wooden sidewalks floated like
driftwood. A party fishing two or three miles north, where the storm broke,
said the water came down the fields in a four-foot wave. They saw several
cattle drown. Reports from west of here say the hail and rain were terrific.
The Floyd is out of its banks. The West Branch and Mink Creek, west of town,
are raising over the highway.