Ottawa Tornado 1957

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fc8c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id250.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas Houses"><B><IMG SRC="0410b120.png" border=0 width="11" height="18" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id206.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Forest Park"><B><IMG SRC="0420b120.png" border=0 width="11" height="18" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="18"><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B><IMG SRC="04312120.png" border=0 width="18" height="18" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="77" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 30 WIDTH="71"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="30" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="71" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#photographs_from_the_tornado" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Photographs From The Tornado</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#exerpts_from_mulke_book" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Excerpts from Muecke Book</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#where_were_you_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Where Were You?</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#killer_tornado_struck_county_in__57_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Killer tornado struck county in '57 </B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#the_tornado_went_on_to_hit_kansas_city" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>The Tornado Went On To Hit Kansas City</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#other_reports_of_the_tornado" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Other Reports Of The Tornado</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id181_m.htm#ruskin_hights_tornado____50_years_later" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Ottawa Tornado 1957"><B>Ruskin Hights Tornado -- 50 Years Later</B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=94 BGCOLOR="#FF3300" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0403c5e1dvmwlb.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Ottawa High School Class of '57</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id211.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa History In Postcards">Ottawa History In Postcards</A>   |   <A HREF="id278.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa 1896">Ottawa 1896</A>   |   <A HREF="id176.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa 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Line">Ottawa Bus Line</A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Ottawa Tornado 1957</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="photographs_from_the_tornado"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>Photographs From The Tornado</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="396ccfc0.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="398cc110.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="273" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39accfb0.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="251" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39cccfb0.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="251" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39eccf50.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="245" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3a0ccf60.jpg" border=0 width="460" height="246" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> ==========================================================</div> <div> <B> <A NAME="exerpts_from_mulke_book"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Just Nine Days Before The OHS Class of 1957 </B></FONT></div> <div> <B>Graduated From High School</B></div> <div> =========================================================================</div> <div> The Eighty-second Annual Commencement of the Ottawa Senior High School was held on Wednesday, May 29, 1957, at eight o'clock in Memorial Auditorium.</div> <bR> <div> Henry A. Parker was Superintendent of Schools and Mrs. Fred Kaiser was President of the Board of Education.  Norris F. Burke presided at the graduation.</div> <bR> <div> Just nine days before the Annual Commencement, on Monday May 20, 1957, a large devastating tornado struck at 6:12 PM. near Williamsburg, Kansas, traveled just south of Ottawa and continued on to Kansas City and ended beyond Knobtown, Mo. about 8 PM.  The evening of May 20th, 1957, became one to remember. </div> <bR> <div> J. B. Muecke in his picture story book entitled, "<B>The Ottawa-Kansas City TORNADO Disaster of May 20, 1957, A  Picture Story</B>" says,  "It is impossible with words to describe this terrible mad man of nature.  Only pictures can partially tell the story, and then without the panic in men's souls."</div> <bR> <div> "Gaining power with every grain of soil, it began to roar across the fertile fields of Franklin County, at first as a nuisance, then with wild abandon.  Small buildings were unroofed, trees broken, houses damaged.  By the time it hit Antioch Cemetery north and east of Homewood, Kansas one and one-half miles, it had become a KILLER TORNADO." </div> <bR> <div> "Flexing its muscles on big hedge tree fences, it pounced on 80 year old Antioch Cemetery, making kindling wood of all the 15 inch ancient cedars, throwing tombstones like orange crates. (A concrete grave marker was found 13 miles distant). By this time the roar was like no sound made on earth.  The tornado cloud with its swirling funnel became as black as the bottom of hell, its funnel was described as rolling, boiling lava from a volcano, black one second, yellow, green and dirty gray the next."</div> <bR> <div> “ As it left its rape of the cemetery, it was viewed by many as it approached Ottawa, Kansas. Jack McClure from his front porch about five miles west on US 50, made a picture of it. That was about 6:25 PM.  It continued about 1 mile north of US 50, and then began to go northeast for a period, finally in minutes it was atop low hills about 2 miles SW of Ottawa." </div> <bR> <div> "At this point it veered again to the east destroying a radio tower of the KCP&L Co.  It appeared at this point to be headed for the city of Ottawa. Then according to several eye witness accounts, it '<I>sorta stood still, backed up, and sashayed like partners in a square dance</I>." But not for long."</div> <bR> <div> "It stood to the middle of the concrete slab of US 50 at about 6:32 PM and in less that three terrifying minutes did almost one-half million dollars in damage, to a motel, guests cars, four homes, a truck stop, 7 trucks, drive-in theater, power lines, and all the equipment and merchandise in the area. About 33 people escaped by the skin of their teeth and the providence of God." </div> <div>  </div> <div> "The power of the tornado at this point was utterly fantastic.  It blew a one-half inch thick steel 500 gallon water tank, formerly welded to a truck, more than a mile into a wheat field.  Bent and battered beyond use. Cars and trucks were blown around, broken and bent like cheap toys.  Some weighed about 5 tons." </div> <bR> <div> "With its funnel full of turkeys, sheep, pigs, lumber, tin, tires, cars, it headed thru the US 50 cut in the last hill on its way to Ottawa. Here it met, head on, an empty cattle truck, driven by Roland Hind of Hartford, Kansas.  The driver left his truck and hit a ditch with water.  His tractor went to the right and his new trailer went to the left. Both were left as miserable junk in less time that it takes to read this."</div> <bR> <div> "The tornado sucked the water filled ditch dry. Roland Hind's simple reverent statement was: '<I>God had his hand on my shoulder, that's all</I>!' And that went for Ottawa too!"</div> <bR> <div> "As if by divine guidance, the tornado left its beeline course for Ottawa, struck out toward the east for about two miles.  In these two miles it went to the south and slightly to the north damaging a stock of cars, farm machinery, telephone and power lines. Up to this time minor injuries to a handful of people was the human toll.  As it finished its eastward 2-mile run, it veered sharply to the northeast and soon completely destroyed the home and killed Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Marsh</div> <div> while they ate their supper, unmindful of doomsday."</div> <bR> <div> NOTE.  The tornado moved between Ottawa and Spring Hill, Kansas.  At 7:47 PM the tornado, after a devastating tour of Kansas, settled on Ruskin Heights, Hickman Mills and Martin City and finally dissipated 29 miles northeast of Kansas City near Liberty, MO. The total dead was 44. </div> <div> =========================================================================</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="where_were_you_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>Where Were You When The Tornado Struck?</B></div> <div> E-mail The <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Webmaster</A> <A HREF="mailto:Webmaster@ohs57.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Webmaster@ohs57.com"> </A>With Your Recollections.</div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Morgan Williams, OHS Class of '57</B></I>:   I was in my room in the basement of our home in Ottawa on West 10th street.  I remember a big storm came up with major wind and some rain.  I was not in the basement because I was concerned about a tornado.  The storm was very strong and lasted a while but I do not remember being concerned or hearing any kind of a tornado siren.  I did not know a tornado had struck just a few miles south of our home. </div> <bR> <div> My father came home soon, ran into the house and said he had heard a tornado had struck south of town. My brother and I jumped in the car with Dad and went out to see what had happened.  We got as close to Bob's Truck Stop as we could, parked the car and walked up the rest of the hill to look at the damage.  By that time lots of people had arrived at the scene. </div> <bR> <div> We were very concerned about the Hillcrest Drive-In Theater because the parents of my good friend and fellow member of the OHS graduating class of 1957, Larry Bancroft, owned and personally ran the Hillcrest Drive-In Theater.</div> <bR> <div> The tornado did severe damage to the Theater. It blew the roof off the projection room and snack bar building and severely damaged the large screen.  It also sucked most of the car speakers off the metal poles and threw them everywhere, some for long distances.  Several of us who were friends of Larry went all over the area in the next few days looking for and picking up the car speakers.  </div> <bR> <div> Most of us had worked at the Theater in the past helping to sell tickets and working the snack bar during intermission. My brother Meredith did a lot of this. It was a good way to see a movie.</div> <bR> <div> I believe Larry's Mother and Dad, Mary and Bill Bancroft, were in the theater building getting ready for the evening show.   Larry Bancroft will have all the details.  My memory is a little faded at this point, ha. . </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ======================================================</div> <div>  <A NAME="killer_tornado_struck_county_in__57_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Killer tornado struck county in '57 </B></div> <div> <B>Source: </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.ottawaherald.com/ottawaguide/2000/57tornado.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ottawaherald.com/ottawaguide/"><I><B>Ottawa Herald.com, Ottawa At The Millennium</B></I></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>By LAURA BOCKELMAN and ANDREA PAGE </B></div> <div> <I>Special to The Herald </I></div> <div> The new millennium is coming quickly, and people tend to reflect on the events of the last century. One tragedy that will not be forgotten is the so-called "Ruskin Heights" tornado of 1957. </div> <bR> <div> On May 20, 1957, starting just a little after 6 p.m. near Williamsburg, one of the worst tornadoes of the century ripped its way through an 80-mile path of eastern Kansas leaving 38 dead and more than 200 injured. The greatest number of deaths and injuries were at a then-new shopping center in the Ruskin Heights suburb south of Kansas City, Mo. </div> <bR> <div> But Franklin County also was hit hard. The twister killed two people, demolished a motel and other businesses, including a drive-in theater, and destroyed scores of farm homes. </div> <bR> <div> It first touched down about two miles southwest of Williamsburg. Around Homewood, witnesses reported multiple funnels, the main one of which caused massive damage beginning at the Antioch Cemetery northeast of Homewood. Head stones from the cemetery were carried for miles. </div> <bR> <div> One eyewitness recalled seeing a greenish-gray cloud "turning violently. </div> <div> "Tentacles were reaching down out of the cloud and bouncing off the ground," the eyewitness recalled. "Five and up to 10 tentacles came down and joined together." </div> <bR> <div> The tornado skirted along the hill on the southern fringe of Ottawa, where it did the damage to the U-Rest Motel, Bob's Truck Stop, Hillcrest Drive-In and surrounding area. Ten guests were registered at the motel, and operators Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Geiss took them into their home and into the basement. </div> <div> The tornado then turned northeast. </div> <bR> <div> "My husband and I got the four children into the car and left in a hurry," Mrs. Ernest Lowrance, who lived on East 15th Street, told <I>The Herald</I>. "Mrs. Ruth Hoops saw the twister coming and ran down to our house. She left with us. It battered our barn and turned our house around." </div> <bR> <div> The first human casualties were James A. "Bert" Marsh, 84, and his wife, Amma, 78, who were just sitting down to dinner in their home two and a half miles east of Ottawa, when the twister lifted up the house and demolished it. </div> <div> Over 22 farm homes were destroyed between Ottawa and Spring Hill. It finished its work in Ruskin Heights, Hickman Mills and Martin City before finally dissipating near Liberty, Mo. </div> <bR> <div> Kansas Gov. James T. Blair ordered martial law in the areas affected in Kansas and ordered the 110th engineers of the National Guard mobilized to help in the rescue and clean-up operations. </div> <bR> <div> Thousands of families were forced to leave their homes to find shelter for themselves before the tornado touched down. In 1957, many people did not understand the importance of a basement in this severe weather situation. They were forced to look elsewhere for shelter away from the storm. </div> <div> Steve Underwood, a member of the 1957 <I>Kansas City Star</I> staff watched the storm develop. After the storm hit, Underwood drove to the Ruskin Heights shopping center to see what damage the twister had caused. He was quoted in the 1957 <I>Kansas City Star</I> saying the shopping center was completely leveled and looked as though it had been "run over by a bulldozer." </div> <bR> <div> Cars that were parked outside the shopping center were tossed around like toys. Some were smashed completely, and some even had the paint removed by the incredibly strong winds. </div> <bR> <div> News of the disaster spread as quickly as the tornado did, and soon after the storm had calmed down the highways were clogged with cars out to see the rubble and debris of the Ruskin Heights shopping center, and many families were frantically looking for missing family members. </div> <bR> <div> The Ruskin Heights tornado made its statement in history and is still remembered today as the millennium approaches. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ======================================================</div> <div> <B> <A NAME="the_tornado_went_on_to_hit_kansas_city"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>The Tornado Went On To Hit Kansas City Area</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Source</B></I>: <IMG SRC="727973f0.gif" border=0 width="151" height="63" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.wdaftv4.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.wdaftv4.com/"><I><B>The Ruskin Heights Tornado, Channel 4 TV, Weather Almanac, Tornados</B></I></A></div> <bR> <div> MAY 20 1957......The <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Ruskin Heights</FONT> Tornado</div> <div> Since 1950 more than 200 tornadoes have been reported within 50 miles of Kansas City. Most have been weak and short-lived, and caused relatively little damage. But when the atmospheric conditions are right a super tornado can be produced. Such conditions existed on May 20 1957 and the tornado was rated an F4-PL4-PW4 on the Fujita-Pearson scale. Locally it is often called the Ruskin Heights or Hickman Mills tornado, but it struck other parts of the area as well. The U.S. Weather Bureau was using an outmoded radar, left over from WWII. The new long-range raqdar had been designed but had not yet been put in place on top of the Federal Building at 6th and Grand. The old radar was capable of locating very intense thunderstorms and at 4 P.M. the Kansas City office issued a statement that storm clouds were building up to unusual heights to the southwest. Don House, the chief of SELS, had issued a watch box (what was then called a tornado forecast) at 11 AM and upgraded it at 1:30 in the afternoon. After 6 P.M. a suspicious hook shaped echo appeared on the radar screen, and it was known that such a "signature" was a precursor of an intense tornado being formed.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><I><B> In fact, the tornado was already on the ground just to the southwest of Ottawa KS, near the small town of Williamsburg on Highway 50. The tornado destroyed the U-Rest motel and a restaurant. The manager of the motel took his guests to the basement while the owner of the restaurant shepherded his customers away in a station wagon.</B></I></FONT> The Larson family lived at the north edge of Spring Hill KS and their Miami County home was destroyed. Fortunately the family made it to the basement in time. Less fortunate was the Isham Davis family, also of Spring Hill. All four were killed. The tornado cut across southeastern Johnson County and came into Jackson County MO around 7:37 P.M.. As the tornado approached Martin City it struck a barn and outbuildings at the Ozanam Boy's home at 137th and Holmes Road. Twenty-three boys huddled in the basement and escaped injury. Entering Martin City the tornado demolished ten homes along Oak Street between 135th and 136th streets. It then struck the Bartlett and Company grain elevators on the Missouri-Pacific railroad line. Next hit was the Methodist Church at 135th and Holmes, which is now the home of the Martin City Melodrama and Vaudeville Company. There was a birthday party in progress at the chuch, but the more than 40 people there were not injured. The tornado then demolished the Faith Tabernacle leaving only a few pews standing. The pastor and his family had just left the building moments before. Virtually every house and building in Martin City was damaged or destroyed. Twenty-five to thirty homes were leveled. The death toll was 2 with 35 injuries. The popular Jess and Jim's steakhouse was destroyed but amazingly the owner's parakeet was unharmed. The restaurant was not open on Monday night. This fortuitous happenstance saved many lives. The tornado then continued on towards Hickman Mills/Ruskin Heights. Warnings were on radio and television, and anxious residents were scanning the sky to the southwest. Several saw airborne debris and many could hear the loud roar often associated with major tornadoes. There were many square blocks of devestation in Hickman Mills. Huge trees were toppled or snapped off. Along the center of the path all that remained was kindling. The Hickman Mills Bank at 107th and US 71 lost its south wall to the winds and later had to be protected by the Army National Guard of Missouri. The Hickman Mills Furniture Company was also destroyed. Because of the warnings many Ruskin Heights residents were able to take refuge in their basements or with neighbors who had basements. On East 110th street there were least 50 people in one basement, literally lying on top of each other. In this case the roof was blown away but no one was injured. The tornado ripped through the shopping center at 111th and Blue Ridge Boulevard, and then cut through the thickly populated part of Ruskin Heights. There were many homes withut basements and this led to a greater proportion of fatalities. The tornado lifted at 7:53 PM, abut two miles north of Knobtown. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>The record books shown a continuous 71 mile path, with an average width of 700 yards. The bi-state death toll was 44 with 531 injuries, of which 37 dead and at least 500 injuries were on the Missouri side. Pilots reported debris at an altitude of 30,000 feet! A cancelled check from Hickman Mills was found at Ottumwa IA, 165 miles away.</B></I></FONT> The Weather Bureau office did its job well with equipment that would be laughed at today. Joe Audlsey tells of 27 different bulletins sent out to radio and television. Walt Bodine spent hours broadcasting the warnings. Can it be nearly 40 years ago?</div> <div> <IMG SRC="72866da0.gif" border=0 width="614" height="474" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Photo Source: <A HREF="http://www.tornadochaser.com/torhist3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tornadochaser.com/torhist3.ht">Kansas Killer Tornados: 1879-2001</A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  =========================================================</div> <div> <B> <A NAME="other_reports_of_the_tornado"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>Other Reports Of The Tornado</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.intellicast.com/Almanac/Central/May/content.shtml" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.intellicast.com/Almanac/Centr"><I><B>Intellicast -- Weather for Active Lives</B></I></A></div> <div> <I>May 20, 1957</I> - </div> <div> A tornado touched down near Williamsburg, Kansas and traveled northeast a distance of 71 miles, cutting a swath of nearly total destruction through Kansas City's southern suburbs of Martin City, Ruskin Heights, and Hickman Mills. The tornado, an f4 on the Fujita Scale, killed 44 people and injured 531. A cancelled check from Hickman Mills was found at Ottumwa, Iowa -- 165 miles away. Pilots reported debris at 30,000 feet.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B> <A NAME="ruskin_hights_tornado____50_years_later"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>VIEWPOINT: Another view of the Ruskin Heights tornado </B></div> <div> <I>By Robert Hay, Community Viewpoint</I> </div> <div> <I>Ottawa Herald, Ottawa, Kansas, Tuesday, June 19, 2007 </I></div> <bR> <div> In this, the season of tornadoes, I realized that I might have had a very unique view of the infamous May 20, 1957, tornado that caused so much death and destruction along its 85-mile path, finally exhausting its strength and terrible power on Ruskin Heights. </div> <bR> <div> I was an Ottawa Steel employee at the time. Barbara Barker had become my wife in May of 1956.  Barbara had accepted a job at Wellsville as a first grade teacher. The school building had been condemned by mid-year, and Barb was teaching 39 eager first graders in the basement of the Wellsville Baptist Church. This detail is necessary to the tale, since we had moved to a small upstairs apartment in south Wellsville. </div> <bR> <div> She was a month shy of her 20th birthday at the time, and by May 20, 1957, five months pregnant. Now if you know about teaching, and how tiring a normal situation can be, you can imagine how tired she might be at the end of a school day, let alone in her condition -- an almost impossible situation, considering the lack of facilities to accommodate several classes in the church at that time. Barbara's habit was to come home from school after preparing lesson plans for the next day, and immediately take a nap. Can you imagine 39 first graders your first year of teaching? No paras on most days. </div> <bR> <div> I usually left work right at 5 p.m. That afternoon I needed some hardware supplies. It gave me a chance to visit my old friend Harry Brown at his south Ottawa hardware store. I made my small purchase and, as was our habit, was visiting with Harry by the counter in the store. About that time, three patrol cars came screaming south with sirens blaring. </div> <bR> <div> Harry asked, "What in the devil is going on?"  We were the only two in the store, so we walked out front and, for some reason, looked west past the old armory. There was the heaviest, ugliest storm cloud you will ever see, but no funnel. </div> <bR> <div> Harry said, "Bob, I am going home and would advise you to do the same."  He just turned the key and headed out. The torrential rain and dime size hail hit as I went north on Main Street just after I had passed the hospital area. By the time I turned east on Logan Street (K-68) the rain had slowed to a sprinkle. </div> <div> I still did not know what we were dealing with. As I cleared the built-up area of town and looked south, the first tornado this 22-year-old had ever seen was now even with me and appeared to be about three miles south. By then, it looked nothing like the photo that recently appeared in The Herald, nor did it have the classic "OZ" inverted cone shape. It was cylindrical and charcoal gray. It stretched from the ground to a flat bottomed cloud that was equally as gray and absolutely sinister. I estimated the "funnel" to be more than an eighth of a mile in length. I watched the thing very clearly for at least 12 miles of its "rage," and there was very little change in its physical shape in that span of time. </div> <bR> <div> I drove parallel to it, not quite knowing what to do, it seemed to be traveling about the same speed as I was driving. My car, a 1953 Raymond Loewy-designed Studebaker Commander, was my pride and joy; not but weeks before, I had taken it to my friend Hank Gilroy at Robertson's for some tuning touches and to have twin pipes and mufflers installed, and then had my very first set of tubeless tires installed. </div> <bR> <div> I remember thinking -- as I realized the funnel and I were on a converging path -- that this was a relatively heavy, low-slung, aerodynamic car and the funnel probably wouldn't even blow it off the road. It crossed the blacktop at the Rantoul corner, a quarter to a half mile ahead of me. What I did not realize was that home, garage and little barn of the Commons family ceased to exist as I was totally distracted by the bright "lightning" of the transformers and electric lines being jumbled and shorted out. </div> <bR> <div> As it crossed the road, I realized too late that there were no more buildings on that corner. I drove over what was left of half of a house roof, now upside down, as well as a "corner post" that wiped my new mufflers off, as if someone had used an instant cutting torch. But I realized I was not hurt; and the car was loud, but functional. At that point, I was panicked for the first time. The funnel, still looking for all the world like a giant black silo gone mad, spewing trees, barn doors, window frames, shingles in every direction, took a short abrupt turn to the north as I finally realized the awesome power of it. </div> <bR> <div> All I could think was, "Oh My God, Barbara is asleep in our apartment and she will never know what hit her." By then, there was no hesitation. After checking to make sure the damage was all superficial stuff -- and that my car was even drivable -- I floored the little Studebaker. </div> <bR> <div> When I turned north on No. 33 at Barnard's station, the funnel had just crossed the highway, headed northeast again. My panic passed as I realized, knowing the southwest to northeast patterns of weather in those days, that Barb was safe. The highway was blocked by downed and live high-lines, I did not want to chance electrocution, so I backtracked, picking my way through the debris of the Commons' place, turned north on a country road and continued to Wellsville. Barbara, sure enough, was napping, blissfully unaware of what had happened. We returned to my very noisy little coupe, noticing the tires were a bit low, and returned to Ottawa by the back roads and Logan Street. </div> <bR> <div> I pulled into the station on the west side of Main Street just as our friends, Marge and Glenn Willhite, pulled up behind us. They've now farmed south of Wellsville for more than 50 years on the Henning farms, and had seen the tornado pass south of them. After checking my new tubeless tires, we asked the attendants to repair or replace them and the mufflers. With hardly a "hello," we were in their car and headed southeast of Ottawa, to the Latimer community, to check on both sets of our parents, since we thought each of them could have been in the path of that terrible thing. </div> <bR> <div> After a few hours of visiting, Glenn and Marge delivered us back to the station and, wonder of wonders, the Studebaker was returned to its pristine condition with new mufflers and new tires. The station manager told me he would have fixed the tires but he stopped counting at 44 nail holes in the four tires, and they thought there were more. I made arrangements to pay the bill and we headed home to our snug apartment, physically no worse for the wear, but with yours truly keenly aware of the awesome appearance and terrible forces contained within one of nature's very worst kind of storms. </div> <bR> <div> Sometime later, I flew with my friend and co-worker, Hayden Shaw, who was a neighbor west of Bob's Truck Stop. He and his wife lost their home in the storm. One of the oddities was that two walls of the bathroom survived and his wife's creams and cosmetics sat right on the shelves where she had left them. We traversed most of the path of that deadly storm and it was as if a giant had taken a 200 yard wide rotary mower over the 70 or so miles of the path we followed in his little Taylor Craft. </div> <bR> <div> By the way, since that well-remembered day, my cars have worn nothing but tubeless tires. </div> <bR> <div> <I>Robert Hay is a Council Grove resident</I></div> <bR> <div> Marietta Daily Journal article submitted by Morgan Williams</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=325 BGCOLOR="#CCCCCC" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="39424bc0.jpg" border=0 width="292" height="444" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>