SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN

Sunday Morning                             March 14, 1920

MELVA MOURNS AT FUNERAL OF STORM VICTIMS
 
Death of Child Born to Mrs. S. L. Box, Injured in Tornado, Bring Toll of Storm to Ten
Others Near Death
 
    The death of a child born late Friday night to Mrs. S. L. Box in the emergency hospital for tornado victims at Branson increases the number of deaths due to the storm which struck the Ozarks Thursday to ten.  All hope for the recovery of Miss Frankie Jackson has been abandoned.  Her death will make the eleventh life exacted by the tornado.
 
    Mrs. Box is the mother of four of the children who were swept into the path of the tornado and hurled to their death in the surging waters of Turkey Creek, swollen by the incessant rains of twenty-four hours.  She was seriously injured when the home of the family was carried from its foundation and hurled to the earth.
 
    The other victim of the hurricane is Miss Frankie Jackson, a sister of Lucy and William Jackson, both of whom were injured in the storm.  Their home was damaged in the rush of the eddying winds.  All three were at first reported missing.
 
    Late last night Miss Jackson was near death.  Her physician stated that nothing could be done for her except to relieve her suffering.  She sustained a fractured skull with concussion of the brain.
 
    The three Jacksons are being cared for on the farm, more than seven miles from Branson.  Neighbors are nursing them.  There is no telephone communication possible.  The storm first reported dead were buried today in the Branson cemetery.  Hundreds of citizens paid respects to the victims of an unexplained act of nature.
 
    Children were buried while their mothers lay suffering in the improvised hospital in which Miss Margaret Keet and Miss Bettie Manley, Springfield nurses, are doing such efficient work.
 
    A mother was buried while a 13-year-old daughter lay paralyzed with an injured spine at the Branson hospital.
 
    Mrs. S. L. Box, who is in such a critical condition, is the mother of four children for whom services were held.  Mrs. William Box is the mother of three others who paid with their lives the toll exacted by the storm.  Ethel Howard lay helpless while services were held for her mother Mrs. Alva Howard.  Two other Howard children were injured Thursday.
 
    William Mahnky, the 9-year-old boy who was swept to death before the eyes of an older brother, unable to come to his aid, was the ninth victim to be buried.  It was he who drowned while Ridgeway, an older brother was regaining consciousness after being hurled 1,000 feet by the winds.
 
    Dr. Guy Mitchell, in charge of the improvised hospital in Branson, reported the other sufferers as recovering slowly from the ravages of the storm.  He complimented the two Springfield nurses who are aiding in the relief of the suffering.  They came when needed most,  Dr. Mitchell said.
 
    Neighbors of the homeless are caring for their needs.  They say that with the aid received from the Springfield Red Cross Unit little other aid will be necessary.



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