Show pad adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF fear of the wind winda by FLOYD FLOXD GIBBONS famous headline hunter H HELLO ELLO the EVERYBODY caption of adventure might well be gone with the wind it fits perfectly mrs lula M coders tragic description of the adventure in which she lost her home and her entire family mrs yoder lives in paxton III her adventure happened many years ego ago on april 21 1887 as a matter of fact but she still remembers it with as much vividness as if it happened only yesterday 1 I am a grandmother now she writes but the fear of the wind is just as great in me today as it was on that awful night fifty years ago in 1887 lula yoder lived on a farm near nevada a small town in western missouri with her mother and dad and her small brother just a baby seven months old lula herself was only about two and a half years old on that terrible twenty first of april the sky began to darken suddenly in the late afternoon her dad was out in the fields working and her mother was worried she took the baby up in her arms and leading lula by the hand went out on the porch to watch the gathering storm clouds fleeing from the cyclone lula remembers that scene as clearly as if it were yesterday the whole world seemed to be hushed the clouds dark and ominous berried to be gathered in one spot the rest of the sky had a queer greenish hue while mother stood anxiously scanning the sky dad came hurrying in from the fields driving a team of horses lula remembers hearing mother cry out to him hurry john were going to have a bad storm lula was just about old enough to know what a storm meant there was a cyclone cellar underneath the house a sort of crude cave dug out of the earth A couple times before when a tornado threatened them the whole family had taken refuge in this cave until the danger was over her dad was driving the horses toward the barn he put them inside and without waiting to unhitch them he ran back toward the house to P 00 0 lula was hurled into bets arnil del intro the storm Irp rit porch an and p put u a anard dou out to pick s iula up lula let goof go of her motherly hand fela herself lifted in her fathers arms and then THE STORM lula was torn right out of her dads arms whirled I 1 through the air there was a curious roaring din in her ears she was having trouble trying to get her breath up up up she went sparing through the air as high as the house bouse itself the branches of a huge maple male tree loomed up in front of her then suddenly she be was among them wedged among the branches she felt them scratching at her face bruising her little body she felt a blow at her side and found herself wedged into those branches at the very top of the tree and there she hung a shocked bruised terrified child while lightning tore holes in the sky and thunder crashed and cold rain came down in torrents she could hear a terrible sound of rending timbers of a building being demolished close at hand the air was full of flying debris the breathtaking breath taking wind tugging at her little dress was tearing it to ribbons to this day lula keeps the shreds of that small garment as a memento of that grim and terrible experience lula know how long she hung in that tree time seemed to stand still while the wind howled and roared she screamed until she was so hoarse she could scream no more but the wind drowned out her feeble little voice at last the wind abated and died out again a terrible hush fell over the surrounding territory when the storm was over lulas two uncles who lived in the same community came over to see how her family had fared they found the house completely demolished says lula not even the sills were left bedding dishes furniture were strewn everywhere whirled and warped into odd shapes by the force of the blast even the forks and knives from the table were twisted and broken rescuers find lula the uncles began searching for the family they found the bodies of lulas dad and the baby they had been killed instantly her mother was unconscious on the ground with broken legs and injuries that caused her death the next day but they FIND LULA they searched they called there was no sign of the child it was dark by that time and they see the poor kid hanging way up there in the branches of the tree lula could see the searchers as they they moved about below her but she attract their attention 1 I had screamed so long in terror of the wind she says that I 1 was too hoarse to make a sound today after fifty years I 1 can still see those men with lanterns walking back and forth calling to 10 me while 1 I bruised and torn and chilled to the bone hung in that tree powerless to answer but at last I 1 was located and taken down I 1 was so ill from my experience peri ence that I 1 able to be taken to the triple funeral that took place a few days later the cyclone had played a ghastly and freakish trick on lulas family it had cut a narrow swath that wrecked the house and left the barn intact no one else in the whole neighborhood was hurt and after wrecking lulas home the wind jumped from the ground and traveled several miles before it hit the earth again 11 it II carried some of our belongings with it lula says A farmer plowing a field three miles from us found a coffee pot inside it he found my mothers wedding ring he knew it by the names inscribed inside it and sent it to me the tale of one womans comans tear fear of the wind and is it any wonder that lula has tragic memories when clouds gather and that wind rises 0 service |