A Night of Terror

A Night of Terror

It was the 20^th day of May 1918, a usual spring day, some breeze, low feathery clouds floating overhead. We lived on my father-in-law’s farm, E. E. Balls, about 14 miles northwest of Hays. We lived up on a ridge. We had a five room house, four frame and a stone room on the south.

The storm started around 8 o’clock. I left my son Fred, 3 months old, with my son George, 8, and my son James, 7, while I went to do the milking. My husband, George, had gone over to my brother’s about 2 miles away. He came home soon after the storm struck. By the time I got back from milking, it started to rain and the wind blew hard from the southeast.

Our windmill was close to the house, and the guide wire was broke and the wheel was sure spinning. I was afraid it would fall and crash through the roof.

I put my baby to bed and the boys were playing around. George and I were sitting at the table reading. Just before 9 o’clock, George got up and went to the south door and stood there. I got up and went to the door and all I could see was a heavy black cloud hanging over Hays and continual streaks of lightening. I said they’re sure having a bad storm over Hays.

We came back and sat down to read. George said he remembered the wind dropping all at once. It had been raining hard and blowing all the time. All at once the big glass window in the east side of the stone room crashed in. Not a word was spoken. I ran as fast as I could and grabbed my baby out of bed and ran to the kitchen.

By that time the east door was starting to come in. My husband was braced against it. I hurried and turned off my oil stove and stepped back in the doorway to the north room. All at once the stone room walls caved in, and the door into the kitchen crashed in and all the windows went out. Our lamp went out and we were in the dark.

By this time the bedrooms on the east were gone. We were left in the two rooms originally built. It seemed like the heavens above were crashing in on us. We got inside the north room and stood in the northeast corner. I held the baby, the older boys held onto me and my husband put his arms around us and held us all together. When the house started to leave the foundation I screamed, “Oh my God.”

I will always believe he was with us. It carried us up in the air for almost a quarter of a mile. All this time the house was falling apart. The roof went off and the sides and the northwest corner hit the ground. We were standing in the northeast corner. It threw us up in the air and went over us and turned upside down.

We fell to the ground. We were stunned for a few minutes, then I realized I was lying on my back on the ground. I had a hold of my son James and a hold of my son George. Then I realized I had lost my baby. I screamed, “My baby is gone.” George had fallen beyond us and the baby beyond him. George began feeling around, found him and said, “I think he is dead.” He pulled him over and laid over him to the protect him from the storm. It was raining hard with some hail, it was pitch dark.

Later the wind slowed down, so I could sit up. When it lightninged, George saw a rag rug and got the baby to me and I wrapped him in this cold, wet rug. I felt him move and I said, “He is still alive.”

Most of our clothes were torn off us and my slippers were gone. A few pieces of furniture was crushed side of us and the brick chimney fell in big chunks around us. The barb wire all around us.

My husband crawled around to try and find out where we were at. He found an old road that went through the pasture. He said we will follow it till we can tell where we are at. We came to our pasture gate and we knew where we were at. During this time, the wind struck us again and we laid in the deep ditches till it passed over.

When we got to the corner of the field, the Geist family lived close to the corner. When it lightninged, we seen their house and everything was gone, so we started through the pasture about a half mile to Bill Harmon’s. It was some ordeal walking with no shoes, slipping and sliding, carrying a baby in the dark only when it lightninged.

We got there. They had a new house, it was torn off the foundation and some windows blown out. We stayed there till help came.

We had a beautiful saddle horse. It picked the horse up and carried it 3 miles and dropped it dead in a ditch. Some photos were found 6 miles down the Saline River and some of the children’s clothes were found miles away.

We lost everything we had except our old Ford, it was in the shed, and a 5 gallon can of oil standing side of it. Everything on the place was gone, but the car and oil can wasn’t touched.

- Clara Belle (McIntosh) Balls

Ellis County, Kansas

Clara Belle (McIntosh) Balls