The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-08-31
ST0RM-SWEPT EVANSVILLE.
The Devoted City Visited by q
Most Destructive Wind
Storm.
Several Hundred Persons More or Less
Injured by Falling Timbers Great
Destruction Of Property,
Mountainous Billows in the Rivera
Score Of Persons Perish in q
Capsizing Boat.

EVANSVILLE, IND, August 30.-When
the storm ceased and u view of the
damage was obtained 1t presented a
terrible sight. The city had been raked
from one end to the other. Not man
ufactory In 1t entirely escaped injury.
The most seriously damaged are: The
Evansville Cotton Mills, loss 1000;
Wooden Mills, $1,000; Plow Works,
$4,000, and the Armstrong Furniture
Company, $4,000.
large school building in course OF
construction, which needed but a roof
for completion, collapsed totally. On
every street cellars are flooded. Tee-
phonic and Geographic communications
are almost entirely suspended. Hundreds
of small dwellings and stables are RACED
to the ground, and families left without
shelter. These will be cared for by the
authorities
The scene on the river was awe.nsplr-
Ing Waves dashed themselves with un.
Epeakable fury, dashing twenty and thir-
ty feet high Small steamers and tugs
were broken from their moorings and
grounded or blown up the river to sand
bars, where they were hard aground.
The Louisville & Nashville transfer barge,
with six cars, was blown from the rail
way dock and went hard aground on
bar two miles from where it started. The
steamers Josh V. Throop and Silver
Thorn were caught by the wind, chin
neys blown overheard and the boats
otherwise badly riddled. The James
Backman was blown out in the river
md swamped.
But the most horrible and saddest
lews of all is the sinking of the transfer
steamer Belmont, and the drowning of
fourteen passengers who were on board
The Belmont left here at 1870 a. M, with
southbound train on a barge. About
| eight miles below here the storm came
lp and part of the passengers, horror
stricken, fled from the cars to the steam
| hr for safety. The barge was torn from
The steamer and driven in shore hard
aground, while the cyclone seized the
steamer and capsized 1t, the boat going
| down bottom upwards. The pilot, cook
! and engineer jumped on the barge as the
steamer went down. All the others were
IN the cabin and unable to escape. The
bnly officer of the boat lost was John Ii.
Smith, the captain. Those lost are as
| follows:
Mrs. NJ. S. Lyon and two daughters.
Mrs. Sallie Bryan.
Miss Laura Lyon.
Mr.. Il. c. Roach and son of this city.
Mrs. Woodville, of Henderson.
Mrs. Addie Murray and child, of
Brookville, Ala.
Captain John Smith
Miss Alice Bell;
Two colored women, and an old gentle
man and wife-name unknown.
Three bodies have been so far recovered.
They are Mrs. Murray and child and
Mrs. Woodville. Those who remained
in the cars on the barge were compelled
to sit with idle hands and watch the
death of their companions Alter tho
storm abated, the Houston Coombs came
up and towed the barge to Henderson.
III Will OLC VI SUR
vivors last night, he said:
at was such scene as shall never
forget. We were trying to get into the
bank. The women were huddled in the
cabin, some weeping, others sitting
quietly, fearing the worst, yet prepared
for the inevitable. Suddenly, without
warning, the boat careened on her side,
the guy ropes to the barge swapping. l
jumped for the barge, and had Just
reached it when heard gurgle, and
looking about, saw that the boat had
gone down head first, and there was
nothing visible but the bottom"
The boat lies in fourteen feet of water,
and Will be total loss. She was built
in 1881 and cost $4,000; insured fof
$4,000. She has beenrunning as trans
fer packet about year and half, and
has weathered several gales. Boats are
now at the wreck and the bridge diver is
at work getting out the bodies. A list Of
survivors is not obtainable, as no reg
lister was kept, and many went on to
Nashville.
The round.house at the Louisville 6
Nashville depot is total wreck. The
roof was blown off and walls crushedin,
covering four locomotives with brick,
mortar and other debris. Several hun
dred persons were more or less injured
by falling timbers and trees.
A negro laborer at Hartlett's railroad
camp, few miles below here, was struck
by flying tlmbers and instantly killed.
1t was the most destructive storm that
ever visited this section. The loss in
the city and suburbs will be between
100000 and 100000. Workmen are
already engaged in rebuilding many of
the damaged places.
News has been received that Carmi,
H., is in ruins, but the report can not
be authenticated.