St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-15


lessly about in the midst of the dark cloud
of dust and the avalanche of boards and
bricks. Men lost their presence of mind
and stood awed into
SILENCE AND INACTIVITY
in the presence of the wind demon. 1t was
hardly noticed before it was on the city in
all its fury, and the people were
not warned of their danger before
it was upon them. and they
fell like grain stalks before the reaper's
sickle. The portion of ST. Cloud struck by
the cyclone was the southwestern, and was
the residence portion occupied by the labor
ing class of people, the majority of them
being foreigners employed on the railroads.
Their dwellings were light board houses.
and became easy prey to the monster that
had so viciouslY pOunced upon them. They
were like cocKle-shellS in the grip of the
whirlwind, and were picked up, tossed in
the air, rent into
TEN THOUSAND PIECES,
and scattered TO the four winds of heaven.
The earth was plowed up in the line of
cyclone, and the track over which it passed
TO the width of nearly quarter of a mile
looks as though it had been upheaved by a
terrible volcanic eruption. 1t had hardly
begun its terrible work before it was fin
ished, and the scene that greeted
the eyes of those who had escaped
its fury was one that caused the stoutest
heart to shudder. The cries and shrieks of
the wounded rent the air. and the ground
was strewn with the bodies of the dead,
among whom were stalwart men,
WEAK WOMEN
and weaker children. The citizens almost
to a man rushed TO the demolished district.
and summoning physicians began their
work of rescuing those who were
still living from beneath the piles
of dirt and fallen buildings. Brainerd was
telegraphed to for medical help,
and she promptly responded by sending a
dozen physicians and surgeons by special
train, but was late in the evening when
they arrived on the scence. ST. Paul and
Minneapolis were also appealed to, and
special car was sent out with twenty-three
surgeons and physicians for the scene of
disaster.
THE SCENE
on the streets after dark was an impressive
one. Knots of men stood on corners dis
cuSsing the features of the disaster and
speaking touchingly Of their friends and
acquaintances, who had either been killed
or terribly wounded. On the ground the
scene was a CHASTITY one. Rain poured down
in torrents, and hundreds of men wan
dered over the ground, many of them
carrying lanterns searching for bodies
among the ruins. Hotel lOboies were filled
with excited citizens, many of whom yet
that some portion of their family
Or their friends had fallen victims to the
terrible monster. Women seemingly un-
of the rain that was falling and
cutters into
TURBID STREAMS,
glided through the streets sobbing and
moaning in their fright. The scene defies
description. In the track of the cyclone
stood the Manitoba freight house, and cars
filled with freight. Down on them the
whirlwnd pounced, and, grasping the
heavy cars, lifted them from the tracks and
cast them in shapeless masses. Iron rails
were torn from the ties and twisted
like the smallest wires. Telegraph poles
were torn up and wires twisted into curious
The freight house was totally
The roof was lifted and blown
several hundred feet. The sides next sue
cumbed and over S3, 900 worth of freight
was whirled through the air and thrown
into heaps and
SCATTERED BY PIECEMEAL
over an area of quarter of a mile. Fif-
teen freight cars were demolished. Opera-
tors in the telegraph Office and employees at
the freight depot saw the cyclone coming
and fled to the cellars and thus ESCAPED. 1t
was $50 in the evening when the special
car arrived from st. Paul and Minneapolis.
bringing Drs. j. II. Murphy, w. w.
Day, Richie, Abbott and Denslow
Of st. Paul, and II. c. Ives of the
Manitoba road and Lieut.. Gov. Gilman and
Mcdonald, from this city. who
were in st. Paul when they learned of the
The train was drawn by engine
$50, under Engineer OlafsOn and in charge
Of Conductor Dyson, and the run was made
in two hours through
TERRIBLE THUNDER STORM,
and the night was so black that during
most OF the way the engineer was unable to
descry objects on the track five feet ahead
of the engine. AG Minneapolis Mayor
Ames, accompanied by eighteen city physi-
clans, boarded the train, also members OF
the police and detective forces. Mr.. Gilman
was laboring under terrible apprehension
that his family had suffered, as his dwell
ing stood almost in the direct line of the
storm as, it was reported to have moved by
the specials sent to st. Paul. but he learned
upon arriving here that his property had
untouched, and he Immediately
turned his attention to aiding the sufferers
BY 9:2O all
THE BODIES
that could be found were taken from the
ruins and cared for. The dead were taken
to the Little Giant engine house and
stretched out on the floor. while the
wounded were sent to St. Benedict hos
pital, where they were promptly cared for
by the corps of physicians and
nurses, among whom were several
ladies who had volunteered their
services. There were twenty-eight
wounded stretched out on cots i'm the vari-
Gus wards, and every facility of the hos
pital was tested to its utmost TO fill the re-