St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-03
FOUR OTHERS DRIVEN INTO THE RlVER
Pitiful Story of a Woman Who Lost Her Husband,
Seven Children and Their Little
Home.
AN EVENT OF UNPARALLELED HOKKOK.

and with prayer on my lips for his de-
liverance he passed from sight forever.
The next moment the roof crashed in.
and l fioated outside. to be rescued if
teen hours later from the roof
of a house in Kernyille. Ii
l could only find one of my darlings, I
could bow to the will of God. But they
are all gone. have lost everything OIL
earth but my life, and | will return to
my old Virginia home and lay me down
for my last great Sleep"
A HANDSOME WOMAN,
with hair as black as ravens wing,
walked through the depot where adoZen
or more bodies were awaiting burial.
Passing from one to another, she finally
lifted the paper covering from the face
of woman. young and with traces of
beauty showing through the stains of
muddy water. With cry of anguish
she reeled backward, to be caught by
rugged man who chanced to be passing.
In moment or so she had calmed her.
self sufficiently to take one more look at
the features of her dead. She stood
gazing at the unfortunate as if
dumb. Finally turning away with an
other wild burst of grief, she said:
"And her beautiful hair all matted and
her sweet face so bruised and stained
with mud and water" The dead
woman was the sister of the mourner.
The body was placed in a coffin and
sent away to its narrow house. These
incidents are but fair samples of the
scenes familiar at every turn in this
stricken city. The loss of life is simply
dreadful. The most conservative peo-
pie declare that the number will reach
5000.
THE STREETS
have been full of men carrying bodies
to various places, where they await
identification, since morning, and the
work has only just begun. Every hour
or so the forces of men working on the
various heaps of debris find numbers of
bodies buried in the mud and wreckage.
1t is believed that when the flames are
extinguished in the wreckage at the
bridge, andu the same is removed,
hundreds and hundreds of victims will
be discovered. In fact. this seems Ger
tain, as dozens of bodies have already
been found on the outskirts of the huge
mass of broken timbers. The reports
from outside points are also appalling.
Up to 9 O'Clock tonight $50 bodies had
been embalmed at Nineveh, and there
is report that 200 more have
been discovered half-buried in the mud
on an island between New Florence and
the place named. At the Fourth ward
school house over 100 victims have been
laid out for Identification. In many
cases they have been recognized. while
in many more the slabs bear the word
''unknown.' Shocking sights have be-
come so common that they have lost
their terrors, and the finding of a body
here and there attracts little OF no at
tention from the great crowds that con-
stantly line the river banks and crowd
all other accessible places. AS this is
being written hundreds and hundreds
of homeless men,swomen and children
are
SLEEPING ON THE HILLSIDES
under tents that were sent on from
Pitts burg and other places about the
country. The Pennsylvania railroad
has succeeded in getting track through
to this city, and provisions enough to
meet all immediate wants have arrived.
Adjutant General Hastings IS in charge
of the police and the various relief
corps, and he is doing good work for the
sufferers. Those people who were not
swept away or disabled are working
earnestly for the revival of the stricken
city, but it will take months of work to
come anywhere near repairing the fear
full damage, while it is about certain
that the list of the lost will never
be made complete. The supply of
coffins sent in from Pittsburg and
other points is so great that
the relief committee telegraphed
last evening not to send any more until
ordered. No funds have yet been re-
ceived from Philadelphia, but the au-
thorities are confident that when tele-
graphic communications are restored
they will get liberal contributions from
that city. Dozens of smaller places
have already sent in generous sums of
money, and the people are encouraged
to believe that all of their more press
ing wants will he nrovided for TT will