The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-04-16
DEATHS PATH.
Western Cities Visited by DeYaS-
tating Tornadoes.
LOUISVILLE PARTLY IN RUINS.
A Number of Other Towns
Nearly DESTROYED.
HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST.
Numerous Fine Buildings Laid
Low in Louisville.

A storm arising in the Northwest, movinI
slowly down the valley of the Mississippi
turning eastward at its junction with tn
Ohio, gathering force as it went until it be
came a cyclone, and passing off toward
Canada, is the simple summary of one O
those grand panoramas Of her mighty forces
with which Nature seems to mock the power
of man. On its Southern edge the suddei
indraught of air. catching up the warmer
vapors from below, created a series Of tor
nadoes which laid waste everything in their
path.
One hurricane struck Metropolis, Ill.,, anc
it was ruined. Another damaged the tow
of Bowling Green, KY. Another struck Louis
vile, cutting swath through its finely built
. portions and leaving hundreds of victims
behind. 1t blew across the GE!o ard badly
damaged JefeFsonville, Ind.
Scarcely town in the vicinity of the
border line of Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana
escaped the ravages of these tornadoes, while
high winds, floods and heavy rainfall.
Early details of the terrible havoc wrought
were given in dispatches as follows:
LOUISVILLE.
A great many persons have been killed in
and around Louisville, KY, and three times
as many painfully injured as the result of a
tornado which struck that city few min
utes past P. NJ, and in a few moments
had laid level with the ground swath half a
mile wide and two miles long through parts
of the finest business and residence sections
Of the town. Thousands were buried in the
ruins, and while the majority escaped with
injuries comparatively slight, many hun
dreds were pinioned dead or dying beneath
masses Of tangled tirnbers and heaps of brick
and stone. Fire caught in the ruins in sew
eral places, and many whom the crash had
spared met slower and more horrible death
in the flames.
The egreatest loss of life was in public hall
where children dancing class and several
lodge meetings were in progress at the mo-
fnent when the tornado swooped upon the
city. Scarcely dozen of the three or four
hundred persons who were in the building es-
capped being caught IN the ruins Ofthose who
were not crushed to death outright many
were suffocated by escaping gas, and many
were burned to death in the fire which subse-
quently started in the wreck. Many were
rescued alive, but the dead from this one
building will probably number over one hun
dred.
- IIIorrible incidents Of less wholesale
nature were found at every step through the
desolated district. The rector Of one of the
largest churches in the city was crushed into
q shapeless mass without moments warning
as he sat in his home reading to his little son,
who stood at his knee. The child also was
killed, and the rector's wife so badly injured
that she was lain low under the in
fuence of opiates, and kept in ignorance Of
the fate Of her husband and son lest the shock
Of learning il should kill her
Children were stricken dead in their moth
er's arms fathers who chanced to have left
their homes for few minutes returned to as
sist in digging from heaps Of ruins the bodies
of their children; husbands and wives were
found dCad in each others arms, and occa-
sionally the tornado, waxing merciful, killed
the whole family at once, leaving none to
mourn.
With these dreadful incidents were many
bodily and carried long distances, to be
dropped safely to The ground. Others
<--. vlsd out almost unscratched from
masses of debris, in which it seemed i'm
possible for a being to have remained alive.
The storm had been gathering all the even
81 anu a;;a, tins iigntnfng and thunder were
ominous. At about 8 o'clock it began to
rain, and the storm gradually increased In
intensity. The rain changed to han, and
people kept within doors.
At 500 the disaster came The heavens
were black as ink. There was deep, thrill
ing roar as the tornado struck the south
western portion of the city. Then the build
ings crumbled like egg shells and a broad
swath of ruin lay across the city.
The path Of the tornado was from Eight
zenith and Maple streets northeasterly across
the city, past Seventeenth street and Broad
way, Sixteenth aua Chestnut, Twelfth and
Jefferson. and thence to the Union Depot, at
the foot of Seventh street. The worst ruin
was wrought among the large and substantial
structures on Market and Main streets and
it seems as if the demon of the storm did Its
worst when Just about to leave.
- T9e whole thing was over i'll minute.
People living outside the track OF the storm
were unaware that anything unusual nag
happened. But where the tornado haa S"epV
there was utter destruction, ruins and death.
Great buildings crumbled like toy houses.
Churches, factories and warehouses went
down like cardboard. People fed in terror
from death in their ruined homes. Half
dozen fires broke out in as many different
parts of the city.
The storm soon ceased. The moon came
out, and people thronged into the streets tc
learn the extent of the disaster. Inc mos
terrible rumors spread apace, and, untor
tunately. many Of them were true. and th'
Seaied scene of desolation tina
was sickening. Main street, from Seventh
TO Twelfth street, Is one long ruin
So is Market street for the corresponding
distance. jefferson street, from !entn .
Thirteenth, Walnut street, from !hlrteentl
to Fifteenth, and Chestnut street, from lnir
teenth to Seventeenth. Broadway, in tn
neighborhood of Eighteenth and Nlneteentl
streets, is filled with debris.
The solemn faces and gloomy looks OF Tn
spectators showed how thoroughly taey "er
affected by the terrible catastrophe. AS eac
body was removed cries from brother, slsse
or other relatives added to the horror OF TN
occasion. The managers OF the Loulsyhl
Hotel furnished stretchers and beds, ana
fast as the bodies were taken out they Wer
carried into the hotel. Doctors were sent fol
and every attention given to the wounded an
dying.
The greatest fatality was at Falls Cit
Hall. on the south side of Market street, nea
Twelfth. The hall was full Of people. Tw
meetings and a dance were in progress. In
building was blown down all IN heap, an
about $50 people were killed and wounded
The musicians were playing, an
twenty-five or thirty couples were
the floor when the storm =, came
On the third floor were two large halls. TIL
front was used by the Jewel Lodge oil tn
Knights and Ladies of Honor, the back b
Humboldt Lodge, German order OF va
Fellows. The top floor was used by the fal
City Masons. -,
Besides the dance which was going on tn
Jewel Lodge and Humboldt Lodge were bot
in session The people in the lodges wei
ranged around the walls of the room in
single rani There were fully 100 Knight
and Ladies OF Honor present. In tho Jew
Lodge two-th;r Is of them wer, women an
girls. 1t was the regular forLniShtiE n'ec
inc of the order. Several men were to
initiate!. Taere were fully ioo people in tn