Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-03
ITS EFFECTS WIDESPREAD.

| uteS a posse appeared at the Fails CITY
hall wreck.
| IT'S EFFECTS WIDESPREAD.
| LOUISVILLE, KY, March 2S.-The eff
sects of the storm were widespread. For
miles IN either direction of the city an
occasional roof was torn off, and trees
lifted out of the ground by the roots. AS
a special train sped toward the fated
city, bearing Associated Press represen-
tatlves from Indianapolis, evidences were
first noticeable fully fifty miles out.
Many little towns along The Jefferson
vile, Madison and indianapolis rail
road were fairly stripped of their signs
and gingerbread work.
When the scene of disaster was reached
an appa ling sight was presented. Crowds
| of people thronged Fourteenth street
station, and from there up Main street to
the heart of the city was Il mass of
| humanity. On either side was
WRECK AND RUIN.
Masses of brick and stone in heaps
| presented the appearance of having sim
| ply ornmbled to the earth. Gangs of
rescuers worked like gophers on the
great masses of debris in search for
|
Women and men darted before
mad horses, whose hoofs it seemed
would crush them to death.
| Policemen were stationed at street
crossings to prevent people from
| attempting tc pass through ruined thor
| Oughfares where partially wrecked walls
stood as a menace to human life. but
their efforts were futile and men, women
n nh a. Xh,i-
| gerous streets with astounding reckless
ness. The morbid crowd would not be
held back in its wild desire to satisfy
curiosity, and it was a sight worth their
efforts to see. The wreck was so great
| II beggars attempt at detail.
Immediately upon the burst of the
cyclone the fire bells sounded and the
| police were at work. In ten minutes Il
| posse appeared at the Falls City hall.
The walls Of the adjoining house were
first dropped, and then began the work
Of cutting through the heavy slate roof
that covered all. At first the work was
difficult and laborious, on account of the
anxious multitude that thronged the
wreck. The most difficult task was to
clear the ruin of women, who
were found digging at the slate
WITH THEIR FINGERS,
craZed at the groans beneath, each of
which they thought assembled from their
own dying. Everyone did noble work.
After an hour of hard labor the first vic
tim, Mrs. Sarah Kelly, was unearthed
She was found sitting in an upright posi-
ton, her head bruised and one arm
broken. She said: at the first quake
mad rush was made for the entrance.
Women we're knocked down and trampled
upon IN the mad rush to escape. Seeing
the overwhelming jam at the door, sew
ersl remained behind. The last l saw of
my friends was just before the floor gave
way and the ceiling fell. -
Work was continued, but none of those
whom Mrs. Kelly said were near her
could be found. The excavation was
then moved from the rear of the build
ing to the front, where it was supposed a
greater crowd was gathered. As soon as
the roofing was removed and the mass of
brick beneath, the first sight that met
their eyes was anything but hopeful.
Ten women,
LOCKED IN EACH OTHERS ARMS,
were drawn out of the debris, all dead
but one. Mr.. James Hassen, whose wife
had been at the lodge meeting, was fore
first person whom he drew
out of the ruined building was his
wife, who died in his arms. He laid her |
by the side of the others who were |
dead, and continued to work for the |
living. Inside of the next hour thirty |
men and women were drawn out dead, |
but with no wounds on their bodies, |
and it is thought all met death from |
sufocation. Gas pipes had broken, |
which caused the lights to go out and /
which saved the ruins from Hre for the
time, but flooded the debris with vapor
almost as deadly as fire might have
proven. Ways were pierced into the
building and bodies drawn out dead and
dying. One part of the building was re-
served for the dead, but the wounded |
were taken into stores and houses on the
opposite side of the street, where physi-
clans and priests administered to souls
and bodies. Along Main street the path
of the storm extended from Sixth to
Eleventh streets, and from Sew
enth TO Eleventh not single
building was left standing. Occasion
ally massive stone or iron front still
stood, while the entire structure proper
had been swept entirely away.
This morning it presented the most
spectacle of disaster and ruin
ever witnessed. In the course OF the
storm lay the pride tobacco market of
the city, and to-day the warehouses,
almost to the last one, lay in ruins.
They include the Kentucky, Picketts,
Ninth Street, Falls City, Phoenix, Green
River, Louisville, Enterprise, Central
aud Planters. So
The Louisville hotel, tween Sixth
and Seventh, was unrc ID and otherwise
while the building west occu-
pied as cigar store upon the first floor
and sleeping rooms upon the second aud
.hird, was RACED entirely to the ground,
NOT A SINGLE BRICK
in place. In the destruction
If this house many lives were lost, prin-
,ipally of persons who occupied sleeping
'ooms there. Many of them were young
girls employed at the hotel next door.
Saloons and other available places
nave been turned into hastily impro-
Used morgues where the bodies were |
AIKEN as fast as received and left await
ng identification. Patrol wagons are
,etng pressed into service as dead wagons
o convey corpses to required places.
Eleventh street seemed to receive the |