Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-04-03

-Fren.ied scenes-Tvo Hundred
Houses I'm Ruins-Ths Fstsd
Dance Hail.
LOUISVILLE KY, March eo.-Betweeo
eight and nine o'clock Thursday Hghta-
| tornado struck this city from the south
| west, extending northeastvard. leaving
| death and destruction everywhere Out
side of the clearly defined limits Of the
destruction the people knew only Of a.
heavy rain accompanied by. high wind
Soon came the alarm Of fire hom q
dozen different stations and the horrors
of the calamity began to dawn % Ito
people.
Great stone warehouses, halls .
amusement railroad stations and DWELL
| ing houses all went down before che
mighty powers of the air. The storm
soon passed on, the clouds scattered ana
the moon cast its light over . sorel1
| stricken city. Relief parties we're soon
| organized and the whole force OF to
| fire department was put to work.
| The wrecked part OF the city lies be-
| tween Eighteenth, Broadway, Seven0
| and Main streets, the storm passing di-
agonally across that section, which is
probably a mile square.
4 Ab 1e8S6 SOO houses are In RUNS
| The buildings on Main street. from
| one of the handsome wholesale house
being left and all the tobacco wars
houses being swept away.
On Market street. Falls City Hall, Q
four-story building, was blown down
| while several Masonic and Knights Of
| Honor lodges were in session.
One hundred men and women were
buried in the ruins
| Every other house on Market JeHer~
son and Walnut streets, from Eleventh
| to Sixteenth, is in ruins Falkland, q
suburb. was swept away.
At the Union Depot, at the &oot 81
Seventh street, the Chesapeake & Ohio
| train for Washington was Just starting
| filled with passengers The building
was Frustrated, crashing in on the train.
| All the passengers, however, eere
rescued except one newsboy.
Every building, tree and telegraph
pole in the district struck was leveled-
Probably the greatest loss of life oc--
CURED at the Falls City Hall, which sas
the center of the tornado. In the lower
| rooms of the hall were SO or as children,
| with their mothers and other relatives,
| taking dancing lessons There were at
IS more attending lodge meeting on
upper floors when the terrible wind
| swept down upon the building. The
| entire. structure, in less than five
| minutes, was a shapeless mass of brick
and mortar, burying zoo helpless victims.
| of which number few escaped uninju red-
Conservative estimates place the loss
| of life at this point at 100. while other
/ reports indicate the mum Der to be nearer
200.
At three o'clock a m. IS dead
! bodies had been taken from this ruin
| and Is wounded and dying. Only those
1 on the third floor had been reached, the
room containing the dancing school
| pupils and visitors not yet being opened
Immediately upon the burst of the
| cyclone the fire bells sounded and the
1 police went to work. In ten minutes a.
| posse appeared at the Falls City Hall
| The walls of the ad joining house were
| first propped up. 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 to view the ruin Womem
| were found digging at the slate with
| their fingers, crazed at the groans be-
| assembled from their dying ones.
| The work of excavating was then
moved from the rear of the building to,
| the front, where it was supposed the
greater crowd was gathered. As soon
| as the roofing was removed and the
| mass of brick beneath, the first sight
| that met the eyes was any thing but
hopeful. Ten women locked in each
| others arms were drawn out of the de-
| bris, all dead but one. James Hassen,
| whose wife had been at the lodge meet
| ing, was foremost in the work and the
| first person whom he drew out of the
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.
Within the next hour thirty men and
women were drawn out dead, but with
no wounds on their bodies, and it is
thought that all met their death from
suffocation.
At twelve o'clock the opening up of
portion of the debris of the Falls City
Hall caused draught to penetrate the.
ruins, whereupon the smoldering fire
broke out with tremendous ferceness-
1t spread rapidly and forced the workers
to desert the pile. As soon as the fire.
men had been driven away groans from
the imprisoned people became
shrieks, and SO great was the
horror of the moment that the
watchers grew frantic and screamed
and ran about like wild, the terrible
sufferings which they were unable to-
alleviate driving them to despair. Sew
era1 lines of men had been throwing
water on the flames, but it was more
than an hour before work could be pro-
ceeded with, and then it was carried on
with much difficulty on account of the
heat.
The cyclone was predicted by signal
service bulletin in the afternoon, but no,
heed was paid to its warning
TORNADO INCIDENTS.
At midnight press correspondent
called as the city hospital at the corner
of Chestnut and Floyd streets. There
were found six of the injured victims of
the dreadful catastrophe. They Law