Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-03-29
THE GREAT TORNADO
Further Particulars of the Dis
aster at Louisville.
MANY HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST.
The Full Extent of the Calamity Not
Yet Known.
THOUSANDS OF HOMES IN RUINS.
Fire Added Its Horrors and Many Per
sons Were Burned to Death.

HeartrendinE Sights and Ecen~a-The
People Too DAzed to Realize Their
Positi"n-Graphic Description OF an
Eyewitness Dancing Children Crush
ed to Dexth-Louisville Refuses Out
lido Assistance--A ppalliug Loss of Life
1t MetropoIis-Awful Soenes At the
Suins.
LOUISVILLE, KY, March 29.-This city,
which sat SO proudly on the banks of
the turbulent Ohio but ~ hours ago,
giving no thought to danger. is to-day
mourning the loss of 800 of her citizens
whose lives went out in the twinkling
Of an eye, and her sons and daughters
are standing around the bedside of hun
areds of others who were injured, many
of them fatally, in the terrible disaster
that has overtaken her.
The calamity came without warning
and it found men and women engaged
in their usual avocations, and many
seeking pleasure. only to find the halls
Of their gayety and mirth turned sud
denly into the most terrible of sepul-
chures.
EARLY in the evening the clouds west
and southwest had a threatening as
poet, and a brisk wind with rain pre-
vailed for two or three hours, but al
though the violence of the storm in
creased as darkness approached, no
alarm was excited. About 8 o'clock the
clouds were seen to mass themselves to
the southwest of the city.
Approach of the Cyclone.
Half an hour later the blast came
with terrible effect, the elimination as
it were of all its threatenings of hours
before. Just west Of New Albany the
Ohio bends to the south and it was here
and on the Indiana side that the storm
assumed the proportions of a cyclone
and started upon it's devastating course.
Crossing the river at point just below
New Albany it struck the suburb of
Portland and unroofed several houses,
and apparently fed by the partial de-
struction it struck the city at Seven
teenth street and Broadway and took
direct northeast course, striking the
squares in its path at the angles, and
extending about one and a half squares
in width. Each square brought it
nearer to the business portion of the
city until it struck Main and Eleventh
streets. Hero its track was broadened I'M
til it covered three squares, passing out
of the city at Seventh street where it
crossed to the Indiana side. The space
traversed was not less than three miles,
and on every side widespread desolation
was visible.
An Appalling Scsne.
Massive buildings of brick and ST. one
were crushed and scattered on every
side and hardly q residence fell that
some inmates were not killed or injured
The cries of the survivors and the
groans of the injured mingled together
and added to the appalling
desolation of the scene. At first
there could be no organized effort
at rescue. Hundreds of homes had been
demolished, husbands and wives, pa
rents and children had been separated
and each knowing nothing of the con-
ditlon of the other ran frantically fro m
lace to place looking for the lost.
Three Cremated In u Saloon,
The saloon of John Sherman, at 10Th
and Magazine streets, crumbled beneath
the storm. The woodwork iGnited from
the stoves, and Nick Sullivan, William
Diemer and Ben Chelk were burned to
death. The corpses were charred be-
yond possibility of identity.
5000 Buildings Demolished.
No definite statement can be made of
the number of persons killed by the
visitation, SO great is the confusion.
The number of injured surely runs
into the thousands. The best part of
the city is in ruins. Four hundred bus
Main, Market, Jefferson and Walnut
streets, from 7th to 10Th. In all, nearly
5000 houses must have been demolished.
Gangs of men have been constantly
st work searching in the great mass of
| debris for victims.
Policemen made efforts to restrain
anxious crowds from entering dangerous
places in the devastated districts but
their efforts were of no avail.
Within a short time after the tornado
occurred men were at work at the Falls
City Hall. carrying out the dead. The
hrst work was to cut through the slate
roofing.
While this was being done, groans
of dying people in the hall were plainly
heard. 1t was more than hour before
the first victims were taken out.
Ten dead women were found locked in
| each others arms.
Within the next hour thirty men and
women were taken out dead; all of whom
had lost their lives by suffocation.
The gaspipes had been severed and
| flooded the place with the deadly
| vapor.
Searching for Relatives.
From the hour of the advent of the
| storm until this morning tele-
graphic communication with the
outside world was made impossible on
| account of the destruction of the wires.
The fact only added to the general panic
| and confusion.
The scenes that have been enacted
must be imagined. Frantic people have
| wandered hither and thither in search
of relatives and friends, but found moth
ing but confusion.
The authorities and volunteers have
done all possible toward organizing
their forces and removing the victims.
To-day outside relief came in the form
| of doctors, and there are temporary
hospitals everywhere.
Slowly Burned to Death.
When the fire broke out in the ruins
on Seventh street, q man, his wife and
little girl were seen wedged under tho
debris. and although they shrieked and
moaned, and the spectators made al