The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-03-29

lRCALcULRBLE LOSS OF LIFE
PROPERTY.
PATHETIC SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
a Building Crowded with People Goes
Down-W Women Digg ing al Debris
with their TinEers-Tobacco
Warehouses Wrecked
Latest Details.

Eighteenth street and swept % path iNc
blocks wide diagonaliy, reaching i'm arae-
ged line TO Seventh street, ievelling every
building i'm it's path, probably 1900 houses.
a rough estimate puts the killed at five
hundred. with thousands injured. The city
isfned witt crazod mass of people. Wild
lv seeking friends. a large force OF men is
at work On the ruins. and about one hun-
dred bodies have been recovered. buid-
ings on Main street. from Eighth to -Four
toonth street, are in ruins. not one OF the
handsome wholesale houses being leii,
and an the tobacco warehouses swept
away. Falls City Hall. iour-sioI!
building. was ur0siratod while several MAJ
sonic and KNIGHTS of Honor lodges were lu
session. and one hundred people-mcn and
w0men-werc buried in the ruins. Every
other house 0n Market and Jefferson and
Walnut streets. from Tenth tO >lNtecnih
street. is in ruins. Parklaud. suburb. is
swept away. Az the Jnion depot. 40 the
foot of seventh street. the Chesapeake and
Ohio train for Washington. was just stafi-
ing out. filled with passengers: the building
was prOstrated. crashing in ou the tram.
Am the passengers were. however, rescued
but one newsbOy.
A DEsOLATE CITY.
such desolaii0n no city has known in This
century Every building, tree. and every
telegraph pole is loNelled within the district
struck. The cyclone was predicted Toy ihr
signal Service bulletin yesterday afternoon
but mo- heed was paid 10 its warning.
TEMPEST AND SUDDEN DEATH.
The cyclone came with scarcely warn
ing sound. and iu an the buildings struck
the inhabitants were engaged ln their usual
ayocatiOns without an effort io escape iipin
their homes collapsed. The district lana
waste comprises am area of tuc city three
miles long and nearly half a mile Wlde'
TERRIBLE CATASTROPHE.
The greatest loss of life occurred at the
Falls city hall. which stood in the centre OF
the devastated area. SeYenty-iNe children
with their parents. were in lne lower io'u7
of fine building. where the little ones were
taking dancing lessons. To is said that ai
least one hundred and twenty-five persons
were ou the lower floors, and that seventy
five tO one hIndrcd more were ON the upper
floor. attending "a lodge meeting. at the time
tine wiud-St0rm struck the building. ihe
entire structure in lWinkliug was "a shape
less mass, and the hundreds OF We
Tins were buried under Its ruins.
Minimum estimates place me loss
of life al this point at one hundred.
INIIN NIIIn II|I NAANr NANNN W
been recovered from the ruins. Fifteen
wounded and dying We're taken out. Only
those ON the third floor had been recovered,
the lower floors NOT yet having been un-
covered. Ony a few minutes ELAPSED after
Tine burst of the cyclone when the police
and nremon were al work upon the ruins Oi
the Falls city Hail. 10 was difficult io
clear The ruins of women, Who were i0unu
digging at the slate roof with their hneeis.
crazed 40 the grOans beneath. oach Oh Which
thoy thought ascendcd from their dying
friends.
PATHETIC SCENES.
AS soon as tine roofing and mass of brick
beneath had been removed ten women
locked in each others arms, were taken
from the debris. Mr.. James hasson,
whose wife had attended the lodge meet
mg. was foremost among the searchere'
and the first person he drew out of the ruins
was his Wife, who died in hls arms. he
laid her by the side OF tine other dead ana
continued his search for the living. Thirty
men and women We're Ca Sen out dead Don tine
next hour. but no wounds were found on
their bodies.
TOBACCO WAREHOUSES; RUINED.
The most siupend0us spectacle Of disas.
ter rand ruin. ever witnessed, was presented
This morning. The tobacco market, ON
which the city prided ITSELF lay iu the path
of tine storm. and to-day the warehouses, ai-
most 10 the last. are in ruins. Among those
DESTROYED are the Kentucky. Plcketts Ninth
Citv Fails CITY. phuuiX. Green River
Ioni-ville. Enterprise. Central and Planters.
The destruction Of the Louisville aud Ninth
street warehouses could not have been more
complete. Thousands of ho-sheads OF to
bacco Law I'm the mass of debris, some buried
from sight, Others exposed to 'iew'
HORRORS UPON HORRORS.
Alp O'Clock the opening up Of q portion
fthp debris of the Falls City Hall caused
"a draught % penetrate the ruins, whereupon
the .mouldering fire br0keiOut with trcmcn-
dous uerceness. 20 spread rapidly ana
f,rced the workers % desert the pile. As
soon as the lire gained headWay the groans
of the imprisoned people became shrieAs.
and 80 great was the horror OF the moment
fhat the watchers were ilanuc ana
screamed and ran about Ike Wild.
me terrible suncriugs which they were
unable 20 alleviate, driving them 10
desrair. several lines of hose were soon
throwing water ON the flames, but IL was
moro than am hour before the work could De
proceeded with. and then 10 was carried ou
with mach more difficulty than before, ON
accouut of the heat. Up 10 IL O'Clock oni,
about thirty-hve dead bodies and twenty
live wounded and diving were taken from
the wreck.
THE LITTLE tNNoCENis.
Al about 1880 O'Clock the room where the
children wercdancing was reached. Lewis
Simna. .Ir.. of 1924 Market street, had for
honr. been ,anying about IN am agony ol
.srlef an front Of that portion of the wreck
where this iOOm had been. for his VIE ara
tour little children were there. Nhen tue
room was reached Mrs. rimms was the hrsi
one found. and she was fatally hurt. men,
within about fifteen minutes Of each Othef'
tbre. al Tie ~imms children were recover
"a Nlev were unconscious. ana thefe J.
only a faint possibility that they VIII I'VE.
While the father was implorins the Woih.
ers TO get his other child nre broke out ana
work Was suspended.
EVERYTHING IS CHAOS.
There are two hundred or more people y'l
in the debris, and the probabilities are lhat
Few If any more viii be recovered awe
or those taken out dead. only small num-
her were identified. Everything is chaos.
There is no system. A mans voice was
heard in "a corner, and light showed the
Scared face Of Virgil Wright. He was
oennad in with mass Of bricks and NOR
lar. In bio hand be held pistol, WIN
which he was trying 10 end MS suhefihSs'
Ills arm was 30 badly bruised, however,
that he was unable 10 pull the trigger. ana
he was rescued, quite badly wounded, Dul
able 10 walk.
INCIDENTS OF THE DISASTER.
The water works are ruined. The city
water supply is thus cut OF, consequently F"