The Dickinson press., 1890-04-05
WORST IN OUR HISTORY
Later Reports Confirm the News
OF the Appalling Disaster
at Louisville.
Many Of the Finest Blocks in
the Heart of the City Raced
to the Ground.
No Accurate Account Of the Number
Of Dead Obtainshle, But 1t
Will Be Hundreds

Louisville occurred Thursday night, At
S:a5 u cyclone OF unusual violence
crossed the city from southwest to north
east, leaving death and destruction in its
path. The list of the killed and wounded
amounts into hundreds. The loss of
property mounts into millions.
All the evening the storm had been
gathering, and the lightning and thun-
der were ominous. AT about s O'Clock it
began to rain, and the storm gradually
increased in intensity. The rain changed
to hail and the people kept within doors.
The signal service in the afternoon pre-.
dicted a cyclone, but no one thought it
would hit Louisville. At S:25 the disaster
came. The heavens were black as ink.
There was a deep, threatening roar as
the cyclone struck the southern portion
of the city, then the buildings were
Crushed Like Egg Shells.
and q broad swath of destruction was
the result. The path of the tornado was
from Seventeenth and Maple northeast
erly cro the city, past Seventh and
Broadway, Sixteenth and Chestnut,
Twelfth and Broadway, and thence to
the Union depot at the foot of Seventh
street. The worst ruin was wrought
among the large and substantial struc-
lures on Market and Main streets, and it
seems as if the demon of the storm did
its worst just when about to leave us.
The whole thing was over in a minute
and a half. People living outside of the
track of the storm were that
anything unusual had happened, and
where the cyclone had swept there was
utter destruction and death. Great
buildings tumbled like toy houses.
Churches, factories and warehouses went
down like cardboard. People fled in
terror from death in their ruined homes.
There were agonizing screams for help.
Surgeons were hastily summoned. Half
a dozen fires broke out in as many differ
ent parts of the city. Meantime the
cyclone departed as quickly as it came.
The gray daylight of the morning re-
vealed a scene of desolation
Sickening to Behold.
Main street from Seventh to Twelfth is
ruin. So is Market street for the cores
ponding distance. Jefferson from Tenth
to Thirteenth, Walnut from Thirteenth
to Fifteenth, Chestnut from Thirteenth
to Seventeenth and Broadway in the
neighborhood of Eighteenth and Nine
tenth are filled with debris and destruc-
ton. Even at this hour it is impossible
to give any accurate list of killed and
wounded. 1t will take days to that.
In the Residence Portion,
The terrible cyclone swept the resi-
dence portion of the West End, doing
immense damage to property. The loss
of life was considerable, and the condi-
ton of many of the totally demolished
houses would seem to preclude the pos
sibllity of any of any of the inmates hav-
ing escaped alive. In dozens of places
the houses were entirely RACED to the
ground, yet in many of them the resi-
dents escaped uninjured or slightly
bruised. The cyclone seemed to take
fiendish pride in Enthusiastically iniuring
the residences. frequently a three-story
house had its front cut from it, the rest
remaining unframed.
Water Works Ruined.
The water works are ruined. The big
standpipe, through which all the water
is forced into the reservoir, was demol-
ished by the cyclone. The city water
supply is thus cut off, and it is not
known how long it will take to repair the
damage. Consequently a water famine
is sure to follow. All the windows of
the pumping station were blown out.
The standpipe was 100 feet high, and
was built of brick, iron and wood, and
was four feet in diameter on the inside.
Life Savers Did Gallant Service.
The life savers under veteran Capt.
Devan did gallant service, rescuing a
of river men and snatching valua-
BILE steamers from the foaming stream.
The steamboats, Hibernia, Tell City.
James Gunthrie, Grace Morris and other
boats were torn from their mornings
and were carried helplessly down the
stream, all without fires in the furnaces.
Through the herculean efforts of the life
saver and the crew of the City of Madi-
son, however, all were safely brought
into port.
The ferry W. G. Hite, with many
passengers, was snatched from doom
just as she neared the falls.
There are various estimates as to the
material loss. A conservative calcula-
ton makes it about $4,000, 900. Most
place it at considerably more than that
figure. Dun's estimate is So, 500, 900.