St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-04-03

southwest to northeast, leaving
death and destruction in it's path. A
cyclone was predicted in the after
noon by the signal service, but no
one thought of it striking the city.
1t was preceded by lightning, thun-
der and rain The whole thing was
over in Il minute and a half, but
where the cyclone had swept there
was utter destruction, ruin and
death. Great buildings tumbled like
toy houses Churches, factories and
warehouses went down like card
board. People fled in terror from
death in their ruined homes. There
were agonizing screams for help.
Surgeons were hastily summoned.
Half dozen fires started in as MANY
different parts of the city Meantime
the cyclone departed as quickly as it
came. The loss of life will be over
100.
Destruction of the Union Depot.
When the crash came Louisville
Southern train had just come in at
the depot and the Ohio & Mississippi
was ready to pull out, but both were
caught by the falling mass and were
crushed like shells. One man was in
stantly killed by the falling timbers,
and SIX other persons were injured,
but none fatally.
At Fails City Hall.
Falls city hall, a four-story build
ing, was blown down while several
lodges were in session and 100 men
and women buried in the ruins. After
hon. % ,.ancaIare, IaI
victim was unearthed. When she
revived sufficiently to speak she stated
that when the crash came MANY
women were knocked down and
trampled upon, and many seeing the
overwhelming Jam at the door re-
manned behind and were all killed.
The work was continued, but no
others could be found. AS soon as
the roofing was removed ten women
locked in each others arms, were
drawn out of the debris lanes
HaSsOn was foremost in the work
and the first person whom he drew
out was his wife, who died in his
arms. Inside the next hour 30 men
and women were drawn out dead
but with no wounds on their bodies,
and it IS thought all met death from
suffocation. The gas pipes had
broken which caused the lights to go
out and filled the debris with a vapor
almost as deadly as a fire might
have proved.
4 Fire Flinders the Work of Rescue.
At 10 O'Clock q fire broke out in
city hall with tremendous ferceness.
1t spread rapidly and forced the
workers to desert the pile The
groans of the imprisoned people
became shrieks, and the workers be
came frantic because they were una
bic to reach them. Water was thrown
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. Up to - O'Clock only
about 80 dead bodies and % wound
ed and dying had been taken from
the wreck
Horrible Death of Three Men.
Three men were caught in the fall
ing timbers of q twO-stOrv grocery
and bar-roOm and burned entirely to
a black and charred mass They
were two laborers and an under
taker- Seven people were in the
house at the time and the owner
alone escaped with his life, being
badly burned and bruised.
Father, Mother and Child Burned.
When the fire broke out in the ruins
on Seventh street man, his wife and
little girl were seen wedged under
the debris and although they shrieked
and mOaned and the specta tors made
every effort to release them from
their position it was impossible and
they slowly burned in the presence of
helpless hundreds. None of those
who went through on the Jefferson,
Madison & Indianapolis train could
estimate the extent of the disaster in
the time given them for observation
but everywhere that a fire served as
a beacon light everything seemed to
be swept clean. In the streets through
which passengers went to reach the
depot there were dead and diving.
The gas works and electric light
plants were wrecked, and from the
conduct of the fire department it was
thought that the water works had
also been wrecked, as there was diff
ticulty in getting water
A Train Completely Wrecked.
a freight train south bound on the
Louisville & Nashville road encoun-
tered the cyclone 26 miles south of
Evansville, Ind, and was completely
wrecked, the engine topping over an
embankment. The engineer is buried
under the engine and has not been
recovered. His home is in Nashville,
Tenn. where he has a wife and three
children. The head brakeman was
coal tender and his life was saved by
being thrown in an opposite direction
from the engine. Fifteen cars of
freight were wrecked.
The Storm Elsewhere.
At LaGrange, 81 miles out from
Louisville, much damage was done
At Eminence, 40 miles southeast of
Louisville, several persons were
killed. The whole country coming
out of Louisville is one mass of
poles, timbers, trees and
other debris
Port Royal, 40 miles from Louis
vile, is reported as being entirely
demolished.
Two miles from Gallatin, Tenn,
several houses were blown down.
Across the pike another residence
was blown down, inJuring five per
sons. Other residences were COM
pletely wrecked and large trees were
uprooted and carried some distance
The storm was only of short dura-
ton and passed over about 0 o clock
A despatch from Marion. KY, says
that city was devasted by the storm
and many lives lost. The tornado
struck Graysville, Ga, IS miles
south of Chattanooga, shortly after