The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-05-29

dent TO sucn q catastrophe III was not pOssl-
BILE to realize the enormity OF the calamity.
The light of day invests the scene of de-
structi0n with distinct and awful reali-
zation of it's scope. The loss of life is ap-
paillng and the ruin to property great
The storm descended from the west mp
on the fated city. 1t came in manner
that no two can agree In describing. So me
say it came In the shape OF twlster. while
others say il did not have the characteris-
tic tunnel shape of tornado, whiie SIN
others say that 1t simply descended In the
shape of o storm ciOud. The appearance
of things this morning. however. leaves no
doubt but that IL was twister and gen
uine twlster at that for trees have been
turned right-about face. Stoves were lift
ed until they finally landed In the upper
floors of tho ruins. How this could nave
been done il is almost impossible TO tell.
but it is fact nevertheless. Freight cars
which stood on the tracks of the Ro ck
Island road were picked mp and carried q
adistance of two hundred feet. In one in
stance Q horse was actually taken from his
sn,Idins. % p'a The ii,tle ehiId HH % Of barber
named Bowers was taken out of its cradle.
carried distance of two blocks and drop
ped gently on the greensward of we'll
kept yard. without receiving serious In
The Lutheran Church, a massive frame
building. one OF the most substantial OF Its
kind In the city. was taken up, turned com
pletely over. and now stands with the floor
upward, as solid, apparently, as If 1T had
been built in that way. 1t Is not O small
building either. for 1t had q seating capac-
ity of seven hundred people. The old court
house. a solid two-story structure. was
demolished and reduced to gravel and
sphnters with the exception OF the little
frame Office that q pair of donkeys could
draw from its foundations. and that WIS
loft standing intact by the side of the ruins
OF S the old court, 9Ss Its stately hegh
substantial frame edifce with seating
capacity of one thousand. was reduced TO
the merest splinters. The frame parsonage
beside 1t was comparatively unhurt.
HAVOC IN NEWSPAPER OFFICES.
The Specknobt Block. on the north side
of Washington avenue, which is the main
street of the city, where yesterday was an
imposing row of six brick buildings. to-day
is pile of little splinters. pieces of brick
and pulverized glass and mortar. Two
newspaper Offices. reasonably large plants.
the Monitor Press and Voice. were in one
of these buildings, and nothing is lett of
them but the pied type and broken ma
ohinery beneath the ruins The beautiful
Standard Block was wrecked. 1t could
not have moro holes In IL II twenty pieces
of artillery had been playing on ii for
twenty-four hours. 1t was a beautiful
block, consisting Of about six slx-story
brick buildings built about five years ago.
In this block the Wellington Daily
Mail and Sumner County Standard
were published. These two plants were
worth not less than $1,000 yesterday. To-
day they are not apparently worth 2O
cents. The postoffice was also located in
| this block, next to the Standard office. IL
| Is impossible to detail the ruins of Wash
| ington avenue. Every house on each side
| of the street is unroOfed. the back walls
of Of
| soldiers, each armed with gun loaded
| with buckshOt, could not have broken the
| glass OF every window in this entire block
| more effectively than the storm did.
The splendid opera-house Is practically
| in ruins. The beautiful Cole ~ Robinson
| brick block, one of the rooms of which was
| occupied by the Alliance Mercantile Ex-
| change, is also q complete wreck. Not n
bit of it Ia standing OH its foundation. In
| the collapse this building caught fire. and
| two inmates, Mrs. Sasher and her sister.
| Miss Strand. were burned. The Episcopal
| Church is in splinters, while a very small
| frame house near 1t survived the devasta-
| tion without a scratch.
The most appalling scene was that at tho
| Philips House. where ball as in progress
| when the storm burst. The dancers were
given little opportunity TO escape from tho
topping structure. As the building began
| swayIng in the terrific gale the people In
| the crowded ballroom made q frantic rush
| for the doors. The stalrways and halls
| were Immediately nlleQ Dy the craZeQ men
| and women, who tore ut each other IN their
| mad rush for the open air. As the timbers
| crashed down on the struggling merry
| makers their cries were throttled by the
| weight of the mass of timbers Then came
| the silence of death and inscnsihility. only
] to be followed q moment later by the terri
| Bile blasts of the tempest as Ii rushed on tO
| other destruction and the agonIzed shrieks
of the injured or dying who were pinned IN
the mass Of debris.
| meetinp of the Salvation Army was in
progress in hall near the Robinson Block.
The falling walls OF this building crushed
the hail. and 1t Is known that two were
killed 1t is probable when the wreck has
been cleared away IL will be found that
moro were killed. The meeting was en-
gagged in prayer when the storm struck
Before any of the soldiers could rise from
| their knees the walls of the building gave
way with crash. How any of them es
capped death is q marvel
THE PROPERTY LOSS.
Tho loss to property alone in this city
will be $500 0C0 mostly all of tho large
stocks of goods in the city were destroyed
by the cloud-burst which followed the tor
nado, after it had taken all the roofs away
1t is safe to say that 80 buildings are com
plete wrecks, W hile $50 more are partially
wrecked. The greater portion of the city
was devastated, and the entire community
consisting OF between five thousand ant
Six Thousand people. was thrown into 9
state of CONSERVATION, and dread and fea
actuated all. Tho shouts of the rescner
mingled with the cries of the sutfering Y
while those unhurt dashed from thei
homes partially dressed. When the wine
subsidei every available man In the city
engaged in the work OF rescue, conductet
under the leadership of George Whittier
president of the Council. Order was sooI
brought out of chaos.
The scene at the temporary hospital wa
| one 6uch as Is rarely witnessed except upoI
u battlefield. The floor was saturated
with blood which gushed from the many
wounds of the many persons who wcr
taken there as soon as they could be extrl
Gated from the wrecked buildings. A
first there was little effort at order. Ever,
one was too excited for that. The injure,
were carried in and placed III tho fire
vacant place that could be found upon th
floor. Then the rescuers hurried away 4
renew their efforts in behalf of those still
in the rnins. All the physicians in tn
town fastened TO the spot. but there wer
not enough to attend to al. the calls upO
them. They in no case could afford NOR
than temporary relief. Not woun
could be dressed beyond the immediate re
quirements of the case. Crushed limb
were ainputated in tha hurried manne
that was common on field thirty years ago
Scalp wounds and laceratiOns were left {
be attended to by volunteers. for the SUI
, geons had their hands full relieving til
more seriously hurt. The groans an
cries that went up from that building wer
terrible. An attempt WAS made To kce
the hall clear Of all but the rescuers, SUI
, geons. their assistants and messenger.