Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-06-04

They knew not what TO do, and
wandered aimlessly about, charmed
by the very horror of the scene.
On either side of the roadway the
railroad yards were torn into horri'
BILE burlesque on chaos. Great, heavy
freight cars had been lifted from the
tracks in their entirety and hurled
yards away, plunsing down embank-
ments and landing bottom side up in
the morasses and marshes OF the is.
land.
Somestimes the trucks had remained
on the track. the bodies being literally
torn from them and hurled in indis-
criminate confusion hisher and thither.
Mixed with this great mass of rail.
road debris were the FORMER homes of
people who had lived down around this
part of town.
Parts of different houses were thrown
together, seeming more like the ruin
of one home rather than an aggrega-
ton of different firesides.
The long low line of frame houses
that stood to the right of the bridge
where the bridge trolley met the local
street cars is gone. Not even the
wreckage is in sight. The ground is
almost swept clean.
Further on brick house stands by
the roadway. Part Of the roof is gone.
The front wall of the second story
has been blown out and there can be
seen the whole contents Of the room.
By one of those freaks of the s,torm
the conten is of the bed room have
been untouched. With the roof and
front wall gone the pictures even are
still hanging on the walls. A lamp
stands on the little center table and
the bed. but for the black stains Of
mud and water, stands still untouched.
in perfect order.
was white horse, with a great bloody
stain on his side. His team mate is
twenty yards beyond, both dead.
The wagon they were hauling, great
heavy dairy, was hurled upside down,
with its wheels twisted off and spin.
tered against an iron pier of the big
bridge.
Looking far off to the right, the
ruins of the East st. Louis Cold Stor-
age Co. loom up, and nearer to the wa
ter the shattered remnants of the KEN
lor mills
By the waters edge are the battered
thrown high and dry upon
the shore, deserted now, all save the
City of Quincy. A bedraggled horse
could be seen standing weakly on the
slanting deck, with head down and
tail blown away by the wind-a mis-
cradle picture.
A little closer to the bridge tre-
mendous barge, loaded with iron, is
lying half on it's side, the end nearest
the water half torn away.
AT the left the relay depot still looms
up intact, but the deva station about
it is unspeakable.
The Vandalia and Chicago, Burling-
ton & Quincy and other freight depots
are wiped from the face of the earth
A s1noldering mass of charred ruins
shows where the Hetze1 mills once
stood
The fremont and the Mantel houses
are totally demolished, the latter hav-
ing been blown into Cahokia creek.
Mrs. Hayes, the wife of the pro.
prietor of the fremont house, was
killed and her son desperately injured.
The proprietor escaped. Three others
are supposed to be now in the ruins,
and men can be seen working to re-
cover the bodies.
No one is supposed to have been
killed in the Manten house.
Marten was reported dead, but. later
turned up alive.
Death in the Vandalia fright depot
was rampant. Cashier Frank McCor.
mick, Yardmaster Joe Franks and
Albert Valkman are known to be dead.
Frank Bland and Dan Kelly were re.
ported to be dead, but later it was
found that they were only injured.
Cashier Fout, of the Illinois Central,
was killed in the crash which carried
away the freight depot of that com.
pany.
The residence portion of the town,
Ball and Pennsylvania avenues and
Gross park, were spared almost en-.
tirely.
When the storm came up Mayor Ba-
der was in the city hall. He ran for
the police station, but was thrown
down an embankment and stunned.
He was rescued from lot of debris
by Detective Hickey and later recov-
cred enough to help with the rescne
work.
A Louisville & Nashville train was
blown off the track at the Relay depot
and one unknown person seriously in
jured.
The Douglas public school. on the
island, was blown entirely to pieces.
One of the morgues is the undertake.
ing establishment of J. A. Kurrus, on
Third street. At a. m. there were
II dead bodies, most of which had
been identified.
While the reporter was in the dead
room two girls came in.
They were red-eyed with weeping
and pale from fear and sorrow and
Their hearts were
heavy with the fear that their brother
was dead and they were looking for
him.
''Oh. our little BROTHER" moaned one
of them. wringing her hands, lis he
here? Oh, Peter. Peter"
STOCK YARDS IN RUINS.
Almost Every Building In That Part of