Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1896-05-29

tore its awful way through the city with
avelocity of over eighty miles an hour
Although reports from there are very
meagre. owing to the almost total de-
struction of the telegraph wires, it seems
certain the number of dead and wound
ed will amount to fully 1000 and the
damage done to millions of dollars.
The city hospital, which fortunately
survived the storm, is filled to overflow
ing with mangled men and children,
and the morgue, within two hours after
the end of the storm, was so full of
corpses that it was necessary TO provide
other quarters for the reception of the
dead. In addition to those who were
killed in their houses and streets, hun
dreds are beneath the waters of the
Mississippi river.
Of all the steamers on the levee when
the storm broke, but one is now ahoat.
All the others have gone down, in
many instances every soul on board
being lost and in others not over two
or three being able to reach a place of
safety.
Among the boats destroyed is the ex-
cursion steamer Great Republic, one of
the largest steamers on the lower river.
Not man escaped from her, and it is
said she was crowded with excursionists
when the storm came.
Many buildings have been demolished
and others partially wrecked. The
streets are utterly impossible to street
cars andin many places progress on foot
is a matter of great difficulty. To add
to the horrors of the night, the electric
plants were rendered incapable of ser
vice and the gas lamps are also shut off,
also broke out in several portions of the /
city, and the fire department was unable 4
to make an effective fight because of |
the choked up condition of the streets
and the large number of firemen who
were engaged in the work of rescuing
the dead and wounded.
The only authentic information from
the stricken city tonight was sent out by
the agent of the Associated Press, who
managed to reach an outlying tele
graph office and sent brief dispatch
as feliews
Tornado blowing at the rate of over
eighty miles an hour struck St. Louis
tonight and ragged for half an ho-r with
great fury, and as a result hundreds of
lives are lost on both sides of the river.
Many building are blown down and
many river steamers sunk with all on
board 1t is impossible at the present r
time to estimate the number of lives {
lost, and the hospitals are filled with in ,
ured and the morgue is filled with the ;
slain, while great numbers of the dead
md MANNED are lying among the ruins
n all directions. A portion of the east
md of the Eads bridge is destroyed.
he grand stand at the fair grounds is
Town, the woman's portion of the jail n
S gone and the immense Cupples block D
5 partially destroyed, the Waters Pierce :,
Dill works are burning and other build n
ngs in various sections of the city are d
n fire" d
The Western Union telegraph com &c
any announced that because of its in IA
bility to keep up its wires it would be -,
npossible 10 send out any more mes ~
lges tonight from St Loris or its VI
nifty. r,
After sending this brief dispatch the
legraph wire failed. One of the worst h.
atures of the disaster is thought to he
ave taken place at the race track at tn
t. Louis, where the races we're in full 70
wing and the grand stand was crowded. ne
eturns from the St. Louis races are re- tn
lived at the track at Lakeside, Ind, s.;
ID few minutes after : O'Clock the i'm
,erator sending the report Of the races DO
opped his work long enough to re- no
ark: There goes the grand stand"
d then his wire collapsed and moth
9 more was heard from him. TT
In few seconds the same message faS
as reported from Lexington, KY, with be
e additional information that fully da
0 people were dead. This information ar,
is subsequently coEroborated by the me
orator of the Wabash road at Deca-
r, who said that in his second message
ceiyed from East St. Louis 1t was de-
lred the grand stand at the races was :.
wn and that fully $50 people were SIT