The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1896-05-30
SEARCHING FOR BODIES
Among Ruins Left by the
Cyclone
HORRORS MULTIPLY EVERY HOUR
Thugs and Thieves Gather for
Nefarious Work
THOUSANDS Of MEN AT WORK
Striving 10 Bring Order Out Of the
Dreadful Chaos
Late Figures Lead to Hope That Death Estl.
mates Were Too High
Gut Il Becomes 1ors and More Evident That
the Disaster 10 the Worst Ever
Visited Upon an Ameri.
can City
THOUSANDS Of MEN AT WORK
Striving 10 Bring Order Out Of the
Dreadful Chaos
late Figures Lead to Hope That Death Estl'
mates Were Too High
Associated Press Special Wire.

Associated Press Special Wire.
ST. LOUIS, May 29-The day opened
clear and cool. Everywhere could be
seen men delving In the ruins for buried
victims. clearing the streets of disman-
tied poles. wires and general debris, re-
pearing the damage done to thousands
of buildings and relieving the injured
and homeless. 1t becomes more and
more evident that the tornado is the
worst that ever visited this or any other
city on the North American continent.
The horrors multiply every hour.
Boatmen today began recovering from
wrecked and disabled craft such por-
tions as appeared worth saving. Eleven
boats and tugs are thought to be be-
yond repair. They are the Dolphin, No.
2. j. j. Ddell. City of Quincy. Libby Con-
ger, Bald Eagle, Belle of Calhoun. East
st. Louis, Andrew Chisey, Henry l..
Clark, and the tugs Baton Rouge, Bell
and S. S. Club. Five members of the
crew or passengers of the Odell reported
missing yesterday are given up for lost.
None of the bodies have been recovered.
The number who lost their lives In the
AlNcI 10 u IudltcI VI COllJcCtuIe Oulys
Two companies of the Illinois state
militia from Greenville and Belleville,
ILL.,. in all about 100, patrolled the levee
district of East St. Louis all day. Dead
lines were established and no one was
allowed to pass without permit.
II wired Governor Altgeld yesterday.
asking him to take this action" said
Mayor Bader today. 1T was done in
order to protect the exposed property,
for our force was insufficient to guard 1t
properly. In cases of this kind the
criminal element comes in very quickly.
for the purpose of pillage. and they fire.
quently resort to incendiarism; al
though we have not been troubled yet,
it was done as a measure of precaution
and to prevent a beginning of thievery.
i telegraphed to Chief of Police Harri-
gan in East St.Louis to prevent as much
as possible the influx Of thugs. This he
has done and sent a number Of detec-
tives and officers to help me out. He
has also stationed men on the other
side, and unless man appears all right,
he is refused permission to cross. There
is nothing. however. in the report that
martial law has been declared"
The effect OF these stringent measures
was soon seen today in the greatly de-
creased number of people in the devas-
tated district. over sixty suspects have
already been arrested and were sent out
Of town or locked up.
Several pickpockets and confidence
men have also been arrested. In addi-
ton to the militia and police force Chief
N fiftv danutiaQ
who were placed in different parts of the
city. The property loss Is hard to esti-
mate.
Late figures rather tend to reduce the
estimates Of the number killed and the
probabilities are that 1t will not run
much over SO. The bodies of Mike Kill
day and VIII Farrell were recovered
from the ruins OF the Vandalia general
offices last night. and this morning an
unidentified body of a middle-aged man
was found by workmen while removing
the debris from the location of the old
fremont house. One more corpse, that
Of George Luckey, was found about
noon.
One feature Of the storm. and one of
the after effects of which was some
what feared, is the large number of
horses killed. On every side could be
seen the mangled bodies of the animals.
The police department was busy all day
removing the carcaSseS, and none too
soon, for the warm weather Of the past
two days had alredy started decomposi-
ton. The railroad yards are gradually
being cleared of debris, rendering the
moving of trains once more possible
but it will be weeks before anything like
order can be restored. AT least 400
freight cars were overturned and either
wholly or partially demolished, and as
many of these were loaded with mer-
chandise the work of clearing the tracks
will necessarily be slow. A ladies' relief
corps has been organized, of which
Miss Louisa Gross of East st. Louis is
president and Mrs. Ira Sweet of East
st. Louis vice-preSident.
Committees have been appointed from
5ll churches of the city and are actively
at work soliciting aid and are meeting
with good success.
The new library building has been
made the general relief headquarters
Tickets will be distributed to the needy
ones for food and shelter. Mayor Bader
estimates that least 500 families are left
entirely destitute and will need immed-
late sustenance. Many have not even
suf1icient clothing. Among the tele-
grams OF sympathy which have been re-
ceived by Mayor Bader is the following:
CHICAGO. May 2S.-The members of
the Hamilton club tender their heartfelt
sympathy to the people of your stricken
city in the awful calamity that has visit
ed them, and we offer every aid and
help In this hour of aff1iction. Let us
know what is needed.
(Signed) HAMILTON GLIB.
.s r. G. MOULTON, President.
A message of the same plIrport from
President F'reiberg of the Cincinnati
chamber OF commerce was received. AL
though thosuands Of men are at work
night and day clearing away the wreck
age In the path of the tornado, they have
scarcely made perceptible impression