The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-05-29

more than an hour above the west
ern horizon there settled upon the
city clouds so dense that daylight
quickly gave place to the darkness
of midnight. That was the pre-
cursor of the tornado from the
southwest. The hurricane from the
northwest gave the western portion
of the city its severe shaking up.
The tornado from the southwest,
which is responsible for the loss of
life and untold destruction along the
levee district and in East st. Louis, |
followed the hurricane for about
half an hour. What must be
charged up to this double visitation
only time can tell.
DEATH LIST APPALLING.
Health Commissioner Starkloff |
said that the dead would reach POO
and that not fewer than 1000 per-
sons had sustained serious injuries.
By midnight reporters of the Asso-
ciated Press had visited all of the
stricken portions of the city and
suburbs. The list of the dead dis
covered fell far below the first esti
mates, but was long enough to be APP
palling. The names of all the in
jured will never be known. Enough
were recorded at the dispensaries
last night to show how widespread
were the tornado's effects.
DAMAGE CANNOT BE ESTIMATED.
OF the destruction of property
there can be no satisfactory estimate
given. The loss in extent and in
character is beyond conception.
In the flashes of lightning last
night the City Hospital looked like
a ruin. The new surgical ward was
partially demolished. Portions of
the other buildings were unroofed.
There were 450 sick people in the
hospital when the storm came. Thir-
teen were injured in one ward.
Convention hall lost part of the
roof and sustained some derange-
ment of the interior. A section of
the brick wall of the jail went down,
and the prisoners were panic-strick-
en-.
IN THE BUSINESS QUARTER.
In the district between Sixth
street and river northwest from
Choteau avenue the tornado tore a
diagonal path. Every building
within the path sustained damage.
Walls were leveled. Roofs We're
lifted. Miles of telegraph and tele-
phone wires were left in a network
on the ground. Through this dis
trict the streets were impossible.
They were covered in places with
debris ten feet deep.
BOATS SENT A0RIFT.
Along the levee front the hawsers
snapped and boats were sent adrift,
some to go down, others to go ashore
on the eastern bank.
The death-dealing cloud crossed
the river at such an angle as to-
strike and wreck the upper works at
the east end of the Eads bridge and
sweep part of East st. Louis.
The list of the dead and injured on
the east side of the river will not be
complete until hours of daylight
permit effective search of the ruins.
Enough is known, however, to show
that more lives have been lost on
the east side than upon the west
side.
THE EADS BRIDGE.
Perhaps the most impressive evil
dence of the storm-cloud's force is to
be seen in the wrench of the eastern
end of the Eads bridge. This the
tornado dealt with stOne-masonry.
1t tore off and tumbled down tons
upon tons of this masonry. Begin
ming with the big eastern pier and
extending to the foot of the incline,
a cloud cut off the upper part of the
structure as if had it been t1imsy
trestle instead of a structure of
world famed masonry. What the
tornado did to the Eads bridge will
not be believed unless the eyes see
it.
LOSSES BY FIRE.
Fire added much to the loss ac-
count. Down wires, currents of
electricity, crushed buildings, all
contributed to this element of de-
struction. The alarm system was
paralyzed. Approaches were block
AIDED. A 100000 confiagratiOn on
the st. Louis side was supplemented
by dozen lesser fires. In East st.
Louis a mill was burned and con-
siderable losses were sustained.
| PATH OF THE STORM.
In st. Louis the destroyer seems
to have chosen course that lay
chiefly between the railroad tracks
and Lafayette avenue, though it
swept the entire city, cutting wide
swaths wherever it did any damage.
The wharf was the scene of the
worst devastation on this side of the
river. Before the storm, along the
river STEAMBOATS, and wharfboats and
barges were moored from Biddle
street to Choteau avenue. These
were swept from their fastenings al
most in solid phalanx and cast
adrift. Some were overturned and
sunk, others were blown across and
crushed against the other side. The