Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1896-06-06
THE ST. LOUIS HORROR.

THE ST. LOUIS HORROR.
Later Reports Fully Confirm tho Terrors Of
the storm searching for tho Dead-ast.
ting Mt the Faeta
ST. LOUIS, May 2o.-When darkness
temporarily interrupted the search for
storm victims last night si5 people
were known to be dead on both sides
OF the river, and although the com.
plete death list will never be known,
II Is believed that It will approximate
400 In the two cities Tho number OF
the injured Ia even larger and many
OF the MANNED cannot survive. The
property loss will reach we'll into tho
millions. but insurance people, fire.
mon and police alike refuse to hazard
even guess Mt accurate figures The
miles OF wrecked buildings, rs yet I'M
explored, and the numerous collapsed
factories, toward tho investigation OF
which little las been made, may hide
almost any number OF bodies, rs the
police have been unable to secure any
thing like an accurate list OF tho miss
ing.
In the factory districts many OF the
employees on duty Mt the time the storm
broke were without relatives In the
I,ity, and their disappearance would
scarcely be noted, even though they
DO buried In the ruins. II Is believed
by the police, too, that, owing to the
suddenness with which the crash
came, many tramps and homeless ONES
sought shelter among the buildings
which were leveled. and that nothing
will be known Of their death until per-
baps weeks hence their bodies nre
found. Tho list OF known dead In st.
Louis Is 100 and in East ST. Louis li6.
Hundreds of homes are In ruins, doz'
ems OF manufacturing plants and doz'
ems Of business houses are wrecks,
many steamboats, are gone to the bot
tom of the river and others nre dis
mantled. Railroads OF all kinds have
suffered great loss and wire and pole
using companies have weeks OF toll
and large expenditures o. money to
face before they will be In satisfactory
shape again. The most furious work
OF the atorm was along Rutger street,
Lafayette and Choutcau avenues and
the contiguous thoToughfares east OF
jefferson avenue. Tho houses are In
the streets, with the roofs underneath,
buried by brick and mortar. Under
the brick and mortar are household
goods OF every description, and
on top OF all are uprooted trees and
tangled masses OF wires There is not
tree nor building standing in Lnfay'
ette park. The wreck Of the city hos.
pi,al Is so surrounded by wreckage
that II Is barely possible to reach 1t.
Many of the handsome residences on
Fourteenth street and about Lafayette
park are ruined, but the most damage
was donc on sixth, Seventh, Eighth
and Ninth and south along Choutcau
avenue, in the tenement house dis
trict Many churches clso suffered
from the storm. The path Of the
storm is about half mile wide and
over four miles long, sweeping through
the thicl;ly populated southwest por'
ton OF Eastland and across the river
into East st. Louis
Col. Wetmore, manager OF the Lig'
gett & Myers tobacco plant, which was
wrecked, estimates the entire property
damage ut $4,000, 900, which will be,
he says, almost total loss, owing to
the lack Of cyclone insurance. Other
estimates range from SIS, 900, 600 to sao,'
OO0 600, but the majority OF them are
close TO that made by Col. Wetmore.
The following official statement has
been furnish cd the Associated press:
"The convention auditorium was
practically uninjured by the great
storm, the only damage being that
some OF the light roof covering on the
southeast corner Of the building was
blown of. The damage can all be re-
paired In very few days. There Is
not the slightest doubt but that the
building will be perfectly restored
and in rst.class condition long before
the day the convention Is to meet"
ACROSS TIE RIVER
EAST ST. LOUIS, May 2a-This
city Is in ruins The tornado which
swept down upon the city Wednesday
night obliterated block after block OF
business houses and dwellings, and
left behind in its red trail Of death
scores of human beings buried beneath
the walls OF fattened buildings or
crushed to death In the streets by the
flying debris The improvised morgues
and hospitals are fairly choked
with dead, some crushed and bat
tered out OF all human shape,
and through them flow steady
stream OF hysterical women and grim
faced men looking for their missing
ones. It is almost impossible to make
accurate estimates OF those killed. Al
the various morgues and ut St Mary's
hospital there arc So Six are in the
Big Four freight house ruins How
many more there are. scattered about
the city In private houses 1t is impossi-
BILE to tell, but conservative estimate
would place the total number at al
least $50. The scene Is simply
appalling. From the river bank
TO the National stock yards,