Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-06-06
Wigwam Cannot Be Repaired It
Time.
The Path OF the Tornado Through
the Great City Marked by Death
aud Devastation - Reports
From the Country Very
neager as the Wires
Are all Down.

Are all Down.
st. Louis. Mo. May 2S.-The history
quickly told.
The day was an oppressive one in the
city. There was no wind and the people
suffered from the heat. About 4 o'clock
in the afternoon the entire western
horizon was banked with clouds. These
were piled one upon the other, with curl
ing edges, yellow in tinge. A light wind
sprung up and a sudden darkness fell
upon the city. This darkness increased
until the storm broke. 1t gave the first
alarm to the thousands of people In
the streets, at the pleasure parks, in
the light craft on the Mississippi, or at
work IN the great mercantile establish
ments.
There seemed to be three separate cy-
clones. They came from the northwest,
the west and the southwest. When they
reached the Mississippi river they had
become one. 1t was n quarter Of five
when the storm broke.
The storm was so sudden that the
fleeing men and children were caught
In the streets and hurled to destruction
or buried under falling walls. Before
the mass of clouds in the west, hanging
over the villages of Clayton, Fern
Ridge, Eden and Central. gave vent
TO their fearful contents tunnels shot
out from them. Some OF these seemed to
be projected into the air. others leaped
to the earth. twisting and turning.
Lightning played about them and there
was a marvellous electrical display.
The Outburst.
Then came the outburst. Three Of the
tunnels approached st. Louis with a
wind that was travelling at the rate of
eighty miles an hour. From them and
the clouds above, strange cracking
sounds came. This filled the air and at
times was stronger than the incessant
peals of thunder. The tunnels envel-
bped the western side Of the city. and
In thirty minutes were wreaking de-
struction.
An Irresistible Force.
80. ssss-ssssss- 800 ssn,isa \
the country has ever previously known,
that some of the ~staunchest business
blocks went down before IL. Iron beams
were torn from their fastenings and
carried blocks away, as If they had been
feathers. Roofs, braced and held to
their position by every device known to
the best builders of any day, were torn
off as IL held only by threads. Telegraph
poles fell In long rows, not coming down
one by one, but In groups IF a dozen or
more at a time. The east end of the
Eads bridge. one of the solidest and
finest in the world, was destroyed. The
other great bridges spanning the Mis-
sissippi were all injured.
Done In an Hour.
Scores of persons were drowned, or.
after being killed on the land, blown
into the water. Steamers were blown
high on the banks Others were
turned around. Still others, after he
Ing torn from their moorings, dlsap-
peared. and have not been heard from.
AS a rule the smaller craft were sunk.
Not while within the city limits did the
tunnels rise and fall from the ground,
as Is usually the case in cyclones in
small places. There was q rebound
ing. Consequently whatever was in the
path OF the wind was either destroyed
or badly injured. And this destruction
was done within an hour. The bells of
the city were pealing 6 o'clock when the
worst of the storm had passed.
In East St. Louis.
In East st. Louis, the devastation
was as great as in st. Louis proper. Fire
added to the destruction. and as the
streets were Uttered with rubbish and
debris, the fire department ives help
less. The loss by fire alone will approx
imate 81, o0o, 900.
There was an anxious time after the
storm when st. Louis could not com
n 4, N ~ 70 x,ifh thn 1.E1tln xx-arII NJ.
could her own citizens communicate
with each other by any electrical means.
Telephones were useless-telegrams i'm
possible. Husbands could not get word
to their residences. Wives at home
could not reach their husbands.
Breaking at the hour 1t did, and the
night following, the work OF rescue and
relief were very slow. The fremen and
police were Immediately made aids to
the surgeons and physicians of the city.
The electric lights being out. search
ing parties In the ruin strewed streets
could not go ahead. They had to wait
for daylight.
Where II Started.
The only fairly reliable informatio
as to the first start of the storm came
In about midnight from Milan, In Sui
ivan county. That is northwest of st.
Louis. The big. black cloud was seen
there n there vas a high wind, but no
damage. 1t crossed the Missouri In st.
Charles county and then attacked this
city. The impossibility OF wire connec-
lions with towns destroyed west OF st
Louis makes 1t difficult to get an accu-
rate total OF the number killed in the
entire pathway Of the storm.
The scenes at the city dispensary were
almost indescribable. Thirty minutes
after the cyclone had passed. no less
than twenty wounded were lying on the
floor OF the waiting room. The first am
bulance to arrive brough; three persons,
and these had not been attended to be-
fore he clang OF another ambulance,
bearing other unfortunates was heard.
Word had been received OF the large
number of injured. and preparations at
once made to give them proper care. by
Q o'clock one room was entirely filled
with wounded. and another partially 30.
From all sides came the groans Of in
jured persons. while others lay uncon-
scious and apparently dead. The scene
was most heartrending. and especially
when some person In charge of friends
was brought there for treatment. Large
numbers, with white, anxious
faces. voices trembling with emo
ton. asked the physicians
and attendants concerning friends,
who were missing. The scenes at the
morgue through the evening and night
were heartrending. Mothers and
fathers. sisters. brothers and other reIa-
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