Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-06-05

ODe OF tne greatest ulSdSleTo OIL tNNtIh
years overwhelmed the city of st. Louis, in
the shape OF cyclone, which began shortly
after O'Clock ?. NJ. and for thirty minutes
tore its awful way through the city with
velocity of over eighty miles an hour
Although reports from the stricken city
arc very meagre owing to the almost total
destruction of the telegraph wires, it seems
certain that the number Of dead AMI
wounded will amount to fully one thousand
and the damage douc to property TO millions
Of dollars.
The City Hospital, which fortunately sur
yiyed the storm, is 4 led TO oyerilowing with
mangled men, women and children, and the
morsuc, within two hours after the end Of
tho storm, was so full Of corpscs that it was
necessary to provide other quarters for the
reception Of tho deal.
In addition TO those who were killed in
their houses and in the streets, hundreds Of
dead are beneath the waters OF the Missis-
sippi river Of all the steamers on the leyee
when the storm broke out, bit one is row
aAOat 4 the others have gone down. In
many instances every soul on board was
lost, and in others not over two or three
being able to reach place OF safety.
Among the boats destroyed is the excursion
steamer Great Republic, one Of the largest
steamers on the lower river Not a man
es aped fr m her, and it is said she was
crowded with excursonists when the storm
came.
CENTRE OF THE CITY A WRECK.
The centre Of the city is a wreck. Many
buildings have been demolished and others
partially wrecked. The streets are utterly
impassab to street cars and il many places
progress on foot is a matter of great diff
Guilty 70 add to the horrors Of the night,
the electric light plants wero rendered in
capable Of service and the gas lamps were
also shut off, leaving the city in total
darkness.
Fire also broke out in several portions of
the city, and the fro department was unable
to make an eff 'ctiye fight because OF the
choked-up conditions Of the streets and the
large number Of lremen who were engaged
in the imperative work Of rcscuins the dead
and wounded.
IHE WIRES DOWN.
The reports regarding the duration Of the
storm are conflicting About o'clock the
operator on the Wabash Road at small
station not far from East St. Louis managed
to get the operator at Decatur Iii long
enough to send bin word that the round
house of the Wabash Road was blown down,
and that the freight house Of the Vandaia
was wrecked and thiity-nyc men were killed
in the ruins. After he had told tai3 much
the wire failed him.
The Dispatcher office Of the Illinois Cen
tral were unable all night to get any infor-
nation from any point on their line south Of
Centralia 1t was reported to them, how
ever, that tornado had swept through all
the country south of that point.
RAcE-rRAcK STAND BLOWN down.
One of the worst features Of the disaster
is thought to have taken place at the race
track at st Louis. where races were in full
swing and the grand stand was crowded
with people Returns from the St. Louis
races are received at the track at Lake Side,
Ind, and at few minutes after o'clock
the operator sending the report OF the races
stopped his work long enough to remark.
'there goes the grand stand, and then his
wire failed and nothing more was heard
from him.
In Il few seconds the same message was
reported from Lexington, Ky, with the addi-
tional information that fully ono hundred
and fifty people were killed. This informa-
ton was subsequently corroborated by the
operator of tho Wabash Road at Decatur,
who said that in his second message received
from East St. Louis it was declared that the
grand stand at the races was down and that
fully one hundred and fifty people were
buried in the ruins.
COURSE OF THE STORM.
A few minutes after o'clock the operator
of the Associated Press at St. Louis, who was
In the act Of taking the usual report, sent
word that it was growing very dark and
asked for a minutes delay that he might
provide himself with light In a second
more the wire snapped, and it was impos,i-
Bile to get any further information from him
or out of the town.
The local weather Office in the city Ya5
unable to give any information regarding
the storms as they were Informed early in
the evening by tho Western Union that it
would not be able to send the usual weather
bulletins from st. Louis.
1t is thought that the storm swept over st.
Louis from the northwest to the southeast,
as it is considered probable that the storm
which was reported in the afternoon at l;-i-a
Hill, Mo-, would require several hours to
reach St Louis, and the storm at two points
are reported AS having been long enough
apart to enable the storm to cover the dis
tance between Rush Hill and St. Louis.
The storm which tore through the country
south Of CentraIia is said to have occurred
at about clock, or an hour after St. Louis
was devastated. These three points are in a
direct line from the northwest te the south
east, and the weather officials are inclined t.
believe that the storm was one and the same