Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-06-04
Fire Added to the Nights Horrors
in the Destruction Of Het-
zePs FIGURING Mills.
The East Approach to the Great Ead's
Bridge is Nothing But .
Ragged Wreck.
The Shore Strewn With the Wrecks
Of River Craft.

ST.. LOUIS, May 2s.-East st. Louis
suffers equally with st. Louis. The
cyclone that struck st. Louis first did
not seem to gather it's full strength
until it reached the city across the
river. Then the havoc wrought was
terrible.
Fully hundred lives, it is estimated,
have been lost. The manner in which
reports are coming in tends to confirm
the worst.
The destruction was all accomplished
within few minutes. The force Of
the storm struck at $40 o'clock. Ten
minutes later hundreds were dead,
many hundreds were injured, and the
entire remaining population was on
the streets looking for relatives and
friends.
The scenes were those of desolation.
No section of the city entirely escaped
the winds work.
The city was terrorized. Women
tainted and men lost their senses.
Finally, when their reason returned,
hurried provisions for caring for the
dead and injured were made.
Many buildings were turned into
hospitals, and others were used as re-
.eptacles for the dead.
Every physician in East st. Louis
was pressed into service.
Hundreds of willing women, whose
families had escaped injury, and whose
homes had not been destroyed, assisted
in caring for the injured. Many of
these were taken to hospitals Others
were removed to tn cir homes.
ENTIRE FAMILIES KILLED.
In several instances men rushed to
their homes to fud them gone and
their families either killed or injured.
The scenes following Immediately
after the storm had wrought its horr;-
BILE work were of the most narrowing
character.
The city was left in darkness. Every
electric plant had burned out, and the
gas works were paralyzed. Under such
conditions the work of finding the
dead and caring for the injured was
extremely slow.
WHERE THE STORM STRUCK.
The storm struck the levee near the
big elevators. The Virgins ferry
wharf was destroyed and two or three
tug boats with their occupants were
turned over into the disturbed waters
Of the river.
Every house on the levee was either
completely demolished or badly dam
aged.
A Louisville & Nashville and an AL
ton train standing on the bridge were
overturned.
The east approach of the bridge was
given a wrench, twisted and blown
from its mornings. and is at present an
impassa BILE wreck.
The Vandalia freight house was
next torn to pieces and everybody
EVERYTHING LEvELED.
Every building south of old Cook
street was leveled to the ground. In
all CT these there were persons killed
Or in jured.
Early during the storm the water
works were destroyed. Lightning
struck in a number of places, and the
horrors of fire without means to COM
bat i. were added to the other awful
at loss of $3.50. 900. and threatened the
entire business portion of the city with
destruction. Bucket brigades were
formed, and they fought nobly, contin-
ing the fire to the mill.
JUDGE FoULKE KILLED.
The center OF the tornado seemed to
be between st. Clair avenue and the
viaduct. Many dwelling houses in
other parts OF the city were demol-
ished. hut In this district there were
few buildings that escaped. A law
case was being tried by Judge Foulke
in the courthouse The jury had heard
most of the testimony, and according
to usual custom, were not supposed
to be allowed to depart except
in the custody of bailif. When the
storm clouds began to gather the fore
man of the jury impiored the judge to
discharge them. The courthouse at
that time was being shaken by the
wind. Every moment it's destruction
was threatened. Judge Foulke at
length decided to let the jurymen go.
Five urinutes after they departed for
their ZONES that portion of the court
house in which they had been sitting
was torn away.
Timbers and bricks We're piled on
each other. and it is highly probabl
that had it not been for the fore
thought of Judge Foulke every jury
man would have been killed. Judge
Foulke himself succeeded in making
his way to the Relay depot, where he
was struck by timber that was blown
through the air and killed instantly.
In the confusion that prevailed his
body was allowed to lie on the plat
form for several minutes, men were
too intent on ascertaining the fate of
their own loved ones.
The corps of reporters which crossed
the bridge at daylight gazed upon the
most appalling spectacle.
Crawling through the shapeless mass
of masonry and iron that impeded their
progress on the bridge, they came
shortly into the thick of this carnival
of tic elements carnage.
On every side lay the bodies of dead
horses, overturned freight cars, dis
mantled homes with blear-eyed. dazed
with sorrowful human beings cropping
about, sobbing and moaning in the
utter paralysis of thought