The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-05-29
THE SHADOW OF DEATH
The City of ST, Louis and Environments
Mourning the Death of Many Citizens.
PRECIOUS LIVES SUDDENLY CRUSHED OUT
Nearly Five Hundred Persons Kilied
By the Unfortunate Cyclone which
Swept Down Upon the Unsuspcct.
ing People without aOments
W"rning-A Thousand Injured.

81. Louis. May 2S.-The history of the
sform's movement last night Is quickly
toio. Ine day was an oppressive one In
the city. There was no wind and the
psoDp suffered f. ON the heat About 4
o CLOCK in the afternoon the cntite West.
EN- horizon was banked with clouds.
These were plld one upon another
WIN curling edges yellow in tinge. a
it2nt wind spranS up and q sudden
darkness came upon the city. This dark
ness incr ased until Tin. storm broke
IL gave the first alarm to thousands
OF people in the stresis, az the pleasure
parks in lngir; c.afts on the Mississippi,
or at work i'm great ms rcantile .,sta b.
lishments. There seemed 10 be three
separate cyclones. The. came from N Q
northwest. west and southwest When
:hey reached the Mississippi river they
had becoms one. 1t was a quarter 20
clock when ,he storm broke. rs de
scent was so sudden shat fleeing women
ana children were caught in tbs streets
and hurled 10 destruction, or buried un-
der falling walls.
Before the mass of clouds in the wesy,
hanging over tins villages Qf Clayton,
Ftmedge. Eden and Central, gave vent
TO their frightful conterts. tunnels sho;
oC'; from them. Some OF hese seemed
to be projected ;n.o the air. and others
ltaped 10 the earth twisting and turn
ing. Lightning played abou, them and
thsre was may velious electrical dis
play. Then came the olN. burst Three
of the tunnels approached ST Louis with
wind that was travsEing at the raGe
of sixty miles an hour.
SO destruc. able was she cyclone and
so irresistible and so much greater in
magnitude than any the country has
ever previously known of that some of
the staunchest business blocks went
down before Il. Iron beams were corn
f!om their fasten!ngs and carried blocks
away. as If they We're feathers. Roofs.
bTacsd and held to ihtir positions by
every device known to the best builders
of any day, We're torn off as II held only
by threads. Telegraph polss fell in long
rows. nc. coming down ons by one. bu:
In groups of dozen or more at a time
The east end of the Eads bridge. one
of the most solid and finest bridges in
the world, was destroyed. The other
great bridges spanning the Mississippi
were all injured Scores of elersons
were drowned, or after being killed on
land, were blown into the water
Steamers were blown high on the
banks. others were turned around: still
others after being torn from their moor
ings, disappeared and have not been
heard from. AS rule the smaller craft
We're sunk.
Not while within the city limits did
the tunnels rise and fall from the
ground as is usually the case in cy-
clones in small places. There was no
rebounding, consequently whatever was
in the path Of the wind was either de-
s.ro-ed or badly injured. and this de-
struction was done within an hour.
THE DEAD
st. Louis, May 2S.-RcDorts received
up TO 10 O'Clock show rorty-four dead
in the city. Seventy-nine bodies have
been identified in East St. Louis. and
twelve unidentified bodies are at the
Morgue.
AS the storm cut through the railroad
yards back of the Union Station il
turned over any number of freight and
passenger cars and carried away the
northwest corner of the Union Depot
grain elevator This elevator is one
of the largest in the city, and as the
wreckage came down ii cras shed through
the roofs Of half a dozen deserted shan
ties.
At about p. M. the wind leveled TO
the ground the four-story stone front
building. No LOO South Broadway. and
Louis Otanad. President OF the Otanad
Furniture Company: John Burget and
Gustav Lestner, bookkeepers. were
buried in the ruins. The latter was res
cued after an hours hard work by the
police and volunteers. He was severely
bruised, and his right arm was broken.
The others had not been eXtricated from
the mountain of debris early this morn
ing.
nues and the streets to the southeast
OF them the scene of destruction was
appalling. Many houses were reduced 10
piles of bricks and lumber. the fronts
OF others torn of. and the resulting
debris joined with poles rendered the
way impassable. The extinction of the
electric lights rendered IT impossible 10
reach the injured with an ambulance
OF to convey the killed To the Morgue.
The scene on Grand avenue. from fhe
fair Grounds to Carondelet. after th.
storm resemble1 the uhor0ughfarc of
q bese!ged city after Il .Aeavy lombard
ment by the enemy's guns The st!eet
is Strewn from end TO end with tref
broken branches. broken telegraph. tele-
phone and electric light poles uhat make
traffic of every kind both tedious and
dangerous in TIE darkness and amid the
fallen wires. and 1t was with great diff
Guilty that pedestrians made their way
along the sidewalks, which were strewn
win debris OF every description
The Green Brewery, at Third and
Clarke avenue. was badly wrecked. and
tae scandinavian Church Oh the south
west corner OF Twenty third and Clarke
avenue was picked up and turned com
pietely over
Probable Postpnnement az the Ma
tfonal Republican Convention.
~ II