The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-05-30
THE ST. LOUIS DISASTER
THE Terrible loss or LEE and
IMMENSE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.

The Work of Recovering the Bodies From
the Buildings Wrecked in st. Louis
Scenes at the Morgue as the Victims Are
Brought in-Estimate of Property Loss
in st. Louis Range From S5,o0O,0OO to
$4,000, OOO-How the Various Railways
Were Affected by the Great Damage
They sustained-strange Incidents of
the Storm.
st. Louis, Mo-, May 29,~-Up to date
the entire loss Of life cannot be fully
stated, and as to the property loss, the
best that can be done is to average the
estimates of the competent authorities,
The mayor of the city places the loss
at $20,000,000, and so does Bradstreets.
The number of dead reported to the
authorities in st. Louis up to II o'clock
this morning was 1872, of which 161 were
identified and 81 unidentified. OF these
the larger proportion were at the
morgue, or reported at the undertakers'
establishments.
But there are undoubtedly many 9TH
ers awaiting burial at private houses,
and it is still more certain, unfortunate
ly, that the removal of the debris will
disclose the bodies of other victims of
the storm as yet unaccounted for. 1t
is estimated that the unreported dead
here will number 100, making the total
of victims in st. Louis $50. The badly
wounded here number 400, and those
slightly injured number thousands.
Across the river in East St. Louis the
number of dead reported to the author
tiles up to IL o'clock this morning was
141. Contrary to the first impression,
the loss of life in the Illinois city was
not so great as in st. Louis proper. The
East st. Louis police estimate the seri-
ously injured at from 200 to $50; the
slightly injured 700.
Other quite accurate reports are:
Vandalia, ILL.,, and vicinity, thirteen
killed, fifteen injured; Centralia, ILL.,,
and vicinity, forty killed. thirty-five in
jured; Mount Vernon, ILL.,, and vicinity,
six killed, twenty injured; New Madrid,
ILL.,, and vicinity, seven killed, thirty in
jured; Richfield, ILL.,, four killed; Rush
vile. ILL.,, four killed, twenty-six injur-
ed; New Baden, ILL.,, eight killed. thir-
teen injured; Jefferson City, ILL.,, four
killed; Harmony, Ill, two killed; Brink
er Station Ill, eight killed, thirty in
jured; Breckenridge, ILL.,, two killed:
Fairfield, ILL.,, and Mascouth, ILL.,. each
one killed; Gratiot, Mo-, four killed;
Mexico, Mo-, and vicinity, six killed,
thirty injured; Warshaw, Ind, two kill
ed, five injured
The foregoing figures are believed to
be authentic. But there are besides re-
ports, which may or may not be true
of two killed and eight injured at Boyd
Ill; one killed and five injured at r.
vington, ILL.,, and a general statement
of a large number killed and injured
in Audrian county, Missouri. 1t is
likely that these reports are correct,
but they have not yet been satisfacto-
rily verified.
It is pretty safe to say that the loss
in ST. Louis will reach $5,000,000. Other
estimates have been given out-among
them one by Mayor Walbridge, who
places the figures at 100000, 000-but
they are all too high.
There were no large and expensive
buildings destroyed outright. The big
hotels and sky-scrapers were not in the
path of the tornado and the buildings
of any considerable size that suffered
were elevators, freight warehouses and
other structures of comparatively
cheap construction.
The principal damage to buildings in
the path of the tornado may be sum-
married. as follows:
City hospital, southwestern suburbs,
unroofed; poorhouse, southwestern sub
urbs unroofed; Concordia Turner hall,
at Sixth and SouIard, demolished con-
venton auditorium, Twelfth and Clark
avenue eastern wall blown away, can
be rebuilt in forty eight hours; Soulard
market, South Broadway, demolished
at Fair grounds, grand stand $50 feet
long, unroofed; st. Louis Wooden Gut
ter comDany's factory at South Sixth
street, wrecked.
Church of the Annunciation at Sixth
avenue and Hickory street, demolished
st. Partrick's church at Eighth and
Carr streets, demolished; st. Paul's
church at Ninth street and Lafayette
avenue, RACED: ST. Vincents church at
Ninth and Marion streets, demolished
Annunciation church at Sixth and La
Sale street, wrecked; Trinity Lutheran
church at Eighth and Hickory streets,
OenOlS0Gu, ol. iHCtlL dl
Ninth street and Park avenue, windows
broken and tower blown off; ST. Peter
and ST. Paul church at Seventh street
and Allen avenue, total loss.
Fourth street cable line power house
at Geyer and Jefferson avenues, total
loss; Jefferson avenue railway car
shops at jefferson avenue and LaSalle
street, demolished; Elevator B at the
foot of Choteau avenue, collapsed; gas
tank Laclede Gas company at Twelfth
street and Choteau avenue, demolished;
Cupples building, largest wholesale
grocery and woodenware house,
Seventh and Spruce streets, damaged
by fire: Southside race track, totally
destroyed bicycle factory at Main
street and Park avenue, wrecked; four
courts at Twelfth street and Clark ave-
/ nue. east prison wall blown out !;
Schnaider's summer theater at Missis-
sippi and Choteau avenues, dismantled.
Walter Pierce Oil companys tank at
Fourteenth and Papin streets, demol-
ished; Merchants exchange building at
Third and Pine streets unroofed and
flooded.
The damage to dwellings is, of course,
heavy. but after all the chief Joss will
fall on the street railways, the electric
light companies, and the river and rail-
ipfa nc