Great Falls weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1894-1???, 1896-05-29

pace OF salety. Among the boats de
/ stroyed is the excursion steamer Great
Republic, II Ct the largest steamers or
the lower river. Not a man escaped
: from her, and it is said she was crowded
With eyCureionists when the storm came
up. The center of the city is a wreck.
Many buildings have been demolished
and others partially wrecked. Streets
are utterly impossible to street cars, and
IN many places progress on foot is
a matter of difficulty. To add to the
horrors of the night the electric light
plants were rendered incapable of eerv-
ice and gas lamps were also shut off,
leaving the city in total darkness. Fire
also broke out in several parts of the
city, ana the fire department was unable
to make an effective fight because of the
choked up condition OF the streets aud
the large number of tiremen who were
engaged in the imperative work of res
cuing the dead and wounded.
The only authentic information from
the stricken city tonight was sent out
10y an agent of the Associated Press,
who managed to reach an outlying tele-
graph Office and send Il brief description
as follows:
"A tornado, blowing at the rate of
over 50 miles an hour, struck St. Louis
tonight and ragged for half an hour with
great fury and, as a result, hundreds of
lives are lost on both sides of the river.
Many buildings were blown down and
many river steamers sunk with all on
board, 1t is impossible at the present
time to estimate the number of lives lost,
as the hospitals are filled with the in.
lured and the morgue is filled with the
slain, while great numbers of the dead
and manned are lying among the ruins
IN all directions. \ portion of the east
end Of the Eads bridge is destroyed, the
grand stand at the fair groundsis down,
the womau's portion of the Jail is gone
and the immense Cupples block is par
TALLY destroyed. Waters 4 Pierce's oil
works are burning and other buildings
in various sections of the city are on
fire."
After sending this brief dispatch, the
telegraph wire failed. Ono Of the worst
features Of the disaster is thought TO
have taken place at the race track at St.
Louis, where the races we're in full SWING
and the grams stand was crowded with
people, Returns from the ST. Louis
races are received III tho track at Lake
size, Indiana, and a few minutes after .
o'clock, the operator, sending the report
OF the races, stopped his work long
enough 10 remark, "'Thcrc goes the
grand stand" and thon his wire collapsed
and nothing more was heard from him.
In d few seconds, the same message WAS
reported from Lexington, Kentucky,
With the additional Information that
fully 10 people Gere dead. This was
subsequently corrotorated by an opcr-
ator Of the Wabash road at Decatur, who
said that in lis second message received
from East St Louis, it was declared the
grand stand at the races was down and
that fully 1JJ people were barred in the
ruins,
At midnior4it 70 ,
diFpatcher Office Of the Wabash road
AT Forest m thatit v.e i,,r~~a;At04
reach any min. f,r4hor s,.+h +Laa w.
uoo,i which ;s nina n,fI.- .'n.haaH.
from East Ct l,,i, Tha
.hat noint eaij ,t.+ ra - ;f|!.I. ~
had [nrn innne,nIo 70 aL4oin Isa
mite i~af,rnati,r FROM, O. r,,t t.
u,ae r.,toir r,..r,I 1.a..sI
doon III s.,d ra u,;Nr
rr,,is roro -, r.. ..l Lnn ." ~
lut aor,d 4on n,thfaa
lie had not henn .hI3 r. nI,.aia
fro,, ~, - nA -
trains tbo+ bod oaarg,l ~.
: orcIocl, ~ tbo .f+ornana
dansoo H. +bo hniIaa .sI va
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