Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-06-04
LATER DETAIL 6

LATER DETAILS
ST. Louis, May 29-When darkness
temporarily interrupted the search for
storm victims last night 315 people
were known to be dead on both sides
Of the river. The number injured is
even larger and many of the MANNED
cannot survive. The property loss will
reach we'll into the millions Miles of
wrecked buildings are as yet unexplOr-
ed and numerous collapsed factories
towards which investigation has as yet
made but little progress may hide al
most any number of bodies. AS yet the
police have been unable to secure any
thing like an accurate list of the miss
ing. In the factory districts many en-
plOyeS were on duty when the storm
broke. 1t is believed by the police too
that owing to the suddenness with
which the crash came many tramps and
homeless sought shelter among the
buildings which are leveled and moth
ing can be known as to their death I'M
til perhaps weeks hence. The city was
III ucil hIIC0S IcioC ulSul, uut lSpd11 VI
the electric light plants having been
but scarcely begun and but few trolley
lines are running. All over the strick-
en- district debris choked the streets
crowded by sight. seers.
There is not a tree nor building
standing in Lafayette Park. The city
hospital is so surrounded with wreck
age that it is barely possible to reach
it. The entire building is rendered
useless and the lettering walls must be
torn down. Houses are in stages of
demolition, from loss of roof &c com
plete destruction. In some of them the
front walls have fallen out and the ten
ants performed their household duties,
cared for their injured, or mourned
their dead in view of the crowds in the
streets. From the doors of many par
ally wrecked houses fiuttered black
badges of mourning and scarcely a
house in all the district but had some
relative, friend of neighbor within it's
wind battered walls. The path of the
storm was about half mile wide and
over four miles long. Sweeping through
the thickly settled southwest portion
and across the river into East st. Louis
Liggett & Meyers tobacco plant which
was wrecked, is an estimated damage
of $25,000,000 which will be almost
total loss owing to lack of cyclone in
surance. The wreck left by the storm
attracted an army of pickpockets and
thieves and they piled their trade all
they could with but few arrests There
were numerous instances of robbing
dead bodies and frequent threats of
lynching ghouls, but few were clumsy
enough to be caught. Household goods
were stolen and in the wreck Of whole
sale houses, miscellaneous goods were
carried away almost by the wagon lOaG.
The work Cf rescue which
began almost Immediately after
the storm was continued throughout the
night and kept up all day and Will
not be completed for a week or more.
Voluntary rescue parties, squads, police
and companies from the fire department
are scattered about the devastated
district searching the ruins for bodies.
Every few moments the sudden shift
ing of crowds and the signaling for con-
veyances told of some gruesome find,
and an occasional Identification of some
mangled remains by waiting friends
added horror to the scenes In the
eastern portion of the wrecked locality
are located large number of factories,
and in the ruins of these it is believed
a large number Of bodies will be found.
Probably all the victims of the storm
will never be known. The work of
handling the identified bodies was
quickly reduced to a system by Cor
onor Waite. The dead were placed in
rows behind a screen, and the crowds
of people searching for lost friends or
the morbidly curious who thronged
about the morgue, were guided past
the dead room at rapid pace. By
this means the bodies were identified
rapidly, and as fast as identified were
removed to make place for the con-
stantly arriving corpses. The scenes
among the bodies were pitiful, the
corpse Of hospital nurses being con
stantly employed caring for fainting
women and terrified, shrieking child
rem. The steamers Pittsburg Diamond, /
Joe line, City of Vicksburg, and City of
Providence, of the Columbian Exsur- |
sion company, City of Monroe, of the |
Anchor line, and all sorts of small craft /
we're pitched and tossed about until .
the final blast sent them from their
mornings. They were swept across the
river and struck the Illinois bank
within few blocks of each other.
The loss of life on these boats is
thought to be slight as everybody was
cautioned not to jump. The steamer
St. Par I'd started for Keokuk when
the tornado struck the city. She has
not been heard Of She had a full
"a bin.
The estimated death list at East ST.
Louis is two hundred and the iniurai