Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-05-29
TIlE ST. LOUIS STORM.
u,v 4 Wrought Wreck and Ruin
Throughout Two Cities.
rsyIIFIED DEAD NUMBER 1884,
rs, ro5jos 0. Eighty One Others So Far
Remain UDidtaiidsd.
.cnrp II MOTH CITIES, 1900.
Tod Loss OF Life ut Liggctt and
v,rr,'s-uany Terrible wrecks
condition of con'e"'io" h"ii-"e-
lief work Begun

lief V orIs Begun
e~ louis. NO. May 2S-Thc his
., fhc storms movement last night
...Iv t5ld. The day was an. oppres-
.... ,- the city. There was no wind.
,,. neo9ie suffered from heat. About
.,.. in the afternoon the entire
.. horizon was banked with clouds.
.... ,,.r. piled one upon another. the
...re edges yellow In tinge. a light
.. .rranz up. and. suddenly dark
.,mc upon the city. This dark
.,.-.s.cd until the storm broke. 1t
re first alarm TO thousands OF
lr the streets at the pleasure
s. .r light craft on the Mississippi,
b., work ln the great mercantile es-
ttHsluc1ts.
~t.-. -a.mcd 70 be three separate cy-
...,ss They came from the northwest
.. and southwest when they reached
OBJ. Mississippi river they had become
me
d. Mas quarter 10 when the storm
,.t. Its descent was so sudden that
e.ar- women and children were caught
o.. ,se streets and hurled 20 destruction
~. buried under falling walls.
r.t-o the mass Of clouds in the west,
,...irr over the villages Of Clayton.
r.-rr3ee. Eden, and Central, gave vent
e.. rs frightful contents, tunnels shot
,.,~ them. some OF these seemed 70 he
..t..,aI into tie air. others leaped 10
st twisting and turning. Lightning
.,.,.j about them. and there was a mar
,.r,rs electrical display. Then came the
,....r-t Three Of the tunnels approach
81 Louis with a wind that was
,-,alng at the rate Of eighty miles an
19.r
TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION.
81 destructive was the cyclone. and so
Irresistible and so much greater III mag
'..s. fr4u any the country had ever
..r, known. that some Of the
....rrrsst business blocks went down be-
. Do lrou beams were torn from
.,.r fl-t,rings and carried blocks away,
.. ~ thev were feathers. Roofs. braccd
-.f b.ld to their positions 10y every de-
... brovyn 10 the best builders Of any
I'M, were torn of. as If they held
.-.r by threads. Telegraph-poles feli In
hrr rows. not coming down one by one
f.f fn groups of "a dozen or more al
ume .,,-. s... Of
OBJ. most solid ana finest bridges in the
,.rd WAS destroyed The other great
t-.l.es spanring the Mississippi were all
.,iyred Scores of persons were drowned,
,- after being killed on lard. were
r.uu into tho water steamers were
sown hah on hanks. Others were
.-ref around. still others. after being
rr from their moorings. disappeared
.ri have not been heard from
Not while within the limits OF the CITY
s. tho finrcls rise and fan from the
.-orrI as IS usually the case IN cyclones
n small places. There was no rebound
rr Consequently. whatever was IN
On. r.+b Of the wind was either destroyed
.- iaNv Injured And this destruction
W done within an hour.
THROUGH RAILROAD YARDS.
ss ,he storm cut through the railroad
yards back of the union station It turned
,ys- .rv number Of freight and passen-
r.-cars and carried away the north
r..t corner Of the union-depot grain-ele-
,.tar This elevator IS one OF he largest
r tse city. and. a7 the wreckage came
down % crashed through the roofs or
lsf dozen deserted shanties.
40 about 8 y. NJ the wind levellod 10
r. ground the four-story stone-front
l.r..r SO 1791 south Broadway, ana
louis Onuad president of the Otanad
Furniture Company. John Burgst, ana
Grefnte Iosncr. book-keeper. were buried
r tte ruins The last-named was res
cl. after am hours hard work. by the
raHr, and volunteers. Tie was severely
bruised. and his right arm was broken.
ue other had not been eXtricated from
U, mountain OF debris early this morn
4s
M Chouteau and south Jefferson ave-
r.es rri the streets 10 the southeast OF
H.u tha scene of destruction was ap-
rn'nc Many houses were reduced 10
giles ~ brick ond lumber the fronts or
Ct,rs were torn of. and the resulting
tr. joined with the fallen telegraph
a-l -c'eph0ne-poles. rendered the way
.-ras-ablc The extinction of the cleo
re Htats rendered 90 Impossible 10 reach
Oh, injured with amhulances, or to con-
Y,y the killed 90 the morgue. The Sc La
ol Grand avenue from the fairgrounds
On Car1nlelet after the storm resemb.ed
a thorouzhfare OF n besicged city after
heavy hombardmcnt by the enemy
guns The street was strewn rom enc
Oh r1 with trees. broken branches. ana
lrosen telegraph. telephone, and cleo
.'..-I.-N.- poles. lNtl maui ~ oAt' vs.
every k.ud both tedious and dangerous
r hc darkness and amid the fallen wires,
a1i b. was with great difficulty that
PEDESTRIANS made their way along the
tl.NaIks. which were strewn with de-
ts OF every description.
lhe Green brewery. at 1hrd street
t Clark avenue. was badly wrecked
a.l fhe scandinavian church. on the
southwest corner Of Twenty-third street
t'l Clark avenue. was picked UP and
Nuei completely over
IDENTIFIED DEAD. 50.
ST. LOUIS. May 2S-A revised list OF
~ dead foots up eighty identified In 81
L4as three unknown dead at lS5s south
seventh street. two unknown children
PICKED mp iu the streets. and In addition
u'ie are al the morgue and undermined
lft bodies Of seventeen men and four
women. The list Of identified dead Is be-
~g iied TO hourly.
70 is reported that twenty-nine en-
oies of the Liggett & Myers tobacco
s-'iofy are in the ruins OF the building.
."'uiy-fve employees OF the 81. Louis
"No-tu-Gutter Company are missing ana
.ie i1ought 90 have been killed when the
'.barr fel ana buried them.
E.et 81 Louis llS dead have been
-.nihci. Besides these there remain the
''t.ntfel bodies OF thirty-nine men and
tAl.en women. Most OF these were work
'o t1out The different freight deoots.
N'oV men employed I'm the Nandalia
fli depot are missing. ard are be-
f,i 10 have been killed when the build
''A thorough investigation of the
'th-iion s being made. and when II IL
N."n what the death-.ls, has been IL
",. exceed 20 m number.
A.y injured on both sides OF the river