The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-06-04
TT CAME IN SECTIONS.
One of the First Things it Tackled in
East st. Louis Was the Eads Bridge.

one of the First Things it Tackled in
East st, Louis Was the Eads Bridge.
East st. Louis. May 2S.-The first Soc
ton of the cyclone, as it appeared to come
in waves. first struck East st. Louis
about J:1J o'clock. Eye witnesses who
were near the river declare the cloud
seemed to divide and then come together
again, and as il crossed the river. looked
like an immense water spout The path
was very wide. embracing almost the
entire levec. The upper portion of the
bridge from Immediately on the Illinois
side of the river and for distance of
about sixty feet. was completely torn
away. the great iron Orders being twist
ed like springs. and most of the masonry
torn away and hurled to the tracks be-
meath.
On the bridge just as the storm struck
it, was the Chicago and Alton passenger
train. This was turned completely over,
as were also three trolley cars on the
upper portions of the bridge. All of the
passengers were badly shaken up. but
none were seriously injured.
\ little to the north, and exactly on the
river bank. stood the belt line ware house.
a big. new structure. This was RACED.
The three upper stories of elevator SC.
B. were ripped off and the roof of the
Union elevator was taken off clearly and
scattered for blocks.
Directly across the tracks from the belt
line ware houses We're the Nandalia
ware houses and freight houses. OF the
general offices scarcely one brick is left
ON top of another. while of the freight
sheds nothing remains hut a pile of kind
ling wood. The destruction was COM
plete. not more than two or three of the
employees escaping, the remainder being
caught like rats and crushed to death.
The path of the storm thence to the relay
station is marked by an unbroken line
of overturned freight cars. Splintered
telegraph poles and r0ofcSs houses. The
ear tracks are utterly impossible. and
it will he days before anything approach
ing order can he effected. Whole trains
of freight cars We're lifted from the
tracks and twisted in every direction.
Sometimes the trucks have remained on
the tracks. the bodies of the cars being
lifted bodily off and hurled in indiscrmi-
nate confusion for rods Where the
bridge cars meet the local street cars
there formerly stood a long row of frame
houses. OF these scarcely the wreckage
remains.
Right here some of the vagaries of the
storm We're made evident. In one of the
houses lived John Mckenzie an en-
ploye of the st. Louis and East ST. Louis
railway, his wife and four children.
When the storm struck their home the
mother was preparing supper. and with
her in the room We're all her children.
The entire house was ripped from the
floor and hurled twenty feet to one side
leaving the frightened mother and her
little ones standing. uninjured. with the
exception of few minor bruises, but
the children had their clothing complete
ly torn from them. Across the road.
Mrs. Patrick Dean and her two children.
aged > and 1, respectively. were killed
when their house fell on them.
COURSE OF THE STORM
East st. Louis. May 2S-The esti-
mated death list at East st. Louis is 200