The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1896-06-04
Days of Toll Necessary to Olsen
tomb Many Of the Victims.
The List of Injured Will Foot Up Hun.
dreds. But the Aggregate May
Never be Known.
The Property Loss VIII Foot Up Many
Millions of Dollars.

HAS OSVdSCcu VdTtOuS pOTClOuS VI ILfo
country during the past few weeks
seems to have reached its eliminating
point in st. Louisa and vicinity Wednes-
day evening, resulting in scene Of
widespread destruction difficult to
realize and IN aggregate loss of human
life that when the full tale is told will
reach into the hundreds, while many
hundreds more received injuries that
will long remain as reminder of one
of the wost disasters that ever befel
the western portion of the continent
Nearly all of Wednesday afternoon
there were indications that there
was a storm brewing. and people on
the streets wore an anxious look as
they viewed the threatening clouds,
but none imagined that there was go
ing to be anything more than thun-
der storm, as intimated in the weather
forecast for the day. Shortly before
five o'clock, however, a binding flash
of lightning followed by a terrific crash
of thunder told that the beginning of
the storm was at hand. The rain clouds
began moving over the city from the
west, but were met by a strong
wind from the northeast, which, after
few minutes struggle with the west
erly current, seemed to double back
towards the southeast. Then there
swept down from the northwest a ter
rifle gale, accompanied with a perfect
deluge of rain, which made every
thing in its pathway tremble. Until
$3.50 this hurricane continued its furi-
GUS onslaught. Then the storm took
trend to the north and swept the
business district between Broadway
and the river. Boats were blown from
their mornings and capsized before the
eyes of the people on shore. 1t is inn
possible to say as yet how many
were drowned. Several boats are
missing. At East st. Louis,
where the storm shifted after de-
va stating portions of this city, the
damage is awful. There is scarcely q
building standing in the town. When
the storm passed the dead and injured
were lying in the streets. From East
st. Louis it spread away to the north.
In the records of the local weather
bureau the wind has never blown with
the velocity it displayed yesterday.
For nearly thirteen minutes the
speed registered on the observatory
tower was 80 miles an hour and this
point was well removed from the center
of the storm. During the tornado, and
for long time after it passed. the rain
fell in sheets. Lightning struck numer-
GUS buildings, and the property loss by
fire alone will be enormous. The entire
city lighting and the electric street
railway system in the southe rn part of
the city were destroyed, and the
streets were lined for miles with aban-
doned cars, idle nd motionless.
A terrible feature of the storm was
the blowing down OF the city hospital.
The entire west wing and part of the
roof on the nor tn wing of the RAM
shackle old structure was blown away.
Two patients were killed and num-
ber seriously injured How many of
the unfortunates of the city resting in
the hospital walls at the time the
storm struck it will die as the result
of the exposure to the elements can
not be conjectured.
There was great loss of life in the
path of the tornado. Down various
thoroughfares in the path of the storm
there is scarcely house standing.
Choteau avenue was almost blown of
the earth from one end to the other,
and Gratiot- street is q heap of ruins.
All along in the most thickly-settled
portions of the city just south of the
railroad tracks in the Mill Creek va1-
ley parties searched all night for
bodies. Dozens of men, women and
children are undoubtedly under the
ruins.
Skies as black as ink and q steady
rain interfered greatly with the work