Evening star., 1896-09-30
AlEXANDRIAWAS PARAlY lYZED
Loss of Life and Great Property Destruction
in the Old City.
-Four Persons Killed by the Storm
Damage Estimated to Amount
to $4OO,OOO.

NJ
swept. As result of last nights furious
| blow. four persons lost their lives and three
| others are known to have been more or
| less injured. while scores of others received
| slight injuries or escaped miraculously
| With their lives. The damage TO property
| is estimated at S4vo,gD. The dead are:
w. ID. Stuart, sol Cameron street: killed
| by a falling wall.
Mrs. Holt of North Carolina, wishing on
Peyton street extended; killed by falling
| roof.
Colored woman. name unknown, North
| Fairfax street; crushed.
Tilman Diles, colored. North Patrick
street: died of shock
| The injured are:
| Miss Stuart. sol Cameron street sister
| of w. ID. Stuart: severely cut and bruised
| by falling roof
Lottie Corbin. colored: badly hurt by
Charles Adams: struck by flying bricks:
not seriously hurt
| Worst on Record
Last nights storm is regarded as the
| most severe in intensity and disastrous In
| results of any that has visited Alexandria
! during the memory of the oldest inhabi-
tants.
There is not a square which escaped in
| jury of one kind or another From the
| rver front to the suburbs, on all sides. the
bosom of destruction wrought its deyastat-
| ing work. Telegraph poles are snapped
| short off, close to the pavement: wires of
| all kinds are tangled the streets: gut
| tors are lined with the remnants of tin
| roofs. distorted into odd shapes or tightly
| rolled together like bundles of carpet;
| trees are uprooied, carrying portions of
| the Sidewalk and curbing with them:
| hianch's stre~ the paNemcnts: loose
/ - RS fr"'~ '"'iing walls or demolished
chiE1neys lie scattered everywhere.
communication Cat on.
The fury of the storm Was first felt short
| ly after 10 o'clock and it did not abate
its force until rnidnight. Today there is no
| telephone service within the city itself, nor
can communication be established with the
| CUtside world by either telephone or tele-
1 graph.
One popularity of the storm was Its
| selection of substantial brick structures
1 urcn which TO wreak its fury. Frame
houses in all sections Of the city and SUBJ
| urbs are practically unscathci. out at
| Del Ray, whore several frame cottages
! have been erected, and which stood direct
| ly in the path of the gale. there are no
apparent damages. The same is true of
| the frame structures in sheltered and ex-
posed portions of Alexandria. But brick
residences have been unroofed, brick ware
houses blown in, brick churches leveled
Damage to Churches.
the greatest loss is probably TO the various
| churches. and unfortunately this damage
| falls almost entirely the colored race.
| Roberts Chapel, located on South Wash
! gton street, a handsome brick building
recently completed and consocrated, was
badly wrecked. The upper part OF the
| front wall, with several windows, was
blown in and the roof injured. The hand
| some spire was blown away completely.
This will he a severe loss to the congrega-
| ton, they had to work very hard to
| complete the ediiice, which was not only
| credit to their race, but to the city. The
! less will amount 10 over thousand dol
| lars.
The Patrick Street Baptist Church. also
! a colored place of worship. is completely
| demolished, and will have TO be rebuilt
| from the ground. The only part OF the
| building remaining in position is brick
! tower about fifty feet tall at the corner.
| The building though occupied. had not
| been entirely completed inside. and the
1 windo ows on the upper floor were not glazed,
consequently the wind had full play. The
| damage in this case will be many thou
L sands of dollars. This too, was nano-
| some edifice.
| The little Baptist (white) Chapel located
| in Wheat and Suffers subdivision was
| blown almost off Its foundation, ana VIII
| have to be rebuilt.
| The old First Baptist Church, colored. Is
| a complete wreck. but as 1t had been aoan-
| doned the loss is not so great. other
|
| roofs.
Trees and Wires Down.
| The damage from the storm may be
| four d on nearly every square in the city,
to a smaller or larger extent Trees are
down. carrying with them fences and
| brick walls and in many instances the
! side walls of houses smashed in by
| their weight. King street. from end TO
end. is lined with fallen telegraph poles,
| many of which were snapped on at the
| base, as though they had been straws.
the wires of telephone. telegraph and cleo
| trio light companies being in one tangled
| mass. Tin roofs in many instances could
| be seen hanging wires left standing,
| and the streets were strewn with roofing
| Of all kinds slate shingles and iin, many
| of which Were a great distance from the
buildings to which they belonged. City
| Engineer Dunn had a force or men on
| the streets at an early hour this morning,
| and the streets have been TO certain ex-
| tent made passabie.
The Loss of Life.
| The loss Of life was greater than ever be-
| fore in any casualty of the kind in the
| recollection of the Oldest inhabitants. The
| first death reported was that Of Mr.. w. ID.
| Stewart an old and respected citizen. ant
| a prominent member of Alexandria-Wash-
| ingtor Lodge of Masons. He was asleep
| In his room, in a two-story frame dwelling
| Jc3 Cameron street On the same floor his
| sister was sleeping. Between 1870 and IL
| O'Clock there was a tremendous crash. the
| west wall of .sl1 Cameron street falling in
| and carrying with II the roof of Mr.. Stew
| arts house, catching him in bed and crush
ing the life out of him, and severely In
! juring his sister. Mr.. Stewards remains
| were recovered from the debris and taken
| to Demanes undertaking establishment
| to be prepared for burial
| Mrs. Holt of North Carolina was visiting
her son, who lives in OF Wheat &
1 Suter's new houses on Peyton street ex-
| tended The roof of the house was blown
| completely away, and the bricks and tim
| bers fell upon Mrs. Holt as she lay in bed,
| crushing her almost beyond recognition.
| Mrs. Holt had just arrived In Alexandria
| on visit TO her son, who had lately moved
into the house.
| The wrecked buildings are entirely new
and have been completed but a few months.
| and were among the handsomest buildings
| in the city.
| Complete Wreck.
The wreck of this building. which is part
| of a double house. was one of the worst
| in the city. The house is a complete wreck
and must be entirely rebuilt from the sec
ond floor Otner buildings in this imme-
| date neighborhood. all Of which are new
| and substantial. unrcofed.