Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-05-29

IgnC Map 4 % mus were ihIleS
from thei ~ The rain fell stead
lily at SSIss' other times in sheets.
The Sh.s stood dark and desc
Ian men and women toiled
hcm\ i through the drenching rain.
TheNe were pale faces and sinking
hearts in more st. Louis homes than
ever before in It's history.
The complete suspension Of the tele-
phone communication and street car
ltraffic multiplied the inconvenience and
obstacles chat beset the police depart
ment and added TO the general discom-
fort. There were few means of sum-
moning ambulances for the removal Of
the dead or injured persons, and many
of them were carried away in wagons
or on litters.
The city dispensary was overcrowded.
A number of physicians rendered their
services to the city and a score of vol
untesr doctors worked for hours. The
demolition of the city hospital prevented
the use of that institution and hundreds
Of persons fastened there TO aid the
unfortunate patients caught in the ru-
ins. 1t was first intended to utilize the
srmory or exposition building for the
injured, but the old house Of the Good
Shepherd, on Seventeenth and Chestnut
streets, was pressed into use. and every
available cot and blanket was hurried
there
The wharf was the scene Of the worst
! devastation on this side Of the river.
Before the storm. along the river, steam
boats and wharfboats and barges were
moored from Biddle street to Choteau
| avenue. These were swept from their
| fastenings almost in solid phalanX
and cast adrift. Some were overturned
and sunk and others blown across and
| crushed against the other side.
The Anchor line wharboat and the
excursion wharfboat were the only
craft left between the bridge.
Both were showed upon the bank, in
| dicating that the storm had a rotary
motion, as all other craft were blown in
the other direction. Some were seen
floating when the brunt of the storm
! had passed, but in nearly all the upper
works were torn away. The damage
TO shipping alone will run up into the
| hundreds of thousands Of dollars.
The storm which wrought the havoc
was peculiar, and scarcely two people
! in all the city agree as TO just how the
damage was done. The wind seemed to
take the form of a tornado, rather than
that of a cyclone, the wrecked build
ings showing none of the twisted irons
and girders which usually mark the
track of rotary wind storm. The
4 4 20
northeast. the centre of the business
/ district of the city lying about mile
north.
THE FIRST HEAVY DAMAGE
/ was in the vicinity of Tower Grove
| and Lafayette Park, where handsome
residences were wrecked and many in
/ jured. The tornado swept to the north
west as far as the river, when with a
sudden turn TO the north it cleared the
Mississippi and tore its way into the
/ heart of East ST. Louis.
The steamers Pittsburg, of the Dia-
mond 10 line; City of Vicksburg and
! City of Providence, Of the Columbian
Excursion Company; the City of Mon
roe, of the Anchor line. and all sorts
of small craft were pitched and tossed
about until a final blast rent them from
| their moorings. They were swept
across the river and struck the Illinois
| track. a few blocks off each other The
| loss of life on these boats is thought
to be slight as everybody was cautioned
not to jump and they would be brought
safely to land. The City of Vicksburg
is almost a total wreck The City of
Providence was blown upon the Illinois
bank Her rudder is gone and cabin
and smoke stacks were blown away be-
fore she parted from the wharf. The
ST. Louis and st. Paul Packet Compa
ny's steam ST. Paul had started for Ke-
okuk when the tornado struck the city.
She has not been heard of. She had a
| full cabin. The Belle of Calhoun, the
Madill and the Libbie COnger, which
were moored near Choteau avenue, were
almost totally broken up. Their chains
and smoke stacks were blown away.
| The Elon G. Smith, the harbor boat,
was blown down the river and was
wrecked near Arsenal Island. 1t is
thought no lives were lost on this boat
The steamer Harvester of the Misses
sippi Valley Transportation Company,
was also torn from its dock and carried
down the river The loss to property
can only be estimated. A river man
said that $1,500,000 would not repair
and replace the boats alone that fig
ured in yesterdays disastrous storm.
THE WORK OF RESCUE
which began Immediately after the
storm and continued throughout the
night was kept up all Of to-day and will
not be completed for a week or more.
Voluntary rescue parties, squads of po-
lice and companies of the fire depart
ment are scattered about the devastated
districts. searching the ruins for bodies.
Every few minutes the sudden shifting
of the crowds and the signaling for a
! conveyance told of a gruesome find and
and the, occasional Identification of the
mangled remains by waiting friends ad-
ded horror to the scenes. In the east
ern portion of the wrecked locality are
located a number of factories and in
the ruins of these ii is believed that a
large number of bodies will be found.
The great piles of brick and broken tim
| bsrs yielded slowly TO the attack of the
searchers and it is probable that all the
victims of the storm will never be
known. The work of handling the un-
identified bodies was quickly reduced TO
system by Coroner Waite. The dead
were placed in rows beyond screen,
parties and the crowds of people who
were searching for lost friends or NOR
bidly curious, thronged the morgue,
we're guided past the dead room at a
rapid pace. BY this means the bodies
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