The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1896-06-03
A DEATH DEALING TORNADO
Strikes the City Of St. Louis
And Its Suburbs.
Buildings Demolished or Wrecked.
Over 400 Killed and 1000
Injured

Over 400 Killed and 1000
Injured,
A fierce tornado, the like Of which
had never been experienced, struck
St. Lofts shortly after 5 o'clock last
Wednesday evening, and left death
and destruction everywhere in its
path. Many buildings were totally
demolished and others had the roofs
i and portions of the walls torn away.
1 Boats were torn from their moorings
and blown across the river, with
much damage and loss Of life. The
villages Of Venice and Namieki, just
outside of St. Louis, were totally
destroyed, ana great ,uoo Of liso ie
reported from them. The coming of
the tornado is chronic1cd in thc fol-
!, lowing dispatch;
St. Louis, Mo-, May 2S.-Whcn
the sun rose on St. Louis and vicinity
this morning it showed a scene of
= horrible ruin and disaster. Wind,
! rain and tire han combined in the
, mission of obstruction. Two hun
: drcd lives were lost in this city, as
y :. many moro in East ST.. Louis. while
; thousands we're iajured, n:.'ny So
y severely that they cannot recover.
:, = The exact number will not be known
:, = for many days, perhaps, never, fol
), | the debris of ruined buildings all
= over the city covers hundreds OF hu'
% man bodies. The damage .and de-
struction of property will aggregate
= many millions, but the exact amount
II II cannot be estimated, with any de,
gree of certainty.
: Hours or sultriness, pulfs Of WING
, coming by turns from all points O
- the compass, the flying hlthcr ant
:, :, thithcr Of light mist-like formations
;, across the dull, dark-colorcd massc:
:, these were the characteristics Q
=, an afternoon which brought to st
:, :, Louis the most disastrous storm IL
: the clty;s history. For hours tor
;; rents Of shifting wind blew hot ano
n cold and y storm center developed
:, The fury OF the elements was borne
Il within the city limits. In the west
~ ~ q thunder storm developed. The
early muttcrings indicated nothing
more alarming than a down-pou1
with ordinary electrical accompani,
!, mcnts. This cloud came up sloWl,
= at first from the west, beyond Forcs
y, park. AS the black rim mounted
= higher above tue horizon, it's are EN-
in +, braccd more territory to the nortl
-, ,d and south A strong wind from TIL
h east began to blow right in the fac
- Of the torn. 1t was q lower cu1
~ ~ rent. Suddenly tile wind stoppe
%Y"F SwSpt rd rp tc tS fHSt a?q tHff
l'u oa1c, which made the best bull
~ Structures tremblc. With the hurr
40 cane. FOR that was the first forfn IN
lr - the storm took when II broke owe
- the western part Of the city, came
= dclugc. From few minutes beior
~ ~ ) until $50 this hurricane blow 1ro1
the northwest. ,,,
:, Then there came lull. TN
~ currents shifted. In the south"cs
~ there came into cXistcncc a storI
~ cloud with essential features OF
ld ll tornado, funnel shaped. This sccon
~ W storm burst upon the city from III
~ southwest. 1t came in on Soul
-. Lafavcttc park, struck the city HOS
80 Dtal and from there tore It's wa
~ through the city to the rlvcr pyv
80 80 southcastcrly course. 1t Wrou2'
od ,d havoc that will leave traces IN Una
~ part Of the city which lies cast
-" ~ Seventh street and north OF Ccri
~ street to the Eads bridge. Boa'
!, were torn loose from their mOorIn4
~. IT, and capsizcd or went adrift. Il
lus clond vent across the river. demo
-, -, islcd the work Of the east END
Nv ~, the bridge and then wrecked us '"'
,,l on East St. Louis.
~ ~ Shortly after six O'Clock, with tt
w. sun more than an hour above tt
- 81 western horizon there settled upf
~ the CITY clouds so dense that da
. ,''v ;, light quickly gave place TO the oar
~ ness Of midnight. That was tlc'p'
mIIo H. cursor Of the tornado from the so'll
49, ~ west. Ihchurricanc from the mort
- west gave the western portion OF u
CITY, a severe shaking up. The tt
nado from the southwest, which
inc responsible for the loss of life al
ans destruction along the lcvcc dIstri
nv and East St. Louis, followed the III
mo ricanc by about half an hour.
md Health Commissioner Straklo1f, T.
md hours after the tornado had passc
(r sent word that the death
,ny would reach 200 and no fewer tn
NJ 900 pcrSohS had sustained Scrlo
in injuries. by midnight reporters II
tcm visited al tho stricken portions
he. the city and the suburbs. The |
,ocs Of dead fell far below the 1lrSl g
if,y mates, but it was long enough TO
ruo appaliny Crushed beneath lalll
walls, hurried against sides OF Dll
ings, struck by flying tinbcrs, cut
shattered glass, shocked by the II
ont. work Of wires, humanity suffered
iii ways innumerablc. The names
,ino all the injured will never be know
tho or the destruction Of property tn
now can bc no satisfactory cstinit
+ IN given. The loss in extent ana
q character is ,bcyrnd conception.
for the flashes Of lightning last nl@
sny- the city hospital looked like ru
for The surgical ward was partly den
+ il ishcd y portion Of three OF
tho buildings were unrOpfcd. Walls "
cr,cL.o6 In the darkness OhVSici