The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-05-29
HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST.
ST. LOUIS AND EAST ST. LOUIS SWEPT Ely \
STORM.

CHICAGo. MAY y.
One of the greatest disasters of recent
years overw hclmel9 the city of st. Louis
to- night in the shape of a cyclone. which
began shortly after ) o'clock, and for
thirty minutes tore its awful way through
the city with velocity of over eighty
miles an hour.
Although reports from there arr1 very
meagre owing to the almost total deStruc'
ton of the telegraph wires 1t seems Ger
tain that the number of dead and wound
ed will amount to fully one thousand ana
the damage done to millions of dollars
The city hospital. which fortunately sur
vivcd the storm, is filled to overlooking
with mangled men. women and children,
and the MOrgue within two hours alter tht
end of the storm was so full OF bodies
that it was necessary to provide other
quarters for the reception OF the dead.
In addition to those who were Killed IN
their houses and in the streets, hundreds
of dead are beneath the waters "i the
Mississippi river OF all the steamers ON
the levcc when the storm broke ont bnt
one Is now atioat. All the others have
gone down, in many instances every soul
on board being lost, and others, not over
two or three, being able to reach Il place
of safety.
Among the boats destroyed is the cNcur-
sion steamer Great Republic, one OF the
largest steamers on the lower river. Not
a soul escaped from her. and it is SAID she
was crowded with eXcursinnsts when the
storm came.
The centre of the city is a wreck. Many
buildings have been demolished and 9th
crs partially wrecked. The streets are
utterly impossible to street cars, and IN
MANY places progress on foot is Il matter
of great difficulty. To add to the horrors
of the nj ght, the electric light plants were
rendered incapable of service, and the
gas lamps are also shut off, leaving the
city in total darkness.
Fire also broke out in several portions
of the city, and the fire department was
unable to make an effective fight, because
of the choked up condition of the streets,
and the large number If tircmcn who
were engaged in the Imperative work OF
rescuing the dead and wounded.
At East st. Louis the destruction seems
greatest. H. c. Rice. the Western Union
manager at the relay depot, on the east
side. climbed across the demolished bridge
and made his way into st. Louis. lie re
ports that the National Hotel, the Ire
mont House, Martell House. Dew off Cafe,
the plant of the HeXel Milling Company.
Horns coopershop and Il great number of
other buildings are blown down. Many
dwellings are wrecked any many of their
occupants are known to be dead.
The Nandalia roundhouse, the Nandaila
freight house. in which thirty-tivc men are
said to have been killed; the Baltimore
and Ohio roundhouse, the Standard On
works, East st. Louis Elevator, Crescent
Elevator and twelve other freight houses
on the levee are DESTROYED.
The Great Republic and several more
excursion steamers with all on board are
reported to have gone down, and there IS
but one boat now at the levee OF all
which were there before the storm came
At midni ght it was reported at the DIS
patchcrs office of the Wabash road at
Forrest, ILL.,. that it was Impossible t"
reach any point further south than Name
oki, which is nine miles northeast from
East st. Louis. The operator at that
point said that up to midnight it had been
impossible to ATTAIN any definite lnt"rma-
ton from St Louis but it was certain that
fearful damage had been done.
He said that the ruins at East st. Louis
were on fire and burning tiercely. but
could tell nothing more than that. He
had not been able to obtain any informal
ton from any of the Wabash trains that
had passed his station since ) O'Clock IN
the afternoon.