The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-05-28
Louis that have not suffered in some
way from the storm. Tonight the
STREETS ARE IN DARKNESS

STREETS ARE IN DARKNESS 5
and travel in any direction is danger
Gus, because of the fallen live wires and
debris lying everywhere. The wagon
way of the .Eads bridge. on the East
st. Louis side, is crumbling mass OF
mortar and stone, and parts of the
tower and Pier No. 1 were also torn
away.
An outbound accommodation train
on the Chicago & Alton road was
wrecked by a broken rail- but fortu-
nately nobody among the fifty passen-
gers were hurt A trolley car loaded
with passengers, bound for the West
side, is said to have fallen through to
the railroad track below. but with
what result is not known.
The roof of the Republican conven-
tion hall was blown off. and twenty
four-foot section of the western wall
of the city jail was torn down, expos
ing the interior. 1t was during exer-
else hours and 200 prisoners were ex-
ercising In the building and were
panic-stricken. They were too fright
ened to try to escape. Jailer Wagner
was on the scene in a moment, and
with the aid of number Of detectives
and policemen, the prisoners were
placed In their cells. The tanks of the
Waters-Pierce Oil company, on Gra-
tiot street. blew up, spreading destruc-
tion on every hand.
Three stories of the Coe Manufac-
turing company's building, Ninth and
GTatiot, and nearly half of the Vain
wright brewery were blown down. The
summer high school, Eleventh and
Spruce; McDermott's saloon, Eleventh
and Chestnut; Jere Sheehans livery
stable, Eleventh and Walnut, were un-
rooted. The engineer of the Aetna
Iron works, Twenty-first and Pappin
streets, was almost instantly killed.
The walls were blown In and he was
scalded to death by steam. The Con-
solidated Wire works, Twenty-frst
and Papin streets, was almost totally
wrecked. Seven people are known to
have been injured seriously by this
wreck, and many more are said to have
been hurt by falling walls.
The two-story building OF the c. H.
Sawyer Manufacturing company 1873
Choteau avenue, was demolished.
John Sawyer, a member of the firm,
and Emma CLANCY and Isabella Ham
den, typewriters, were crushed to death
under the walls H. H. Sawyer, a
member of the firm, was injured ia
tally. The ST.. Louis Refrigerator
and Woodenware company's factory at
Second street and Park avenue was
completely destroyed by fire caused by
lightning. A rumor was widely circu-
lated that the gas tank near the Con-
solidated wire works, at the south end
of the Twenty street viaduct,
had been blown over, and, crushing in
the walls of the wire works, killed four
men to certainty and probably more.
The cyclone broke at fifteen minutes after
8 o'clock coming directly from the west,
DESTROYING THE CITY
proper, then crossing the Mississippi to East
st. Louis and there, after raging for hall
an hour disappearing in the direction OF
Alton. There was little warning for the
helpless people in the streets, the thousands
on their way home from work, or the In
mates in the great mercantile establishments
of the city who had not left their posts of
duty
Temporary hospitals abound in every part
of the city. The armory at Seventeenth and
Pine streets has been opened for the care
of the wounded, and many injured have
been taken into private houses. The city
authorities at midnight were sending mount
ed police through the city in an effort to as
certain, if possible, what the loss of life
really is. So far as absolute facts are con-
cerned, nothing definite can be learned before
tomorrow.
Among the houses known to have been de-
stroyed are the-furnture store of Frederick
Otteneds, at the corner of Broadway and
Soulard streets, In the southern part of the
city, where six men are reported killed: a
saloon at 604 South Seventh street, where nine
men are reported in the ruins; st. Patrick's
church. at the corner of Sixth and Biddel
streets.
One thing that hinders the work of taking
out the dead and rescuing the injured is the
fact that every electric light wire and tele-
phone wire is down. This prevents commu-
nication between the various parts of the city
and the town being in absolute darkness, the
work of rescue is going on with agonizing
sloWness.
TIC add to the dismal situation, the rain
which fell shortly after the tornado passed
began again about or 7:3O o'clock and is
now coming down in torrents. It is impossi-
BILE to get reports from the police stations
where many of the dead and injured have
been taken, and consequently statements in
regard to the dead and wounded up to the
present time are for the most part conjec-
lures, but there is no doubt that the loss OF
life is greater than anything the country has
known since the disaster at Johnstown.
1t is evident that the tornado pursued q
track of many miles in length, as reports
from various railroad stations show that
nothing has been received from any point
Of here as Scattered
bits of information show that between Mober-
ly and this city various
SMALL TOWNS HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT
and many persons are dead in them. 1t was
at first thought that many had been killed
at the Fair grounds in the western part OF
the city, where the roof of the grand stand
was blownsoff while the last race was being
ran, but is is now known that the people at
the track saw the storm coming and, rushing
out of the grounds, took refuge in the ad-
jacent fields
At the time the storm struck the town and
created such havoc the accompanying noise
was terrifying. People were picked up In the
streets and dashed to the ground or against
the buildings as though they had been the
merest straws. One thing which aided the
storm in its course OF destruction was the val
ley which separates North and South st. Louis,
along which the railroads entering the city
from the east and west have their tracks and
yards, and through which they have access to
the union station at TWENTY first street This
depression is some forty or fifty feet in depth
a regular valley, I'm fact, and had the tornado
confined itself to this channel the loss OF life
and property would not have been so great
A. w. Becker, of the big firm of ]. p.
Becker 6 Co., Of East St. Louis, was among
the first persons to crcss the Eads bridge
after the storm abated. His family was in
St. Louis, and in his eagerness TO get to
them he. climbed over the debris of the bridge
on his hands and knees, over wrecked cars,
dead horses and q mass of other debris. He
informed a reporter that the condition OF
East st. Louis is almost beyond descrip-