The herald., 1896-05-28
AWFUL DETAILS
Later Accounts Confirm Reports Of Death and
Damage

Damage
CHICAGO, May 27.-One of the great
est disasters of recent years overwhelm-
ed the city of st. Louis tonight in the
shape of a cyclone, which began snort
ly after o'clock, and for thiry minutes
tore in its awful way through the city
with a velocity of over eighty miles an
hour. Although reports from there are
very meagre about the almost total de-
struction of the telegraph wires, 1t seems
certain the number of dead and wounded
will amount to fully 1000, and the damage
done to millions of dollars. The city hos
pital, which fortunately survived the
storm, is filled to- overflowing with
mangled men and children, and the
morgue within two hours after the end
of the storm was so full of corpses that
1t was necessary to provide other quar-
ters for the reception of the dead. In
addition to those who were killed in
their housesI il the streets, hundreds of
dead are beneath the waters of the Mis-
sissippi river. OF all the steamers on the
levee when the storm broke, but one is
now afloat. All the others have gone
down, in many instances every soul on
board being lost and in others not over
two or three being able to reach a
place of safety. Among the boats de-
stroyed is the excursion steamer Great
Republic, one of the largest steamers
on the lower river. Not a man escaped
from her, and it is said she was crowded
with the excursionists when the storm
came.
THE CITY WRECKED.
The center of the city is wreck. Many
buildings have been demolished and
others partially wrecked. The streets
are utterly impossible to street cars
and in many places progress on foot is
matter of great difficulty. To add to the
horror of the night. the electric light
r1o, ty IT,, III
ice 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
chokedup condition of the streets and
the large number of firemen who were
engaged in the attempt to rescue the
dead and wounded before the fire con-
sumed them.
The only authentic information from
the stricken city tonight was sent out
by the agent of the Associated Press
who managed to reach an outlying tele~
graph office and send brief dispatch as
follows:
Tornado blowing at the rate Of over
eighty miles an hour struck st. Louis
tonight and ragged for half an hour with
great fury, and as result hundreds of
lives are lost on both sides of the river
Many buildings are blown down, and
IidIy SlcdIlSlS SUIh WIFI I'LL OH DOdTu
1t is impossible at the present time to
estimate the number of lives lost, as
the hospitals are filled with injured, and
the morgue is filled with the slain, while
great numbers of dead and MANNED are
lying among the ruins in all directions
A portion of the east end of the Eads
bridge is destroyed. the grandstand at
the fair grounds is down, the woman's
portion of the Jail is gone, and the i'm
mense Cupples block is partially de-
stroyed. The Waters-Pierce oil works
are burning, and other buildings in
various sections of the city are on fire -
The Western Union Telegraph COM
pany announced that because of it's in
ability to keep up it's wires it would be
impossible to send out any more mes
sages tonight from st. Louis or it's vicin-
ity.
A DOUBLE HEADER
The reports regarding the duration of
the storm are conflicting. About 8
| o'clock the operator on the Wabash road
at small station not far from East
ST. Louis managed to get the operator
at Decatur, ILL.,, long enough to send
I him word that the roundhouse of the
Wabash road was blown down and that
the freight house of the Nandalia was
wrecked and that thirtyfive men We're
killed in the ruins. After he had told
| this much the wire failed him. Shortly
| after s o'clock the Wabash operator at
Decatur reported to the main dispatch
| ers office at Forest, ILL.,, that a cyclone
had just passed through the country to
| the south of Decatur and that it had
| done great damage. In a few minutes
| he sent word that a second storm had
| passed through the country almost ex-
| actly in the track of the first, and that
| he was unable to get any more infor-
| nation regarding it. but that it was
| thaught to have done great damage in
! the country east of st. Louis. The ope-
rators on the Alton. road We're unable
to get any information from their men
| in the neighborhood of st. Louis, but re-
ported that just before all their connec-
| tions with that city were broken off they
received word that there had been a
severe cyclone at Rush Hill. Mo-, which
| is a small town on the Alton road not
| far from Mexico, Mo.
The dispatchers' Office of the Illinois