Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-06-18
YEAR OF DISASTERS.
LOSS OF LIFE HAS ArREADN
BEEN VERY GREAT.
stcrms, Fire and Hiood Have Sent
Many Human Beings to Fearful
Deaths-st. Louis Was the Scene Of
the First Horror of 1900.


May a Dark Month.
Disaster has been frequent feature of
tn current year. With but five months
to It's credit, 1896 has written record Of
destruction that win stand. 1t cannot be
surpassed. Fire.. flood and high winds
have been the principal causes Of calam-
ity, and It 10 impossible that these could
have been forescen or their results avoid
ed. Two or three mine horrors that have
accounted for as many hundreds OF deaths
may be properly charged to the negligence
of the owners AMI operatives. The great
weight Of misfortune, however, could not
have been shifted by human agency. One
cannot empty a swollen river with tin
dipper or whistle down hurricane.
ST Louis was the scene of the first hor-
ror OF the year. Compared with the pres
ent black misfortune that rests on the
city it was as nothing. Jan. 3 great
Stock Of fireworks stored mt 800 NortL
Second street exploded. The building
and adjacent structures were ruined, and
some six persons were killed outright or
suffered such injury they died later. Thir-
ty-two were seriously, although not fatal
ly, hurt.
Early in February great storm whip
ped the eastern United States coast. The
greatest loss was to property on shore, as
the warning had been fluttering from sig
nal stations so long in advance that the
sailor men had Rugged the docks. Four or
five vessels were destroyed. Hundreds Of
houses and other buildings were wrecked.
In the State of New Jersey the damage
was the heaviest. Bridges and build
ings of all kinds were destroyed. Bound
Brook, small town near the ocean, was
fattened as il some monster road crusher
had trundled over it. The loss Of property
was great, the fatalities comparatively
few.
Feb. 10, in MadriA, several residents
of the town were killed and much prop
erty destroyed by the explosion of an
aerolite. The sky traveller went into frag-
ments just over the city with the deadly
destructive effects Of many bombshells.
In one factory, which was Immediately
below the center Of the explosion, nine
teen workmen were killed.
or accidents in mines, there have been
three In this country marked by great
sacrifice Of human life. In South Caro-
lima $50 men were killed. This was fol-
lowed by the caving in Of a Tennessee
shaft, which resulted in the loss Of thirty
seven lives. Sixty men were killed as the
result Of a gas explosion in the Vulcan
mine at Newcastle, Colo. Seventy six
workmen in Grecian stone quarry were
killed by the blowing up Of the magazine
wherein was stored their giant powder
An explosion Of gas in n mine in Wales
killed nineteen men and seventeen more
were buried by the falling earth which
waS IOnSnna6 Inv fha aynlnSiou
A great food that came down the De-
quabuck Valley in Connecticut, March l.,
swept away hundreds Of thousands of dol
lars worth of mill property and houses
and drowned many persons. Similar
floods in eastern New York and other
Connecticut streams entailed property
losses aggregatng several millions.
March % cyclone left a trail Of death
and ruin across southern Illinois. Alton
was heavy sufferer April 10 northern
Ohio was visited by a cyclone. The loss
In Sandusky County was great. Few
persons were killed.
Cripple Greek, the wonder mining camp,
was destroyed by fire the latter part Of
April. On the 18th of the month the fire
broke out and destroyed nearly all the
business part Of the city before it was
quelled. The damage was about $780,
600. Four days later the remainder of
the town was wiped out. The total loss
was nearly $2,5OOOOO. May an explo-
sion Of gasoline in a business block in
Walnut street, Cincinnati, wrecked two
buildings and killed eleven persons. More
than twenty were seriously injured. Five
days later fires at Ashland, Wis, destroy
ed five lives and many buildings and lum-
Der. May IL forests in the southern part
Of New Jersey burned. The flames swept
over great areas Of Cape May and Allan
tic Counties. Houses and barns and live
stock also burned, but no loss of human
life was reported.
The cyclone season opened May ID with
windstorms in Wisconsin and Illinois.
The principal damage was to crops, build
ings and animals. In the two States six
deaths only were caused by the storms, so
far as is known. The wind in this section
was but a zephyr compared with that
which blew at Sherman, Texas, May 10.
This was true cyclone, and in its path
was the local baseball grounds, wherein
were gathered a thousand or two people
Of Sherman and neighboring towns. More
than 100 were killed and several times
the number were injured. The day fol-
lowing Scioto, ILL.,, a small town near
Bushnell, was wrecked by hurricane,
and May II Kansas towns suffered SINH
larly. Sabetha, Kan, was the most heav-
lily injured. 1t was a mass Of ruins. Az
terward came the windstorms in Michi-
gan, and the northern Illinois cyclone,
which had not exhausted its fury in Iowa.
Another and less extensive cyclone pass
ed over southern Illinois. Thirteen per-
sons were drowned at Cairo by the
swamping Of a steamer, which lay In the
path Of the wind. The next day but one
st. Louis was in ruins. From May ID to
May ~ 1t Is probable that 1000 persons
lost their lives in the storms which have
ragged in radius of 45O miles of Chicago.
The property losses will aggregate up
ward Of $75,OOO,OOO.
In the cyclone excitement three other
disasters passed almost unnoticed. Blue
Island, Ill, nearly lost its place on the
map as town. Fire destroyed thirty-six
houses and business blocks May II. On
the same day the schooner Aver and
steamer Onoko colnded off Racine. Five
sailors were drowned. A weak railway
bridge at Victoria, b. O., permitted q
loaded passenger car to fall through.
Nearly 100 persons were drowned.
As was said, the year has lived less
than half its term and there Is time for
the tale Of calamity to grow.
Sparks from the wires.