The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1896-06-03

as it passed from the city hospital
toward the river. Tie convention
hall lost part Of it's roof. Ten days
work and an expenditure Of $500 will
make the hail good again. \ section
Of brick wall Of the Jail went down
and the prisoners were panic -StricS-
en-. In ,l12 district between Sixth
street and thc"riycr north Of Chotcau
avenue the tornado tore its path,
every building sustaining damage.
Smoke stacks and climncvs tOppled
over, walls were lcyclled, thousands
Of windows were smashed, and miles
Of telegraph and telephone wires left
in network on the ground. .All
through this district the streets arc
impassablc. They are covered in
places with debris ten feet deep.
Along the river front hawsers
snapped and boats were sent adrift,
some to 60 down, others to 60 ashore
on the western bank The loss Of
life which might have taken place at
this point was avoided by the hour at
which the tornado came. A little
later the excursion steamers would
have been gong out. .>unc vi ullcll1
had left the Wllarvcs. Other river
passenger boats lad gone an hour
before, and although not heard from
probably had passed beyond the path
Of the storm.
The dcatll-dcaIny cloud crossed
the river at such i'll angle as to ostrlkc
and wreck the upper works at the east
end Of the iInds bridge, and to sweep
part Of East st. Louis. Perhaps the
most impressive evidence OF the
storm clouds force is Seen in the
wreck Of the eastern end Of the Eads
bridge There tive tornado dealt
with stone ard masonry. beginning
with the bic eastern pier and extend
inc to the foot Of the incline, tho
cloud cut of the upper part Of the
structure as If it had been Il llmsy
trestlc instead Of Il structure OF
world famed masonry.
Fire added much to tEc loss ac
: count. The alarm system was para
! lyzcd. Approaches were blockadcd.
Fire added 1T least S3o0.O to the
losses by storm. Such 4 night Q
horror in st. Louis was never know
before. The hurricane came whcl
!, the business portion Of the city l1at
begun to send workers to their homes
The service of almost all street rail
ways was suddenly suspended. WhcI
night came, soon after the premature
darI1cning brought on by the tornado
no electric lamp bIazcd up. Man,
thousands Of men and women tOilct
: homcWard through the drcnchin!
rain.
In st. Louis the destroyer seemed
to have u course that lay chiefly be
! tween the railroad track and Laray
cite avenue, though it swept the en-
II tire city, cutting q wide swatl
n wherever it did any damage.
y The wharf was the scene Of tn
= worst devastation this side Of TIL
Il river Before the storm, Steamboat
= wharfboats and bargcs were moore
"a s~.,~- ,sa.A,.. eNrcs.t e.u~A>,,u :>veuu
# These were swept from their taste
j. inyS almost in Il solid phalanN al
a cast adrift. Some were UYcrturn
p and sunk, others were blown aero
, and crushed against the other sid
= The Anchor line wharf boat and G:
), cllrsiun boat were the only craft lc
: between the bridge and Spruce stree
> Both were showed upor the banl
:, indicating that the storm had
;. INSTRUMENTATION as all other Craft wei
:, blown in the other direction. Som
y were seen floating when the brllt
- the storm had passed. but in ncarl
Il all the upper works were torn ava,