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Storm Stricken Cities Now Face
the Future
JBEAVE AND HOPEFUL
Thousands Are Busy Clearing
Away Wreckage
Story of Violence Terror Ruin Deso
lation and Death Burying the Dead
and Caring- for the Injured Hungry
and Homeless Close Kstimateof the
Property Damage Thousands Go to
the Storms Work Pen Picture
of the Horrors the People of St
Louis Have Endured
Bruised and torn and bleeding stagger
ing fromibe force of tinrijlowr but still
Teliant and confident in her own strength
the city of St Louis is standing in the
view of hundreds of thousands of visitors
n beautiful picture even in her misery and
pain Though 200 of her children were
torn from her by the merciless wind and
scores are lying in the hospitals on beds
of agony she is rallying her superb re
sources ready to begin again the march of
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-progress Property worth millions was
snatched from her bosom and from the
fair surface of her vicinage huge fac
tories beautiful dwellings gigantic ele
vators and thousands of homes of the
poor have been razed Dazed and half
bleeding she has struggled to her feet
groping in the darkness of affliction
Her little neighbor is scarcely able to
move The full force of the storm that
laid her waste was not lost in the long
and remarkable voyage across the river
Out of a population of nearly three-quarters
of a million St Louis lost two hun
dred souls East St Louis has scarcely
a family in her limits that does not num
ber in its membership one dead or wound
ed The list of victims to the fury of the
wind runs up to 150 and to say who is
injured would be to enumerate one half
the population of the bustling little com
munity Weaker than St Louis in that
sne lacks the size and wealth she is
strong in ner vvni znignt With the as
sistance of the outside world she will re
cover from the blow in time and her
blocked streets will again be the thor
oughfares full of teams and men they
were before the terrible visitation But
in the history of the world the disaster
that overtook the sister cities will live on
and on as the greatest of modern times
Birth of the Tornado
On that fateful Wednesday afternoon
the clouds formed in conclave over St
Louis For months weeks they had been
hovering in an atmosphere that made
SCKXE IX HICKORY STREET
tbem worried and restless They were
surcharged with energy generated by ex
cessive heat and they were surly They
thirsted for rapine and slaughter Down
below them myriads of mortals ran about
the streets of the big city like ants each
carrying out his part in the daily journey
of the world Across the river dense vol
umes of smoke arose and from the many
railroad yards the shriek of locomotive
whistles mingled with the rumble of mov
ing cars The great stock yards and the
rolling mills and the foundries were add
ing their quota to the atmosphere that
was irritating the vapory masses in the
sky
Traitorously the storm crept upon the
city and even as the people wondered
why the shadows of vapor were behaving
in a manner so unusual they framed their
battle front and brought to being the
tornado the child of unusual atmospheric
conditions the concentration of the pow
er of the elements In less than ten min
utes it caused damage to property that
cannot be replaced in years and loss of
life horrible to dwell upon It swept a
city from end to end attacked a swollen
river lined with shipping made of it a
waste of muddy water showing here
and there on its surface a wreck and
rushed on through the little city across
the bridge demolishing it most utterly
It left behind a long trail of blood and
twisted ruin
When the force of the wind abated from
every door and every place of shelter men
and women swarmed with blanched faces
and trembling lips Every thoroughfare
was a vista of broken signs overturned
vehicles ground and shattered glass and
twisted wires Lights were snuffed out
by the fury of the gale and the wonderful
current that propels so manv of tlir rm c
of the city was rendered useless In the
downtown business districts where the
damage was slight the streets were
crowded with citizens anxious to get to
their homes to reassure loved ones All
felt that a dreadful calamity had occur
red but none could say the extent of it
Night came on a city thoroughly and
pitifully demoralized In all its vast ex
tent there was not a man who knew what
had been accomplished by the terrible
wind
Ghastly Tales Told
About 7 oclock the eastern horizon took
on a ruddy appearance and through the
blinding rain long tongues of fire could
be seen mounting high in the air East
St Louis was on fire There were fires to
the south and to the east and to the west
The city was walled in with flames on
three sides and the streets were impassa
ble
Out of the confusion and chaotic spawn
of rumors it became soon apparent that
the bulk of the damage had been done in
South and- East St Louis No one knew
the extent of it and all feared to guess
That it was unprecedented was intuitive
ly surmised Up in the city where the
full force of the charge of the angry
clouds was not felt the ruin gave a faint
indication of what it was where the tor
nado had mowed a path through the solid
evidences of the industrj of man A
steady stream of travel took its way to
ward the south and all night long it ebbed
and flowed out of scenes of misery and de
vastation into scenes of devastation and
misery The rain did service in putting
out numerous fires the firemen could not
reach and then died slowly and sullenly
as though angry at being called upon to
render any succor to the victims of its
allied friends the wind and the clouds
To the Rescue
Brave men with heads cool and hearts
true realized as soon as the full fury of
the visitation was spent that there was
work for them to do The City Dispen
sary naturally became the central point
of news and succor Every minute news
of fresh horrors was received Ambu
lances began to reach the city hall loaded
down with wounded and dead before any
measures looking to their care could be
taken Physicians full of energy willing
to do their part came from every district
in the city that had not been touched by
the storm Volunteers poured in from
every direction ready to dig and delve or
do anything to assist the authorities
The bulk of the horror of the night was
grouped at the morgue at the City Dis
pensary and at the hospital on Seven
teenth and Pine streets Down the nar
row alley back of the city hall ambulance
after ambulance swung in loaded down
with suffering humanity The limited
quarters were a repository for the mis
ery of days crowded into hours Nearly
all the victims brought in were complete
ly naked stripped by the violence of the
storm Speed was necessary in treating
them and the gentle kindly words of the
surgeon who has plenty of time were not
spoken It was hurry hurry hurry A
man with one fractured leg would give
way on an operating table to a man with
both legs fractured or a woman with her
tender flesh hanging in shreds Little
children torn and crushed were brought
in and laid before the surgeons their
shrill cries and pitiful moans contrasting
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THE ST LOUIS TORNADO IN THE HEART OF THE CITY
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with the howls of the more powerful
adults They came in a swift stream that
seemed to be without end all night long
and it appeared to those who handled
them that the sights and sounds grew
more terrible as the hours crept by
Anions the Mnncrled
The scenes at the hospital were a repe
tition of those at the dispensary It was
at the morgue that the full force of the
disaster was brought to the understand
ing The little slate colored building on
SCENES AT THE MORGUE
Twelfth and Spruce was the magnet that
drew a funeral procession radiating from
every part of the South Side First the
slabs were filled in the usual way one
body to a slab and then two slabs were
placed together and made the resting
place for four bodies Still the corpses
came They were dumped in like grist into
a mill
AH night long St Louis and Bast St
Louis were cities alone in their terrible
desolation almost entirely cut off from
communication with the rest of the world
sizing the ruin that was rather felt than
seen in the gloom of the night
After the Storm
The first reports of the great storm
were considerably exaggerated as is usu
ally the case when such a calamity oc
curs It was impossible in the confusion
and darkness to obtain definite informa
tion and the stories of havoc and fatality
were magnified by the exciting influences
of the situation The number of killed
which was hastily estimated at 1000 is
now known to be less than 500 for St
Louis and East St Louis while the de
struction of property may be put at not
to exceed 5000000 It is impossible to
tell how many were wounded but the
list is likely to be several times as large
as that of the dead and there are hun
dreds of houseless and destitute families
thankful in their distress that they es
caped with their lives The work of suc
coring the needy is being carried on with
all possible diligence and effectiveness
There was a quick response of public sym
pathy and charity to the demands of the
occasion and well organized efforts of re
lief give assurance that no suffering will
be neglected and no means spared to re
store general comfort and happiness It
will take some time to repair the property
damages but the undertaking is already
in progress and will be pushed forward
with characteristic American pluck and
enterprise until the last vestige of the
misfortune is removed
It will take at least two years to repair
the damage done by the tornado It is
estimated that in St Louis at least 7500
houses were destroyed although the offi
cials of the building commissioners of
fice are inclined to place it at 10000 The
number of buildings destroyed or dam-
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VIEW ON SIXTH STREET ST LOUIS TYPICAL SOEVE IX TIIE SOUTH
WESTERN PART OF THE CITY
And in all the horror of the black night
and its terrible developments reigned a
feeling of dread for what might be dis
closed by the day When the first gray
coloring in the eastern sky gave evidence
of the coming of the light the watchers
gazed with mingled feelings of thankful
ness and fear Objects became discerni
ble dimly as the sun mounted higher on
the course of his daily journey
aged at East St Louis will not fall below
500 which means a loss from which the
Illinois rown will not recover in many
years The tornado was not a respecter
of classes and made no distinctions It
swept away the palaces of wealth as well
as the hovels of the poor It spared
neither institutions of mercy nor the mon
uments of productive industry While the
money value of the damage is estimated
in aggregate at not over 5000000 these
figures do not convey an adequate idea
of the tremendous losses sustained by the
great catastrophe The losses entailed
by suspended business operations and the
money that will be required to clear away
the wrecked factories blocks and dwell
ings will swell the total loss to an incred
ible figure
ESTIMATE OF PROPERTY LOSS
St Louis Paper Believes 10000000
Will Cover Everything
A St Louis paper prints a statement
which very materially modifies all
otsk Hi ftHUfZ i a
ous estimates of the aggregate loss by the
hurricane The article says
Conservative and well informed business
men regard 5000000 as being about the
proper amount In arriving at this conclu
sion all the heaviest losers have been con
sidered and the figures have been obtained
from persons In possession In almost every
place of personal knowledge The following
is a table or losses
St Louis United Elevator Co
St Louis Refrigerator and Wooden
Gutter Company
Eads bridge
Public schools
Street railroads
River interests
Telegraph lines
Telpnhone and electric licht com
300000
125000
50000
G0000
Churches 260000
LiffKett Myers new factory
250000
275000
300000
20000
panies 150000
City institutions 110000
Fire alarm telegraph 20000
Railroad interests 500000
Pullis Bros iron works 20000
Grout Bagging Company 10000
N K Fairbank Cos factory 8000
Inland Oil Company 44000
St Louis Iron and Manufacturing
Company 75000
Peper Cotton Compress Company 30000
Schools and convents 75000
E Goddard Flour Mill Company 8000
Bannatine Galvanized Iron Co 15000
Louis Ottenad Furniture Co 65000
Tenements 20000
St Vincents asylum 15000
Purina Mills 6000
Shickle Harrison Howard Co 8000
Stromberg Kraus Cos factory 8000
William Otto 29000
Liederkranz Hall 8000
Eden Publishing House 6000
Sawyer Manufacturing Co 40000
Brown Tobacco Co 50000
Selkirks storage house 26000
Aetna Iron Works 10000
Consolidated Steel and Wire Co 10000
Excelsior Laundry 8000
Bridge and Beach Manufacturing
Company ronoo
Plant Mining Company 15000
Mueller Bros Furniture
Co
M M Buck Co warehouses
Wainwrlght Brewery
Anheuser Busch Brewing Co
National Wall Paper Company
William Koenlg Si Co
Cupples Woodenware Co ware-
UUUOt
C J Costuba furniture
Dead
Peru May 16 i
Mercer County May 16
uigin May 10
Rockford May 1G
Monroe May 24
Leaf River May 24
Cairo May 25
East St Louis May
New Baden May 27
BIrkners May 27
Boyd May 27
Irvlngton May 27
Hoyleton May 27
Mascoutah May 27 1
Jefferson City May 27 5
Fairheld May 2i l
Total 203
Missouri
St Louis May 27 250
Audrain County May 27 15
Total 265
Michisran
Oakland County May 25 113
Mount Clemens May 25
Total 113
Iowa
North McGregor May 24 15
Valeria May 24 5
Bondurant May 24 4
Mingo May 24 4
Santiago May 24- 3
Durango May 24 5
New Hampton Mav 24 1
Centerville May 27 3
Total 40
Kansas
Concordia April 2G 8
Falls City May 1G 4
Sabetha May 1G 13
Oneida May 16 6
Reserve May 16 4
Emporia May 20 1
Total 3G
Indiana
Warsaw May 27 2
msmimws
Texas
Denton and Grayson Counties
and city of Sherman May 15100
Colorado
Denver March 27 1
Kentucky
Elva May 1G 5
Oklahoma
Osage Reservation May 20 4
North Dakota
Epiphany April 27 3
EAST ST LOUIS AS SEEN FROM THE FERRY SHOWING RUINS OF THE WAREHOUSE AND FREIGHT DEPOT DISTRICT
iUUW
30000
25000
10000
40000
25000
12000
25000
btandard Heel Comnanv mono
Epstein Burensteln 20000
B F Selsl 20000
Cox Gordon S00O
Belcher Sujrar Refinery 0000
Hydraulic Press Brick Company 10000
W J Lemp brewery G0000
Total
KILLKD BY TUB
3790000
WIND
Nearly One Thonsand laves Blown
Ont in the Last Sixty iays
Nearly 1000 persons have been killed
by tornadoes and windstorms of lesser
violence during the last sixty days The
figures at hand show the number of dead
to be 795 a total that will undoubtedly
be swelled to much larger proportions
when the full loss of life at St Louis is
ascertained
Illinois
Injured
i
j X4
X
1
27 150 300
13 24
o
1 5
3G4
300
25
325
WRECKED STEAMERS 02T THE EAST SHORE OF THE RIVER
33
12
45
2
2
12
12
12
24
200
a-
AT TEKTH AND CHESTNUT STBEETS
Virjrinia
Salem April 24 2
Ohio
Sandusky April 20 2
Nebraska
Pawnee May 17 10
Pennsylvania
Jarrettown May 2S 3
Columbia May 2S 1
Total 4
Grand total 795 9
10
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