A DESTRUCTIVE CYCLONE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2205, 4 June 1896, Page 23

A DESTRUCTIVE CYCLONE.

TERRIBLE LOSS OF LIFE. , ENORMOUS DAMAGE CAUSED. New Tobk, May 28. A cyclone swept over Be. Louis, Missouri. Many hotels, elevators, and buildings were razed to the ground. All the steamers lying alongside the wharves were sunk, and a thousand people killed. Ssveral villages were almost entirely destroyed. May 30. x By the cyclone In Missouri 530 persons were killed and 700 injured. The mayor's estimate of the loss of property is '20,000,0Q,0301. The eastern portion of St. Louis suffered most. Washington, May 28. Fifteen hundred people were crushed to death in St. Louis. The place resembles a town which haa been bombarded. Tho devastation oaused by {he cyclone is appalling. Lightning set many buildings on fire. The electric light failed and the city was enveloped in darkness. The state of the panic is desoribed as awful. Many towns in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois were destroyed by tho same cv clone. May 29. Four hundred corpses have been recovered in St. Louis. It is estimated that the damage will range from ten to thirty million dollars, The oyolone devastated a district in the sonth-wast of the town half a mile wide, and four long streets were choked by debris. The main damage was on the river front. Churches and hospitals were razed to the ground. One incident of the catastrophe was the presence of mind displayed by an engineer, who saved a train while crossing a falling bridge by driving it at full speed. In all 12 trains were blown over in the suburbs. Congress unanimously agreed to come to the relief of the sufferers. From r publication issued in 1892, "St. Louis Through a Camera," we learn that the ! City of St. Louis, which suffered so severely, has & population considerably in excess of 500,000. Ib is claimed thtb its manufacturing establishments rank among the very best ; its public buildings are costly, modern, and magnificent; its churches numerous and beautiful ; and its system of rapid, transit the best in the world. The city is not only a manufacturing centre but is generally recognised as one of the boat receiving and distributing points in the United States. Situated on the western bank of the Mississippi river, it 13' also a large railway centre, the daily average number of passengers aud freight ' trains being over 600. Some of the buildings of the city are wonderful structures. The New Planters' House, for instance, is a 10-sborey fire-proof hotel. The first two storeys are of granite, and the eight storeys above this are of yellow brick and terra cotta. A recent visitor to the city informs us that he judges from the cablegrams that this is one of the many buildings destroyed by the cyclone.