THE ST. LOUIS CYCLONE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7660, 19 June 1896, Page 2

THE ST. LOUIS CYCLONE.

A DREADFUL CALAMITY. ENORMOUS LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE.

[Per R.M.S. Monowai at Auckland.] ' San Francisco, May 30. .. St. Louis, Missouri, was made desolate on . the afternoon of May 29th by a cyclone andcloud burst, which crushed out the lives of hundreds of citizens, razed proud buildings to the ground, converted the streets into a tangle of rubbish, and inundated all the but-. . lying districts. -■-, '■- , East St. Louis, across the the river, was - ' reported to be burning up. A span at the end of the bridge was ",. wrecked, and several lives were lost thereby. More than a thousand persons are reported - to have been killed. Thousands of bleeding forms have been taken to the hospitals. . ... _ Millions of dollars worth of property is ' destroyed. The storm came stealthily as a thief in the . night. Black clouds rose over the southern horizon's rim at noon. The sky was overcast, and lights were lit in the offices and homes. The cloud array at 5 o'olock began to make concentric circles. Great masses whirled and reeled. The wind became a gale, a storm, and a cyolone. By 6 o'clock the winds were sweeping through the streets ab the rate of 80 miles an hour. Then cams, rain, first a few drops at a time, then in solid ehoets with vivid lightning and roaring thuuder. Tall buildings were thrown down as if they were shanties, and citizens were crushed to death in the demolition which occurred. The list of dead in East St, Louis will . • inolude at least 300 names. It is a terrible state of affairs. The people are in a state of abject terror. St. Louis bears the appearance of having been shelled by an enemy. Many outlying towns were entirely demolished by the terrible disaster. >