Thursday, May 27, 1896 East St. Louis Journal: A tornado,
not a simple cyclone, swept through East St. Louis yesterday afternoon, at
5:15 o'clock, demolishing everthing before it and leaving death and desolation
in its course. The tornado on March 8, 1871, was destructive enough,
but the one of yesterday was overwhelmingly worse, as it cut a wider swath
through the city.
The JOURNAL office was badly wrecked and we can only issue to-day a pretense
of a paper, and even it is under difficulties. The Railroads, Eads Bridge,
the ferry, the boats, the elevators, manufacturing establishments, depots,
freight houses, business places, residences and other property have been
ruined and damaged to the extent of millions of dollars.
Our people should organize to assist the homeless and those in want, as well
as to protect property from thieves and maintain law and order.
East St. Louis will arise from the wreck greater than before.
THE DEAD (For an updated list of victims, visit this
page)
The following is a list of the dead whose bodies have been recovered, but
there are numerous others missing, and bodies are still being drawn out from
the wreckage:
Jake KURTZ
Mrs. S. HAYWOOD
David S. SAGE and wife
Phile STRICKLER
Myles T. MITCHELL
Emma GLADDUE
Jos. MITCHELL
Mrs. BREWER, 7 Rockroad
Mrs. McKOWN
Mr. WINDLEY
Mrs. KENNIE
Mr. WALMSLEY
Unknown man from St. Louis
Jos. FRANKS
Matt KEEFE
Mr. WINTERMAN
Andrew ANDERSON
Frank ROOSE
Mrs. Barbara SELTZER, 101 St. Louis Avenue
C. CARROLL, a barber
Sam SNOW, St. Louis
Mrs. BREZEY
P. J. McANN, St. Louis
John ANDERSON
Mrs. J. T. SULLIVAN
Dick ANDERSON
Mike BRUCKER
John A. HEARNE
Martin GRUB
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
John FRAWLEY
George CHAPMAN, St. Louis
Mrs. SCHINICK
Dr. NULL
Mr. VOGT
Chas. ROTHE
F. J. MURPHY, Clerk at Van.
Mr. John HAYS
Mrs. C. HAYS
F. KAHN
Frank McCORMICK
J. A. PORTER
W. J. MURRAY
Unknown man
Viola CONLEY
Mrs. STRAIGHT
John REED
Ira KENT
R. E. SUNVLORS
Mary LEE
R. E. SIMMONS
W. C. SMITH
Joe O. BROWN
Geo. ABERY
Mabel TRUMP
Dissie TRUMP
P. J. McCANN
J. HUGHES, Belleville
----- RICE
Martin BELLMAN
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
WRECKED BUILDINGS
The buildings and structures which were most seriously damaged were the:
Eads Bridge
Air Line Depot
Cairo Short Line Shops
O. & M. Round House
Vandalia Frieght Office
I. C. Round House and Freight House
M. & O. Round House
East St. Louis Elevators
City Hall
Police and Fire Station
Big Four Freight House
Strickler House
Klipfel Building
St. Mary's Church
Schroeder's Building
National Hotel
Lovingston Block
Workingmen's Bank
First National Bank
JOURNAL office
Dillon's Block
Martell House
DeWolf's Saloon
Tremont House
Hezel Mill burned
McCormick Works
Deering Works
Music Hall
Schleuter's drug store
Hinze's building
Troy Laundry
Horn's Stave Factory
Relay depot
Ortgler's Wagon Works
Flannigen's Hall
Besides these buildings, some of which were demolished, innumerable others
were leveled on St. Clair avenue and on West Broadway from the viaduct to
the river. In fact the First Ward, or Island was razed to the ground
and nothing but destruction and debris with human bodies beneath are left.
The business buildings on Broadway and Missouri avenue were all more or less
damaged some of them being demolished. On Collinsville avenue the situation
is the same. On Third and Second streets homes were levelled to the
ground, and this may be said in all that portion down town, while in the
residence portion of the city, such as Eighth street, Pennsylvania avenue,
Illinois City, no damage of consequence was done.
The Tremont house, Martell house, DeWolf house, Vandalia office, Troy laundry
and other buildings were ------ to the ground. In all the railroad
yards, cars were overturned, the buildings wrecked, and numerous lives
lost.
The approach of the Eads' bridge, on this side, was wrecked and the upper
roadway on the first span of the bridge proper was swept away. Trains
nor anything else can cross the bridge now.
All the telegraph wires, electric wires, telephone wires, and street car
wires were blown down and lie on the streets. The great wire poles
were snapped asunder all over the city and thrown on the streets or on
buildings.
Th boats on the river were blown hither and thither like feathers. The streets
are filled with wreckage, and present a woe-begone spectacle.
Even in the general wreck the JOURNAL office is the only one, in East St.
Louis, that does any printing or gets out a paper to-day.
Return To The Tornado Index Page