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A JURY'S NARROW ESCAPE

It was, about 5:10 o'clock when the storm showed strength in East St Louis. The center of the tornado seemed to be between St. Clair avenue and the viaduct. Many dwelling houses in other parts of the city were de. molished, but in this district there were few buildings that escaped. A law case was being tried by Judge Foulke in the court house.

The jury had heard most of the testimony and, according to usual custom, were supposed to be allowed to depart except in custody of a bailiff. When the storm clouds began to gather. the foreman of the jury implored the judge to charge them. The court house at that time was being shaken by the wind. Every moment its destruction was threatened. Judge Foulke at length decided to let the jurymen go. Five minutes after they departed for their homes that portion of the court house in which they had been sitting was torn away.

Timbers and bricks were piled on each other, and it is barely probable that bad it not been for the forethought of Judge Foulke every juryman would have been killed. Judge Foulke himself succeeded in making his way to the Relay depot, where he was struck by a timber that was being blown through the air and badly injured.

In the confusion that prevailed his body was allowed to lie on the platform for several minutes. People were too intent on ascertaining the fate of their own loved ones to stop to identify anybody, although it might be that of one renowned in legal circles and who had spent the most of his life sitting in judgment on his fellows.

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At the hotels a panic prevailed. Women ran from one room to another, and along the corridors, screaming and seeking protection. Men who had faced almost every peril were powerless to comfort them. One glance from the window told them that the storm was one of greater force than any they had gone through or even contemplated. The strongest of them trembled and there were none who pretended they had reasonable hope of escaping alive.

It was all over in but a few minutes, but it seemed hours before the storm forced its way onward out into the fields and towards small cities and settlements, many of which were subjected to its ungovernable, inexplicable fury and murderous force.

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