It was several weeks before the city began to resume a normal existence. The presence of armed men and endless piles of debris, the suspension of traffic, the grief for departed dear ones, and the sight of the many injured, all contributed to a condition of solemnity and sorrow. "The memory of the strange and awful scenes that have been presented by East St. Louis for the past three days," said one clergyman of the city, "will live in the minds of its inhabitants for years. But our people are too courageous and energetic to be deterred from repairing the physical havoc wrought." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PREVIOUS GREAT DISASTERS FLOODS Johnstown, Pa., breaking of the Conemaugh dam, May 31, 1889; 2,235 killed. Galveston, Tex., tidal wave, September 8, 1900; 9,000 killed. Mississippi Valley, May, 1912; 1,000 killed. WIND STORMS Adams County, Miss., May 7, 1840; 317 killed. Same county, June, 1842; 500 killed. Louisville, Ky., March 27, 1890; 113 killed, 200 injured; property loss, $2,500,000. Cherokee, Buena Vista and Pocahontas Counties, Iowa, July 6, 1893, 89 killed; property loss, $250,000. Little Rock, Ark., October 2, 1894; 4 killed; property loss, $500,000. Denton and Grayson Counties, Tex., May 15, 1896; 78 killed and 150 injured; property loss, $165,000. St. Louis and East St. Louis, Mo., May 27, 1896; 306 identified killed; property loss, $12,000,000. Same tornado visited many places in Missouri and Illinois, causing an additional property loss of $1,000,000. West India hurricane, September 29 and 30, 1896, covering Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York; 114 killed; property loss, $7,000,000. Eastern Michigan, May 25, 1897; 47 killed, 100 injured; property loss, $400,000. Galveston hurricane, September 8, 1900; 9,000 killed; property loss, $30,000,000; estimated wind velocity, 120 miles an hour. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII LESSONS OF THE CATACLYSM AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES NOT A VISITATION OF PUNISHMENT--THE HELPLESSNESS OF MAN BEFORE NATURE--THE KINSHIP OF HUMANITY--INCENTIVE TO ENTERPRISE--THE GREATEST LESSON--MEASURES AGAINST REPETITION OF DISASTER--UTILIZING NATURAL RESERVOIRS--PROMOTION OF FORESTRY--CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS--SECRETARY LANE'S PLAN--A PROBLEM FOR THE PANAMA ENGINEERS. With each succeeding dispatch from the districts stricken by flood and tornado it became clearer that the first impressions of the disaster, shocking as they were, fell not far beneath the dreadful reality.