"The St. Louis Cyclone" (1896)
Grand Descriptive Song and Chorus
Words by Ren. Shields, 1868-1913
Music by George Evans, 1870-1915
Arranged by Max Hoffmann

1.
In the city of St. Louis on a busy afternoon,
Just before the ev'ning shades began to fall,
The streets were filled with people who were home from toil,
No danger seemed to threaten them at all;
Each one was smiling gay as they strolled along the way,
The world to them had never looked so bright,
When a cyclone with a roar down the streets and byways tore,
Leaving sorrow and destruction there that night.

CHORUS
Many hearts are aching,
Many homes forsaken,
Many lov'd ones gone forevermore;
Wives and mothers weeping,
At the harvest death is reaping,
As it travels on its way from door to door.

2.
In a cheery little cottage on the outskirts of the town,
There a dear old gray-haired mother sat alone,
She had the supper ready and was waiting for her boy,
She knew the he would soon be coming home;
The weary hours rolled by, but alas! he never came,
Her lonely watch she kept till morning light;
She'll ne'er see him again, for the boy she watched in vain,
Like other mothers on that fatal night.

(CHORUS)

3.
When the wires flashed the tidings of the city's awful plight,
Every honest heart was touched with sympathy;
We'll all join in like brothers and will let St. Louis know
That we'll lend a helping hand from sea to sea;
We'll help with all our might to make her burden light,
And she'll find that we are with her to the end,
When her trials are all o'er and she's on her feet once more,
She will find out that *Chicago was her friend.

-----*Any city.

(CHORUS)

[Source: Box 144 Item 001 at Levy]