The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1840-05-21
THE TORNADO AT NATCHEZ.


From The Natchez lNiss.) Free Trader Extra.
FRIDAY EVENING, MAY Sc o'clock.
About one o'clock on Thursday, the 7th inst,
the attention of the citizens of Natchez was at
tracted by an unusual and continuous roaring of
thunder to the Southwark, at which point hung
masses of black clouds, some of them station
airy, and others whirling along with under-cur-
rents, but all driving little east of north As
there was evidently much lightning, the CONT
nual roar Of growing thunder, although no
ticed and spoken or by many created no parti-
cular alarm.
The dinner bells in the large hotels had rung,
little before two O'clock and most of our citi-
zens were sitting at their tables, when, sudden
w. the atmosphere was darkened, so as to require
the lighting of candles; and, in few moments
afterwards, the rain was precipitated in tremen-
dous cataracts rather than in drops. In another
moment the tornado in all its wrath, was upon
us. The strongest buildings shook as if tossed
with an earthquake; the air was black with
whirling eddies of house walls, roofs, Chin
news, huge timbers torn from distant ruins, all
shot through the air as if thrown from mighty
catapult The atmosphere soon became lighter,
and then such an awful scene of ruin as per-
haps never before met the eye of man became
manifest. The greater part of the ruin was
effected in the short space of from three to FIVE
minutes, although the heavy sweeping tornado
nutes it was more like the explosive force of
gunpowder than any thing else it could have
been compared to. Hundreds of rooms were
burst open as sudden as if barrels of gunpow-
der had been ignited in each
| As far as glasses or the naked eve can reach
the first traces of the tornado are to be seen
from the Natchez bluff down the river about ten
miles, bearing considerably west Of south
| Sweeping across the Natchez island, it crossed
the point below the plantation Of David Barland,
Esq opposite the plantations of P. M. Lapice,
Esq in the parish of Concordia. Ii then struck
the Natchez bluff about mile and half below
the city, near the mansion called the ssBriers, y
which it but slightly injured, but swept the
mansion late of Charles B. Green, Esq called
the sBellvue,n and the ancient forest in which
| il was embosomed, into mass of ruins
| II then struck the city through its whole width
of one mile and included the entire river and the
village of Vidalia, on the Louisiana shore-mak-
ing path of the tornado more than two miles in
width At the Natchez landing on the river,
the ruin of dwellings, stores, steamboats,, flat
boats, was almost entire from the Vidalia ferry
to the Mississippi Cotton Press. A few frag-
ments of dwellings still remain, but they can
scarcely be called shelters.
In the upper city, or Natchez on the Hill.
scarcely House escaped damage or utter ruin
The Presbyterian and Methodist churches have
their towers thrown down, their roofs broken and
walls shattered. The Episcopal church is much
| injured in its roof. Parker's great Southern
Exchange is level with the dust Great damage
has been done to the City Hotel and the Man
sion House, both being unroofed, and the upper
stories broken in. The house Of Sheriff Eod
has not timber standing, and hundreds of other
dwellings are nearly in the same situation. The
courthouse at Vldalia, parish Of Concordia, is