Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-10-07
THE CYCLONE.
Destruction In and ABouf AahpeEt, aud
on the Road 70 Ripley.
Graphic PIefure Of the wreck aud Ruin
Names Of Persons Injured.

A correspondent Of the Ripley NeaCJ
| Of Thursday says. "Going from Ripley
to AshpOrt, we o reached the STEEP
declivity known as the Bluff. Picking
our way down the rough road, washed
into deep gullies by the recent rains, We
slowly descended into the dreaTy shades
Of the bottom. The devious path, mis-
called a road, led Us through gloomy for
ests whose silent ohscurity inspired a
feeling somewhat akin to awe, as we qui-
city rode on for miles this quiet Sabbath
morning. Giving sereign TO fancy, we
scarcely noticed the number OF broken
branches lying across and on each side
[ of the path, until the way WIS COM
pleteEy INSTRUCTED by fallen timber. We
had now arrived at the eastern confines
OF the terrible tornado, which about
one o'clock the preceding day had pass
ed through this section of the county.
Before us for about three-quarters OF q
mile lay 8 confused mass of fallen tim
Der, crossed and Piled in every direction.
Let the reader imagine himself sur
rounded by these mOnarchs of the forest
whose lofty branches, waving in heav-
EMS sunlight, had stood for ages the
mute monuments of creative skill. See
them whirling their tall heads round
and round, from side to side, as they
grapple with the terrible cyclone, until
shivered at the base, or torn up at the
roots, yielding TO the irresistible power,
they fall with deafening crash. In the
central part of the hurricane not a tree
was left standing.
"At Ashport lighthouses were blown
down. Some Of them were completely
demolished, not so much, even, as the
blocks upon which the houses rested re-
manning. Several persons were consid-
erably- bruised, but none fatally injured.
A gentleman from Hale's Point learned
from a passenger on q boat that one
third of Osceola, comprising the upper
part of the town, was completely de-
strOyed. Twenty persons were missing;
a few killed and several crippled. 1t is
reported that a party of about thirty
men went out from Osceola toward
Sandy Bayou TO ascertain the damage
in that direction. They reported that
as far as they went every house was
swept away, and not a single person
was found to tell the tale Of disaster.
From 0sceola the monster DESTROYER
sped on the wings Of fury across the
river, to Drivers place. Upsetting
a few houses and killing n
negro, it comes on by the Emory
place in a direction a little east Of
north, to James JOhnson's, LAYING
PROSTATE a few more houses and all the
timber in its course. Reaching Ashport,
then running a little more to the east,
striking the Bluff a little east of Joe
Pearson's, %unroofing one room of Jack
CARROTS dwelling, and tearing down
fences and a few Outbuildings, il seems
to have been satisfied with its work of
ruin, for we cannot trace il any further.
A gentleman at AshpOrt states that he
distinctly saw the hurricane approach
ing at some distance; he could distin-
guish logs, chunks, broken branches,
and debris of various kinds in the air.
All at once he experienced a terrible
shock, accompanied by a tremendous
roaring, crashing, deafening sound, and
became Immediately oblivious to all
sensations. When consciousness was
restored, he found himself covered up
by boards, about thirty yards from
where his house formerly stood, his wife
and children lying scattered around
him, but nom of them severely injured.
One man is reported to have seen a wo-
man in mid-air, about as high a. the
Jree-tOpS, coming nom the direction
of Arkansas, and going east with
unenviable speed. The amount
of damage in the destruction OF
houses, crops and stock, though great,
cannot as yet be a~scertained. The
cheerful self-possession with which the
people. of Ashport survey the scene of
their disaster is a Understandable. They
seem to think it better to rejoice over
what is left Of them, than to repine at
which energy and industry will
repair. This is an excellent OPP
pOrtuDity for kind-hearted people TO
show their neighborly feeling by assist
ing the unfortunate people to rebuild
their homes.
The houses blown down at Ashport
belonged TO Mrs. Partee and Messrs.
John Conner, Jones Meadows, Henley
and Evans. Among the wounded were
Jones Meadows, quite seriously, John
Conner, with two of his children, Mrs.
Meadows, Mrs. Partee, and Messrs. Ey-
ans and Henley, slightly. We learn
that a party offorty men have gonefrom
he Bluff to help the citizens of Ashport