The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1882-05-20
THE NATCHEz TORNADO.
DUNRARTON PLANTATION
May7, 1882.

DCNRARTON PLANTATION,
May Z, 1882. 5
Editors Nutche= Democrat;
This, ii be not mistaken, is the an
niversary Of the memorable Natchez
Tornado, AZ years ago. 1t has been
blowing a gale here all day, and at this
hour 6 p. MY is so dark lam writing
by lamp light.
During the forenoon of the day refer
red to, was at my mothers residence,
Soldiers Retreat, 4 miles out of town,
bottling off a cask ofCheteaux Margaux,
I had just Imported from France. At
1880 p. M, was called to dinner, and
it became so dark the lamps had to be
lighted There was a violent wind-tre-
mendous rain-severe thunder and
lightning-and continuous roar, such
as the sea makes on the shore after a
long and heavy gale. 1t did US very
little damage in an hour or so the sun
came out, and I resumed my work.
My claret, which we had tested at
dinner, was delicious. I had corked
and scaled about one hundred bottles.
When resuming work I gave my assis-
tants quart and they, after tasting it,
threw it away, and declared it undrin-
kable. I Immediately tried it, and
found the taste of sulphur so strong I
could not swallow it. By some singu-
lar process the contents of the cask had
become saturated with sulphur and
we could not even make vinegar out
of the wine: 1t remained with that
odor and flavor in the cask three
and was finally thrown away.
That evening when tea was being
prepared it was noticed that the cistern
water was affected in the same way;
and for three months we had to discon-
tinue its use, and haul water from the
creek.
The most singular phenomenon about
your tornado was that the winds that
destroyed the city seemed to be inside,
md not outside, the houses. The
walls fell outward. Hence the COM
small loss of life. Take, for
the Agricultural Bank build
The officers and clerks had locked up
their desks and gone to dinner. When
the storm was over they returned, found
their desks burst open, the papers scat
tered about, and a large circular hole
in one of the gable ends of the build
ing, as thoagh the winds had been
chained inside and burst out and made
their escape. The bricks all lay out
side, as though pushed out by some
force within the building.
Take the case of Hon. Levin Coving-
.on, probate judge of this county. He
md his family and two friends were at
:hc dinner table, in his new and SUBJ
,tantial brick house. 1t suddenly be-
came dark, there was dreadful crash,
md when they could see they found
themselves seated at the table, the SER
vice on it uninjured, and the roof and
imbers and walls of their house lying
Ill round them outside, and nobody
lurt.
Parker's Hotel, on Canal street, a
arge three-story building fell in the
same way, and, if 1 remember, out of
'orty or fifty persons in the building
only one was found dead. There was
gentleman sick in bed. His servant
had crept under the bed and gone to
sleep, and the bed had, in some way
Or other, fallen on him and he was
while the gentleman was
The loss of life would undoubtedly
have been gleat but for this remarka-
BILE feature of the tornado-the nateri-
ais of the buildings falling outside.
Most of the citizens were at dinner
very few in the streets-and the winds
seemed to have been inside, and burst
)ut, carrying the brick, mortar and
timber with them. Yours truly,
j. T.. II. CLAIBORNE.
THE ERLANGEH SYNDICATE AND
TIE SOUTHWEST.