The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1883-04-28

gard and blew with considerable fury
for some time. About 2 O'Clock, how
ever, il died away, and the people of
the little town, who had been alarmed
at the fury of the gale, became reassur-
ed, satisfied that the danger was over.
About o'clock, however, the western
horizon was darkened by a murky
cloud which rapidly rolled up, getting
blacker as it advanced on the sky, and
a moaning and signing came with it.
Suddenly the black pail seemed to fall
from the heavens, and it belched forth
lightning and roared, and came rolling
across the earth with the sound of
A MIGHTY BATTALION OF ARTII.-
LERY.
Darkness settled down upon the world,
and it was as if the last day had come.
Many people in Beauregard saw the
black wind coming, for its roaring and
moaning had brought them to the
doors of their houses and stores. Those
people who did see it describe it as like
mass of black smoke, filled with
flames, rolling along the earth, while
high above it was tossed trees and
boards and bricks. The smoke seemed
W w III ~ pdSSCA uOuSSo auu
trees and people and scarcely seemed
to move them, but in the vortex which
was behind it everything went down.
1t was about a minute in reaching
Beauregard and three seconds in pass
ing over it, and when it went by
THE TOWN WAS NO MORE.
The path of a cyclone has often been
described as the sweep of a big scythe,
but the way this one went it looked as
if mammoth roller had been drawn
along its course. Houses and trees
were beaten down fiat and ground into
dust and splinters. The roar of the
cyclone was followed by the cries of
fear and the walls of anguish of those
who were buried beneath the ruins of
buildings. A deluge followed the
blow. The rain came down in sheets,
and bitches and cutters became raging
rivers. Mr.. F. NJ. Thompson, the
mayor of Beauregard, stated to The
Times-Democrat correspondent that
when he came to himself he actually
feared that he and his family would be
drowned, not by the water on the
earth, for his house was on high spot,
but by the water fell from heaven. The
darkness of night followed so closely
on the darkness of the cyclone that it
was impossible to realize the terrible
destruction, but this mornings sun
laid bare
A SCENE OF DE:SOLATION
which cannot be described. The
cyclone was about 300 yards in width,
and everything in its path went down.
There were 81 dwellings and - stores,
two churches, school-house, Ma
sonic hall and u number of cabins in
the town of Beauregard or its suburbs,
and they were razed. Martin Moody,
a prominent merchant, was found close
by tree, with his face buried in his
hands, unconscious and dangerously
injured. His wife was a hundred
yards of, also unconscious, and pain
fully but not dangerously injured.
They were out walking together when
the cyclone came, and, noting its ap-
proach, they sought refuge in a box
car, in which seven negroes were en-
gagged in playing cards. The car was
lifted from the track aud thrown a
hundred yards. Three Of the negroes
were killed, the others escaped un-
hurt, and Mr.. Moody and his wife
We're injured rs stated. Mr.. Moody is
better tonight, and hopes are now en-.
tertained of his recovery. DR.. Lamp
kins' residence is in the centre Of the
town, and when he
EMERGED FROM THE RUINS
he found his wife painfully wounded
and his little boy seriously injured.
They had been blown completely out
of the house and carried several
hundred feet, and in and on the porch
of his house were John S. Terrell, DIR.
Jones, his wife and two children,
little boys, all dead. One little fellow
of all the happy family or DIR. Jones is
Ieft--s little boy who had gone riding
with friend of his father short time
before the storm.
Mr.. George Holloway and Mr.. j.
Westerfield, together, sought refuge in
a deep gully. Mr.. Westerfield states
that when the cyclone came he was
struck by some flying timber and was
rendered unconscious. At the same
moment he heard groan from Mr..
Holloway. Mr.. Holloway was also
struck by the flying timbers, aud so
badly injured that he died tonight.
Mr.. Will Parker and his wife and
son, IL years old, were
BURIED BENEATH THE RUINS
of there home, and to-day Mr.. Parker