Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-04-05
DEATH AND Ruin.
The City of Louisville, Kv..
swept by a Cyclone.
faft OF the City Wiped Out of Tx.
lStence and Many Lives 60 Out
Ill the Awful Crash of
Falling Timbers.
over One Hundred Lives Lost and
Nearly Two Thousand Buildings
Wrecked--Ths Loss of Prop
erty Over S2,5oo, ,ooo
'e"r'rehding Scenes at the Morgues and
among the Ruined Houses-Great
Damage by the Tornado In Ten
hessee, Kentucky, Indiana
and illinois.

among the Ruined Uouses-Great
Damage by the Tornado In Ten
nessee, Kentucky, Indiana
and Illinois. =
LOUISVILLE, KY, March 29.-A tor.
nado struck Louisville at 730 o'clock
Ihursday evening. 1t entered the south.
eastern portion of the city at Eighteenth
street, and swept path five blocks
wide diagonally, reaching, in ragged
line, to Seventh street, leveling every
building in its course. Probably 1000
houses were destroyed and a rough esti-
mate puts the number of people killed
at five hundred, while there are MANY
thousands injured, The city is in a
craze and the inhabitants are wildly
seeking relatives and friends. A large
force OF men is at work on thcruins. and
about 100 bodies have been recovered.
The buildings on Main street from
Eighth to Fourteenth streets arc in
ruins, not one of the handsome whole
sale houses being left standing. On
Market street, Falls City Hall, four
story building, was prostrated, while
several Masonic and Knights of Honor
lodges were in session and hundreds of
men and women are buried in the ruins.
AT the Union Depot, at the foot of
Seventh street, Chesapeake a Ohio
train was just leaving when the storm
struck the building, carrying it down on
the train. All the passengers were res
cued with but slight injuries, except
one newsboy who was badly hurt. Such
desolation no city has known during
this century and every building tree
and telegraph pole within the storm
stricken district is leyelled. The storm
came with scarcely warning sound and
the inhabitants were engaged in their
usual avocations when their homes were
destroyed. The district laid waste in
the city comprises an area three miles
long by nearly half mile wide.
The Courier-Journal says The mighty
stroke of the tornado fell with a sud
denness that scarcely gave time for
quickened heart beats before those
hearts were stilled in death. Twice be-
fore the wrenching asunder of life and
homes and castles of trade, the i'm
pulses of the gale fought impatiently to
accomplish the work reserved for the
whirling tigers of the air, whose ayant
couriers they were. Twice for five fu-
rious minutes each they stroye and
passed on, screeching their baffled rage.
Then came a lull, but only for a little
space, and then the tornado thundered
over the doomed territory with terrible
llghtnings constantly ablaze. From
Eighteenth and Maple streets, dag
onally across the city, crushing dwell
ings and business blocks like egg shells
topping down church steeplcs anl
wrenching warehouses to fragments
the dread yisitant passed to the river
front, leaving to mark the boundaries
OF ruin a broad swath of wreckage and
dead and mangled humanity, impaled
and weighted down or burning in the
ignited debris,
This belt of destruction extended from
the west side of Sixth street as far as
Ninth and Main, and an equal width
across to the point whore the city was
first touched The loss Of life and prop
erty is at present incalcuable. 1t will
roqire long days of painful search and
computation to reach proper estimate,
but it is certain that no such havoc has
ever been recorded before in an Ameri-
can city from such cause. To add To
the sudden horror of the scene, fire
came to seize upon the shapeless ruins
and consume the helpless wounded and
distigured dead. Louisville is not left
alone TO mourn this dreadful visitation.
The city of JeiTersonville, Ind, was
also invaded and many of her homes de-
stroyed, but it is thankfully reported,
with no case of death in single house
hold. @
The destruction of the waterworks
stand tower and consequently cutting
off water supply, is another matter Of
damage that must cause an Infinite deal
of inconvenience and danger to the en-
tire city, while the complete breaking
down of nearly all communication with
the outside world renders the situation
peculiarly hard.
Falls City Hall, in which two or three
secret societies were holding meetings,
was laid fiat on the ground. In the main
hall dance was in progress at the time
and it is believed that fully 800 lost
their lives in this building alone The
sheds at Seventh street depot were
blown down. covering the Louisville "
Southern trains which were made up
and iniuring large numbers of people.
Street cars we're blown from their
tracks in many cases and crushed against
the walls of buildings and large mum
ber of wounded who received their IN
iuries in this way are reported "noh
tho Are broke out in the ruinson seventh
street a man, his wife and little girl were
seen wedged under the debris ana al
though they shrioked and moaned ana
the spectators made almost herculeah
efforts to release them, it was lmpossi-
BILE and they slowly burned TO aeath IN
the presence of helpless hundreds
At noon yesterday the opening up OIL II
norton Of the debris of the Fails euy
Hall caused draught to penetrate sne
ruins, whereupon the smolder'hs lre
broke ont with tremendous iiereeness
II spread rapidlya forced the workers
| to desert the pile. As soon as the nre
gained headway, the groans OF 'no ,n', III
prisoned people became shr'eKs' anu ~
Great was the horror of the moment INA,
the watchers were frantic and screamed ,
and ran about like wild men; the terri
bic sufferings which they were unao.e ,'
10 alleviate driving them to despair
Several lines of hose were soon v'lrom wv
inc water on the flames, but 1t was more ore
than an hour before the work couiu ~ y
proceeded with, and then 1t was catr,e,' ua
on with much more diiueu''y '"a" '. ~
1 fore. on account Of the heat J.,
On 10 twelve o'clock thirtyssss ae"a ess
hodi.s and twens.avs weantsa ,&i
Svinv we're taken from the ,wreeF, apo 'po
ccrpsps we're iaid In the various pa.sN's % .
4 ACROSS the street, md In ponsa"sy y, ~
Ksenan's establishment on ,ne psos o'.', y
n,sn , 4. ~ latter place people passeVp