The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1890-04-03
THE FELL MESSAGE OF
Death and Destruction !
The Terrible Record of Fire,
Wind and Water.
Thousands Of Unprepared Souls
Hurled into Eternity and Millions
Of Property Wrecked into
Worthless Debris

\ disaster without parallel, one
one before which the JohnstOWn hor-
ror pale into i..-ignficanCe, i re-
ported from the blightcd track of
che terrible cyclone that swept thro'
the flooded Ohio Valley OH last
Thursday. The storm started il The
Rocky Mountains Wednesday morn
ing and travelled northeast at the
rate Of from 10 TO 90 miles per hour.
The storm was accompanied by two
cyclones or tornadOes, one passing
just south OF St. Louisville and IN
dianapoli7, the other just south Of
Cairo HH.), over Bowling Green,
through Louisville ON to near Cincin-
natl. 1t was this latter cyclone that
wrought the indescribablo damage,
completely destroying the following
towns:
Bowling Green, Ky, pop. 9TH
Nashville, ILL.,, population 1910
Metropolis, H., population 3,CGs
and doing terrible injury to life and
property III
Carlo, H., population DOLL
C@rbondale, H., population, 1861
COultcrsVille, H., pop. 800
Louisville, KY pop. 1913, 1913
The greatest damage to life and
property has been at Louisville, Ky.
Twenty-Five hundred buildings were
destroyed, many hundred ersons
persisted and thousands wcrcinj ured.
The New York Star says:
The cyclone passed directly thror
the heart of the city. For six blocks
wide, scarcely isa building left stand
ing. On Market, Main, Jefferson
and Walnut streets more than four
hundred business houses were level
ed. A large force Of men have been
at work all day on the ruins search
ing for the dead and dying. Not one
of the handsome Wholesale houses
on Main street, from Eighth to Four
tn streets, remain, but on Mar
ket street, where Falls City Hal
stands, the most narrowing scenes
were witnessed.
SCORES KILLED AT FESTIVITIES.
The building was four stories high
of stone, brick and iron. twas there
the greatest loss Of life probably Oc-
cured. In the lower rooms OF the
hall were at least one hundred and
fifty persons. They Included fifty
or sHventy-fivo children, with their
parents and relatives, taking dane
ing lessons. On an upper floor of
the hall were about one hundred
more persons, attending a lodge
meeting. The entire structure in less
than five minutes was It shapeless
mass Of brick and mortar, burying
200 helpless victims, of hich mum
Der few escaped uninjured. Couser-
Vative estimates place the loss Of life
at 100, while other reports indicate
the number near CT two hundred.
The Co urier-J Journal, in an extra.
says: The mighty stroke Of the tor
nado tel with a suddenness that
scarcely gave time for quickened
heartbeats before those hearts were
stilied in death. Twice before the
Wrenching asunder OF life and homes
and castles of trade the impulse of
the gale fought impatiently to ac-
cOmpIish the work reserved for the
whirling tiger ofthe air, whose avant
couriers they were. Twice, for five
furious minutes each, they strove,
and passed on screeching in their
batlled rage. Then came lull, but
only for little space, and then the
tornado flew over the doomed terri
tory, with terrible lightning5, from
Eighteenth and Maple streets, dag
onaliy across the city, crushing dwell
ings and business blocks like egg
shells, topping down church steeples
and Wrenching warehouses to frag-
ments, the dread visitant passed. to
the river front, leaving, to mark tn e
boundaries Of ruin, a broad swath Of
WrCckage and dead and mangIed u
mainly impaled and weighted down
or burning in the ignIted debris.