The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1890-04-03


ceiling fell.
The work was continued, but none O
those whom Mrs. Kelly said were neal
her could be found.
The excavation was then moved from
the rear of the building TO the front
where 1t was supposed the great crowd
was gathered. As soon as the roofing
was removed and the mass of brick be
meath, the first sight that met the eye:
was any thing but hopeful.
Ten women, locked in each others
arms, were drawn out of the debris, al
dead but one. Mr.. James Hassen
whose wife had been at the lodge meet
ing, was foremost in the work, and the
first person whom he took out of the
ruined building was his wife, who diec
in his arms. He lay her by the side o.
the others who were dead and continued
to work for the living.
Inside of the next hour thirty mer
and women were drawn out dead, but
with no wounds on their bodies, and II
is thought all met their death from suf'
location. The gas pipes had broken,
which caused the lights to go out and
saved the ruins from fire for the
time, but flooded the debris with va
por almost as deadly as the fire might
have proven. Ways were pierced into
the breast of the ruins and bodies we're
drawn out dead and dying. One part Of
the building was reserved for the dead,
but the wounded were taken into the
stores and houses on the opposite side
of the street, where physicians and
priests administered to souls and bodies.
Along against the pathway of the
storm, extending from Sixth to Tenth
streets, and from Seventh to Eleventh
not single building was left standing
Occasionally a massive stone or iron
front still stood in the air, while the en-
tire structure proper had been swept
away. This morning it presented the
most stupendous spectacle of disaster
and ruin ever witnessed, In the course
of the storm lay the prime tobacco mar
ket of the city, and to-day the ware
houses almost to the last one lay in
ruins. They include the Kentucky
Pickett's, Ninth-street, Falls City
Phoenix, Green River, Louisville, En-
terprise, Central and Planters. The
destruction of the Louisville and Ninth
street warehouses could not possibly
have been more complete. Thousands
Of hogsheads of tobacco lay in the mass
of brick and mortar, some exposed tC
view and others buried from sight be-
meath the debris.
The Louisville Hotel, between Sixth
and Seventh streets, was unroofed and
otherwise wrecked, while the building
west, occupied as a cigar store upon the
first floor, and sleeping rooms upon the
second and third, was razed entirely tc
the ground, not single brick remain
ing in place. In the destruction of this
house many lives were lost, principally
of persons who occupied sleeping rooms
there. Many of them were young girls
employed at the hotel next door.
Saloons and other available places
have been turned into hastily i'm
provised morgues, where the bodies are
taken as fast as recovered and left
awaiting Identification. Patrol wagons
are being pressed into service as dead
wagons" to convey the corpses to the
designated places.
Eleventh street seemed to serve as a
kind of flue for the storm, as all inter
cepting objects in that line are prac-
tically reduced to nothingness. AS it
rushed down this street it carried with
it the fronts of the buildings, which are
mostly residences, on each side, leaving
in many instances the furniture and
other contents unmolested. Frequently
from the center of some three-sided
dwelling the unbroken chandelier is
still swinging.
jefferson and Main streets are almost
in as bad condition as others, and wag'
ons are carting away soiled and broken
furniture from homes that were yester'
day but are to-day no longer. The
massive trees in the park on Jefferson
street have been twisted and broken
like rods, and lay crossed and piled
upon each other.
The storm district in Louisville is de-
scribed as extending from Eighteenth
to Seventh street, and from Main street
to Broadway. This includes territory
about mile square, and across this Sec
Main street is the principal wholesale
street of the city, and Market street,
one of the leading retail streets, also
lies within this district. This street is
one string of stores for a distance OF
over two miles, extending from Preston
street to Twenty-second. In nearly all
the buildings there are families resid-
ing above the stores. The business Sec
ton of the visited district runs south to
about Walnut street, and from there to
Broadway it is residence quarter, and
MANY of the finest homes in the city are
located in that place. There are also
several large churches in the district
The Union Depot is on the river bank
at the foot of Seventh street, at the
mouth of the canal, and the Louisville
bridge crosses the Ohio river at Four
teenth street. The City Hall and other
buildings are located in the quarter
where the damage was done, and the
courthouse is just outside of 1t, on JEFF
ferson, between Fifth and Sixth streets.
The Falls City Hall, which was de-
stroyed, is on the south side OF Market,
between Eleventh and Twelfth streets.
The village of Parkland, which is said
to have been laid waste, is residence
suburb, which lies at the southwest
corner of Louisville, just outside the
city limits.
Scenes Described by Eye-witnesses.
CINCINNATI, March 29.-Conductor r.
B. Holborn, Of the Louisville q Nash
Vile train which arrived at half-past
eleven o'clock yesterday morning, said