Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1890-04-03
THE CYCLONES FURY.
Early Reports OF Thursday r,irhra
Disaster Confirmed.
is Extent Even Greater than Frs,
Accounts indieated-Fearful Loss Of
Lie, a. Ye, Nos Fully Deter
mined, At Louisviue-
Many N-t Bart~d In the D~srs.-o.n.r
fisers Suffered Severely. bs.
Louiswiii.'. Loss Ox~r~h.a
tws Them AL

LorisviLr-E- Nv. March ss.-Retweeu
eight and nine o'clock last nfrht A Tor.
nAdo struck this city from the SOUTH.
west. northeastwari. leaving death ana
destruction everywhere. Outside Of ,he
clearly defined limits the citizens knew
only OF heavy rain accompanied BY .
high wind Soon came the alarm ~
IRE from a dozen different stations and
the horror Of the calmity began 70 dawn
on the people. Great stone warehouses.
balls OF amusement. railroad stations
and dwelling houses. all went down be-
lore the mighty powers Of the air. The
storm soon passed on. the clouds scat.
tered, and the moon cast its light over
a soreiy-strieken city. Relief parties
were soon organized; the whole force OF
the nre department was at work. A,
this writing no definite statement can
be made Of the loss OF life. bat IL i
large Ii Is impossible that 50 wide a
sweep OF territory covered with ruined
houses. with wreck Of halls and build
tngs Of every character does not contain
many dead Enough is known TO show
that Louisville has been visited BY a
most appalling calamity. The wrecked
portion of the city lies between Tfgh.
teenth, Broadway. seventh and Main
streets. the destroying elements pass
ing diagonally across the section. which
Is probable a mile square. At least
TWO hundred house are in ruins. IL i
feared that At least TWO hundred lives
are lost
Probably the greatest loss % life o.
cured a. the Falls City Hall. which
was IN the ceutsr OF the tornado. In
the lower ROOMS u the ball we're aftv
or seventy-hve ehi.lren with their
mothers and Ota<r relatives taking
dancing lessons Thsre we're AZ leas,
rs persons on the lower aoors and sew
enty-hve more attending lodge meet
ing on upper fcors when the terrible
wind swooped down upan tho building.
The entire structure in less tAan five
minutes was shzpeseSs mass of brick
and mortar. burying tse hundred help
less victims Of which ntSser few es-
eaped uniniure,l- Conservative esti-
mates place the loss sx LIFE at this
point ~ one hundred. whilr other re-
ports indicate the namsex nearer two
hundred AZ thrse o'esoSS u morn
ing thirtyfve fead toJrss bal been
taken frsm this ruin. and fifteen
wounded and dying. Only those on the
third foor had been reached. the room
containing the dancing-school pupils
and visitors not yet being opened
Immediately upon the burst Of the ey-
clone the Ere bells sounded and the po-
lice were at work Within ten minutes
a posse appeared At the Falls City Hall
wreck. The walls % the adjoining
houses we're first propped. and then be-
gan the work OF cutting through the
heavy slate roof that covered all At
first work was difficult and laborious. on
account Of the immense multitude that
surrounded the wreck
At twelve O'Clock the penfng Of 4 per-
lion of the debris Of the Fails Citv Hall
caused a drau-hs 20 penetrate the ruins.
whereupcn the smouldering fire broke
cut with tremendous fercenesS Il
spread rapidly and forced the workers
to desert the pile As soon as the FIRE
gained headway the gruaus OF the i'm
prisoned people became shrieks, and 50
great was the horror OF the moment
that the watchers grew frantic and
screamed and ran about like wild, the
terrible sufterings which they were IN
able TO alleviate driving them 70 de-
spair. Several lines OF hose were soon
throwing water on the flames, but il
was more than an hour before work
could be proceeded with, and then IL was
carried on with much difficulty on ac-
count Of the heat
Up 10 twelve o'clock only about thirty
Eve dead bodies and twenty-five wound
ed and dying were taken from the
wreck The eorpses were laid in the
houses across the street and in
Dougherty & keenan's undertaking
shop on the block below. At the latter
place people passed in and out. one By
one, 70 look 1t the bodies, hunting for
friends and relatives. One man said
he was looking for Louis LaDp. and the
very first sheet lifted revealed the
corpse Of the person wanted The
man covered his face, grOaned and
would have fallen had he not been sus-
tanned
At about half-past eleven o'clock the
room where the children were dancing
was reached Mr.. Louis Simms.Jr.,O of No.
iIs4 Market street. had for hours been
moving about in agony Of grief in front
Of that portion OF the wreck, where this
room had been, for his wife and four
little children were there When the
room was reached, Mrs. Simms was the
first one found and she was fatally hurt
Then, within about fifteen minutes Of
each other. three Of the Simms children
were recovered They were unconscious,
and there Is only faint possibility OF
their living. While the father was
imploring the workers 20 get his other
child fire broke out and work was sus-
pended The last man taken out alive
before the flames started was John
Heuden Of No 200 West Broadway, and
lust previous 10 that woman. who was
unable TO give her name, was recovered
Il was not possible 20 tell the extent OF
the injuries Of either
After the IRE had been extinguished.
women were found digging at the slate
with their fingers. erazed with the
ruin beneath Every one did noble
work. After an hour Of eeaseless labor
the first victim. Mrs Sarah Kelly, was
uuearthed. Her body was found sitting
in an upright position, her head bruised
and one arm broken She said that a.
the first quake mad rush was made
FOR the entrance. Women were knocked
down and trampled upon in the mad
haste to escape. Seeing the 0verWheln-