The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-07-14
SWEPT BY A CYCLONE.
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN lou
ISIANAS CAPITAL CITY.

.' IoiANNS Cafi Al Vi Y.
Tho Factory and Hospital OF tho Penitsa-
tiary DemolIshcd--ren Persons Killed
and Thirty Injured--Damage in tho
CITY.
YEw ORLEANS, July CA cyclone
at Baton Rouge this morning brought
death and destruction to that city. The
steamboat Smoky City was blown to
pieces there being nothing left of her but
the hull. Several of her crew were bad
ly Injured. Two squares in the east
side of Baton Rouge were destroyed.
The cyclone passed over the lower
portion OF the town, unro ing houses,
tearing up immense trees carrying
missiles along the air for n ny blocks.
The governors mansion was directly in
the path of the hurricane, which made
clean sweep of every chimney and clear
cd the front lawn OF its large trees. The
roof of a handsome residence belonging
to Mr.. Marsh, was carried away, and
other damage done TO the place. The
boulevard is one mass Of trees that have
been torn up by the wind, and the street
is filled with pieces of house tops and
other timbers of almost every descrip-
ton.
The penltcntiary walls were blown
down and ten persons killed and thirty
wounded. The factory building was de-
molshed and the hospital of the peni-
tentiarY blown down.
What household goods have not been
carried away by the wind have been
ruined by the water. Streets aud col.
lars are Hooded, aud it is feared that
some persons have been drowned In the
lower part OF the city.
At the penitentiary the scene was a
terrible ono. Without any warning the
walls of the factory, in which 100 con-
victs were at work, were crushed in as
If they bad been mere pasteboard. The
guards were helpless, and as most of the
men at work were either killed or wound
ed, little could be done toward extricat-
ing the unfortunate victims until help
arrived from the main prison building.
To add to the horror of the situation,
the ruins caught fire from the fuanacc in
the engine room, but owing to the heavy
rain which was falling the threatened
holocaust was averted. The rescuers
went quickly to work and began the
task of eXtricating the dead and dying
from beneath the ruins. OF the force at
work when the storm struck the build
ing, it was discovered that ten had been
killed and thirty seriously injured, aud
all the others more or less bruised.
This was not the worst. The hospital
of the penitcntlary in which was lying
q number Of manned and helpless con-
victs, was leveled to the ground by
the fury of the storm. The work of res
cue from the factory building, where
larger number Of lives were in danger,
diverted attention from the unfortunates
in the hospital, and it was not until
most of the working force had been res
cued that the prison officials found time
to turn their attention to the hospital.
Here the work was even more difficult
than at the factory, owing to the weak
ness of the inmates, who were unable
even to give the rescuers an indication
of their presence in the debris by shouts.
The work therefore, proceeds but slow
| ly. Up to noon, however, it Is believed
that most of the patients have been res
cued.
The ram Is still falling in torrents and
shows no signs of abating.
The storm approached from south
western direction and swept path three
hundred feet or more In width diagon-
ally across the city, levelling everything
as it went. The southern portion of the
city, styled "Catfsh Town." suffered
great loss and damage to property. 1t
is the greatest loss Baton Rouge has
ever sustained, whether from cyclone
or fire. The total damage done will
reach several hundred thousand dollars.