New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-07
ATORNADO AT BATON ROUGE
TEN CoNvICrs KILLED AND OVER THIRTY
HURT.
WALLS OF THE PENITENTIARy BLOWN IN AND
f, MANY OF THE INMATES BURIED BENEATH
THE RI1Ns-BUILDINGS AND TREES IN
THE CITY THROWN DOwN-sEVERAL
NARROW EsCAPES-THE CABIN

Cstfshtoyvn and struck the hill iVst 10 'he e'o'
of John Jolnscn's house Its pain co't'''I no',,n
a northeastcTly direction, crossing NoI'" 80,
ward a hundred yards TO the east OF Ue w ~.
mansion. Il then went north sIiN''S Wv Lo,,o
tentiary building and the J. A. DouS"'i,
on North-st., and thence peEohu tn0 ,-od
The path of the tornado was three hu"'n'"
,-o,ds wide In the city no one was killed, Vlous"
soyeral persons were seriously injured Inc stare
Pcnltept;ary is partially wrecked. Ten convlc'S
were killed and thirty-Xve injured hve ol mes
6onrerouslv. The following is a list OF the deao
BUCKNER, Edward colored, Of Caddo.
CAGE. Frd.. Of ouachit1.
CALESTIN, Horny colorod, OF Orleans.
CV,NCTY Nathan colored Of East Feliciana
GIBSON John, Of Nev-oreans one OF the Mealy inur'
dcrtrs.
HARDEN. Beaurceard colorcd Of Bossier
McCLELLAND, Isaac, Of Ca!casn
VAN METER James, Of Latchitches'
wAGGONER. J. A., of Claiborne
WILLOW. Wiliam. of Orleans
The wounded are
From Ncw.Oreans oil whte-Louis Clare NJ. J. Fnne-
can Henry Mckay, james MCloc' JOHN Duny Joh
OIcary Chares Summerfeld. L. H. Durley and James
ValaIe.
Jackson Major White and william Gibson.
From other parshes-JoseTh Powell, jr, c. NJ. Young T.
B. stewart % Gus Block. A. L. Gumett D. A. Campbell
I p Boan PheliX Richards Marion Perkins, walter
DoucIass John Foley Frank Aaron, John Farland Nellie
o'Nea and Alexander Ferr all white; and Oscar Phil
nns william Perry Henry Dorson Bore Peterson Robert
Comaux Harrison Allen and William Scott colored Total
wounded, 35.
OF the number wounded about six are expected
70 die and the recovery of several others IS
extremely doubtful The total damage to the
penitcntiory buildings is estimated at $4,000
The convicts were at work in the jeans trousers
factory in the third story of the north wing, when
the storm struck the building and entirely de-
molished the second and third stories There
were Others in the hospital in the second story and
il is a wonder that any of them escaped WIN
their lives John RhOdus, one of the guards
was sitting in a third-StOry window opening 10
tbe south when he was blown out into the yard
along with bricks and other debris. He escaped
uninjured. Ex-Judge T. j. Ford was III the com
missary on the first floor when the building col
lapsed He says he got near wall ana STOOD
still muttering prayer, he felt that his hour
had come When the material quit falling he
saw an opening, and escaped on his hands ana
knees into the yard uninjured. He Immediately
went 70 work TO save and TO assist Others less
fortunate
In addition TO the north wing the cell building
was unroofed and partially destroyed Inc
women's ward was also unroofed.
There were forty prisoners at work IN the
trouss.s factory at the time of the crash' ana
Of that number six were killed and Twenty-Five
story or central floor was the hospital, where
twenty sick prisoners were undergoing medlcal
treatment of which number four were killed and
fourteen seriously if not fatally injured.
The fire alarm was sounded and the entire
Fire Department ,was summoned to the scene Oi
the disaster and, together with the citizens and
prison officials, aided by the uninjured prisoners,
worked vigorously for the rescue of the unfOrt-
unate persons who lay, some dead and others dy-
ing confined UIHer the great heaps OF debris that
were thickly strewn over every quarter OF the
premises The pitful walls and death groans
from the men buried out of sight by massive heaps
of brick and mortar could he heard from every
mart of the wreck The storm was attended by
a most violent rain, in which the rescuers worked
and toilcd for several hours, or until both TIE
living and the dead were eXtricated from the
ruins.
In the city fifty houses at least were unroOfed
or DESTROYED J. II. Young and the members OF
his family were seriously hurt by the collapse
of their house in ST. Charles-st Mrs Cotton,
son and two daughters. living in brick house
in Main-st were injured in the falling of the
building Shade trees on many of the streets
were uprooted visit u the Capitol and
other State buildings showed them to be un-
harmed by the wind The southern portion of
tho city styled Catiishtown" suffered great loss.
In that part several persons were seriously hurt
and bruised by flying timber from falling houses
and fences. The drugstore of Is. ~ Day was
completely demolished, the loss amounting to
$1,000. Several of the small grocery stores ana
small shops in this region were de
stroyed. The brickyard OF Garls, Reddy
Co. was badly damaged, but the loss
is covered by insurance, and theirs is the only
storm policy held by those who lost anything
The extent of the damage throughout the city
by this storm cannot correctly be estimated at
this time. But il can be said that this is the
greatest loss Baton Rouge has ever sustained
either from tornado fire.
The tornado did not make q straight sweep
through the city, but would strike the ground
and bound forward like a bouncing ball and
l@sS over several houses at a time, and descend
ing again, would tear its way for hundreds OF
rel The trunks Of massive o&ks were snapped
oil like pipesems. So Sudden was the storm that
number OF bread-coris, express wagons and other
VeAc.es were caught and wrecked in the streets.
Inc storm departed rs suddenly as il came
number Of narrow escapes are reported. j.
Ioungs house was razed AS il LEFT the founda-
lon ana struck the ground the chimney fell on
.iiS' Young, who had her mother in her arms.
NelShDoh rushed in and rescued the family, none
Vi "hom iec6ITtd dangerous wounds. Mrs. Jones,
Wiz 0i Dr.. Thomas ) Jones, had just entered the
gl..ifoom when four OF the raiters from Miller
SHOP c2nle lying through the air and pierced the
wall OI l1e room less than three feet above her
Ae-d Clnries Day in his fathers drugstore
Wne1 u collapsed, and, although the room wa;
turned neaIy upside down and tlmb2rS sent IN
ever direction, ne escaped with slight brIisc on
The forehead. man namel Jacob and his family
were covered by the ruins Of their house, but were
reScUed by friends
New-Orleans, July 6.-The towboat Smoky City
was caught IN the tornado at ) 80 a. m eight
niles below Baton Rouge The cabin was blown
DOWN. The ESCAPE If the crew from death was |
wgndertul in view II the fact that they were all
SSsleep and th9t the greatest possible damage was |
SSone 10 the boat by the violence OF the storm |
!" {" one was dangerously hurt. negro fireman |
Missing. None Of the officers were injured |
tes Smoky City was owned by Captain S s. |
T. Mcclure. '''"''' ~