The Portland daily press., 1893-04-21

cAAo Anssly Atahc--DES SLtstuoE anu
Thirty Men Among tine Missing.
MERIDIAN, Miss, April 20.--A cyclone
struck Pachuta, Miss, a small town on
the Queen aud Crescent Railroad, 26
miles south of Meridian. at 7 o'clock last
night. Great damage was done to prop
erty, and It is reported that several lives
have been lost.
The same tornado struck De Soto, a
town of 500 inhabitants, on the Mobile G.
Ohio Railroad, Is miles east of Pachuta,
ten minutes later. The extent of the
damage at De Sofa is not known, but it
is reported to be very great. All wires
south of Meridian are down, and it is i'm
possible to secure particulars now.
Passengers on the train which reached
here at1 O'clock this morning gave par
ticulars of frightful tornado that cross
ed Jasper and Clark counties yesterday
afternoon. The cyclone originated in
Jasper county, 35 miles south of here,
and travelled in a northwesterly direction.
A settlement of negro cabins was de-
stroyed and many of the unfortunates
perished. Colonel Berry's plantation
was swept clean, but fortunately none of
his family were injured Several negros
We're badly hurt. From this point to
Barnett, thirty miles south of here. the
storm was especially severe. DIR. T. j.
Krouse, one of the largest plantation
owners in the South, was heavy loser.
Every stick of timber on his place was
carried away and every house demol-
ished. DR.. Kronse was badly injured.
His son had his skull crushed and his
wife and daughter were slightly hurt A
negro on DR.. Krouses s plantation, named
German, with his wife and nine children,
were imprisoned under the ruins of his
cabin, and fire originating from the
kitchen stove slowly roasted the unfortu-
nate people, who begged piteously that
death might come and release them from
their sufferings.
Other negro inmates of cabins on the
place were shaken and bruised, but no
other casualties are reported. Three
miles east of Barnett the wind struck a
neighborhood ef farms Tom Lot he'd
bsth legs broken and other members Of
the family were slightly bruised. Their
house was swept away, John Smith S
house was leveled, and he received seri-
Gus injuries. Frank McCormick's tur-
pentine still was ruined. B. f. Leggett' S
store was destroyed, and his stock of
merchandise is now hanging in shreds
upon the branches of the forest trees.
Leggett's wife and children were caught
in the ruins, which caught fire, and
would have perished but for the timely
arrival of neighbors. A little further
three negro cabins were struck. Two
negroes were killed and several badly
wounded.
Twenty miles east of Barnett the storm
| crossen the Memphis and Ohio railroad
| track, tearing down three miles of tele-
graph wire and obstructing the track
The telegraph poles and wires for dis
tance of five miles along the track of the
New Orleans and Northeastern railroad
are down.
| Crossing the Memphis and Ohio tracks
north of Sluberta the storm created the
| greatest havoc among the negro cabins
on the different plantations. Reports of
| the damage are coming in slowly, but
| such as are received indicate an awfal
loss of life and property. All along the
| thirty miles of the cyclones path are
strewn the carcasses of horses, cattle and
all description of live stock, while crops
are ruined. The loss will reach into the
| hundreds of thousands of dollars
The latest advices say forty people
were killed and two injured.