The record-union., 1898-01-13
Two Score Of People Killed,
and Many Others Injured.
Upward of a Million Dollars Worth
Of Property Destroyed.
Flames Break Out in the Wrecked Build
ingS, Adding Victims to the Death
List Caused by the Fear
full Storm.

FORT SMITH (Ark.). Jan. 1.-TWO
score of human lives and upwards of
$1,000 600 worth of property were de-
stroyed by a terrible tornado which
burst upon this city a few minutes past
II O'Clock last night The storm struck
near the National Cemetery, and tore
its way through the entire city. leav-
ing its path marked by death and
desolation. Men, women and children,
peacefully asleep in their homes, were
without a moments warning awakened
to meet a horrible death in the fearful
storm. while others, momentarily more
fortunate, who escaped the furies of the
wind, met far worse fate few min
utes later in the flames which soon en-
quilted many of the wrecked buildings.
Fort Smith lies at the confluence of
the Pitou and Arkansas Rivers. which
wash its south and west Sides and to
the north and east are hills which form
a barrier about that section of the
town. The storm struck the city in the
southwestern section, right at point
where the two rivers come together,
and near the old fort. From there it
spread over the whole city, up and
down. and scattering destruction here
and there. There is a rise in the city
toward the east to meet the hills on
that side. and most of the damage to
property and loss of life was through
that section.
A heavy rain followed the terrible
tornado, and it was probably twenty
minutes before the city awoke to the
fact that it had been visited by ca
lamity. The fire department was
called out, and in less than thirty min
utes from the arrival Of the tornado
the streets were crowded with people,
and willing hands We're ready to render
all the aid that the emergency re-
quired. Men and women clad in their
night clothes were seeking shelter and
calling for absent members of the fam
lily or friends who failed to escape from
the wreck of the buildings in which
they had been living. Men, women
and children sought refuge in O'Keefe's
saloon, and were afforded shelter. In
the back part of the saloon number
Of injured were stretched on the floor,
with only their night clothes to pro-
tect them from the chilly midnight air.
Miss Wood. one Of the nurses of the
St. John Hospital, did all that could
be done to relieve the immediate wants
Of the injured in the rear of O'Keefe's
saloon.
The drug stores We're crowded, and
the clerks We're kept busy filling pre-
scriptions and otherwise doing their
share towards relieving the sufferers.
The telephone wires We're nearly all
down, and it was impossible to COM
municate with any distant point in the
outskirts of the city. The streets were
so filed with the debris blown from
the wrecked buildings that it was with
difficulty that carriages could get
around.
The scene Is one OF the most appall-
ing and destructive ever witnessed I'm
the history Of the city, and is without
a parallel in this section of the South
west.
The list of dead and injured, as far
as can be ascertained, is as follows:
The known dead: Silas Mincer, a
prominent young merchant; Harvey
Ruttledge. a negro; Mary Zimmerman:
two unknown men from the Burgess
Hotel Joe Griswold tailor: John
Martin Of Madison County: J. b. Riley
of Madison County; George Crater. fire.
man at Grand Opera house; Mrs. MI,
Burgess. proprietress Of the Burgess
House: two unknown men. died at st.
Johns Hospital: J. NJ. Foutz, a farmer;
Joe Kyle, a farmer. two Lefevre boys:
Nit Knapton. Jr.: Mrs. Milt Knapton
Frank Lefevre: Ed FeITin. a
butcher. and his two little children.
Irene and Roy: Frank Richardson,
restaurant keeper; John Adams. a car
nenfer: Mrs. Charles Mauver; - Rit-
ter. a gardener, Mrs. VIII Lamson,