The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1903-06-11
AWFUL WORK OF TIE TORNADO
Fuller Details of the Havoc Wrought
At Gainesville, Georgia.

Gainesville, Ca, Specialize 5000
inhabitants of this city have begun
to realize the extent of the appalling
disaster Of Monday. 1t now seems GER
tain that the death list will not be
much short Of 100; perhaps somewhat
over a hundred, considering the num-
Der OF dangerously wounded whose
chances for recovery cannot now be
calculated. But through all the gloom
and desolation that surround the two
like a pail Of darkness there radiates
& beam Of hope and encouragement
hope that the death list may not be 50
numerous as reported and that encour-
agement to those who are SO bravely
and devotedlS assisting the work Of re-
lief. The storyN2f the storms work Of
desolation has already been told. All
that remains is the compilation Of an
accurate list Of the dead and the chron-
icing Of the burial Of the victims.
Figuring from all available sources
and giving credence only to those re-
ports which are believed to be trust
worthy, the GLOWING is a summary OF
the effects Of the tornado in Gainesville
and it's environments: One. hundred
killed; $50 injured, of whom probably
~ will die; eight hundred homeless.
their residences having been wiped out
Of existence; property loss Of Sabout
half a million dollars, zone Of which
was covered by storm insurance.
A concise and accurate statement OF
the casualties cannot be rendered Aor
several days. but the physicians in at
tendance believed that 1t will not 90
above 100, although 25 or 80 are desi
perately injured and may die withinl
the next two or three days. The deathA
list so far compiled includes 80 at the I
Pacolet Cotton Mills at New Holland
all Of whom were killed in the demoli-
ton Of the company's cottages, and SO.
at the Gainesville Cotton Mills, near
the Southern Railway station, where
the tornado first struck.
The entire pathway Of the storm, ex-
tending two miles from the Gainesville
Mills, around the outskirts Of the city
to the Pacolet Mills at New Holland.
is a mass OF ruins. but fortunately the
cottages in the train Of the tornado be-
tween the Southern station and New
Holland were those OF negroes. who
were all absent from the city yesterday
IN attendance upon a colored execur-
sion. Bus;ne.S is almost entirely sus-
pended throughout the city, the atten-
ton OF everybody being given to the
care Of the wounded and suffering.
There Is no lack Of medical attention,
many surgeons being present from At
lanta and other cities. There is great
need, however. of clothing, antiseptics
I'D 1tho, ,,oJino1 c,nr1ioc Tho 1nnoI
militia have been called out for po-
lice duty. The city is very orderly and
quiet and only a few instances Of pill
laying have been reported.
The work OF the tornado vas COM
p!ete. From the factory where 1t first
descended, upon the doomed city to the
hills beyond New Holland, where 1t
.ose into the upper air, the destruction
Of property is appalling. Along this en-
tire course, for a distance Ut two miles
there is not a fence standing, not q
habitable house, most OF the latter be
ing reduced to strips like laths and
scarcely a tree left.
At New Holland the storm did its
worst. Nothing but the barren red hills
Are left there to tell the story OF the
awful disaster. For a distance Of three
quarters of a mile on the hillsides and
in valley to the left of the Pacoler
Mills the ground is covered almost en-
.irely by the fragments Of the $50
houses that were there when the twist
ing tornado swept down. Standing on
the hilltop nearest the city Of Gaines
Vile, and looking northeast, a strip or
perfectly smooth swept territory IS pre-
sented to the eye Of the observer and E.
the entire vista is paved with the
wreckage Of destroyed homes.