The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-06-02
GRAPHIC STORY
OF THE DISASTER

Gainesville, Ga, June IA tornado
Of terrific force struck Gainesville this
afternoon out Of clear sky, causing
fearful loss Of life in this city and In
New Holland and White Sulphur.
As near as can be calculated at this
hour the results are elghty-five men,
women and children dead and perhaps
forty more fatally injured, with prop
erty loss of something like 100000.
The death list Is yet imperfect, not
all the bodies having been recovered
ant identified. Many of them were
maneIed beyond recognition, the only
means of Identification being the rec
ords of the two cotton mills, in which
most of the victims worked.
The death-dealIng storm appeared
suddenly a little before o'clock and
within two minutes 1t lac killed nearly
hundred people, torn two stories from
the flve-story brick factory of the
Gainesville cotton mills, demolished
almost two hundred cottages, razed
two brick stores to the ground and
blown down innumerabIe outbulIdlngs.
BY what appears to be miracle the
tornado's fury was confined to the out
skirts Of the city, the main business
and residence portions not being
touched.
Torrents of rain accompanied the
wind, but within five minutes after Its
first onslaught the sun was shining
upon a scene of fearful desoIatIon.
The list of the dead Is confined main
ly to operatives of the Gainesville cot
ton mills and the Pacolet cotton mills,
and two-thirds of them were women
and children.
Eight Killed In Store.
The store of Joseph Logan. near the
Gainesville cotton mills, was crushed to
ruins by the wind and eight men who had
taken refuge in II were instantly killed.
The Jones' general store, met a similar
fate, and in the ruins two people, one
man and one woman, were crushed to
death. The woman was Mrs. Jones, the
wife of the proprietor
Reports from White Sulphur, seven
miles from Gainesville, are to the effect
that the storm struck there with terrific
force. killing a dozen people.
This. however, is not absolutely con-
firmed.
DIR. Smith, city physician, says he Wis
tied 100 wounded and has personal knowl-
edge of 100 dead.
The property loss at the Pacolet mills.
occasioned by the destruction of the cot
A..d Al...sl L.. kl1 At
$4,000 and the Gainesville cotton mills
are damaged to the extent of $4,000.
Physicians at Work.
The local physicians were unable to
cope with the situation and surgeons and
medical supplies have been ordered sent
from Atlanta.
A special train carrying a corps Of sur
geons and supplies arrived tonight,
making the total number of physicians
now in the city about forty.
A meeting was held here tonight to
organize a relief committee at which it
was decided to issue an appeal to the
public for funds to assist the mill op-
eratives who are thrown out of work.
Gainesville, II is statec, can take care
of those now suffering but there will
be considerable distress occasioned by
the closing down of the mills.
The physicians who have rendered SER
vice in the work OF rescue say the sights
at the mills were appalling, the victims
being crushed and mangled in every
conceivable manner.
The dead are:
Mrs. Marshall Camp and child.
Jack Murphy. aged II. son of Widow
Murphy.
Jlah Jackson.
Ethel Lyle.
Annie Garrett.
Claude Shedd
The wife and daughter Of w. B. Sloan.
a lawyer, were fatally injured.
Those Fatally Injured.
Among others reported injured are: