The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1903-06-04
IA TORNADO At GAINESVILLE "a.
Two HUNDRED BUILDINGS n auin.
IS MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILL
60 10 THE WRECK
The Greatest Loss OF Life Wa. ~ the
Cotton Mills W here Many Were Re-
ported Killed severe storm In
Other sections Of the state


: ported Killed severe storm tn
Other sections Of the state
Gainesville, Ga, June IA tor
nGdo Of terrific farce struck Gaines
vile this afternoon out Of clear
sky, causing fearful loss of life In
this city and New Holland and
White sulphur. AS near as can be
calculated at this hour the results OF
SIS men, women and children dead,
and perhaps SO more fatally injure
with property loss of something
like 100000. The death list is
yet imperfect, not all the bodies
having been recovered and identi-
fed. Many of them were mangled
hey ond recognition, the only means
of Identification being the records of
the two cotton mills In which most
of the victims worked. The death
dealing storm appeared suddenly a
little before / O'Clock, aud within
two minutes it had killed nearly q
hundred persons, torn two stories
from the five-foor brick factory of
the Gainesville cotton mills, de-
molished two hundred cottages,
razed two brick stores to the ground
and blew down innumerable out
buildings. By what appears to be
miracle tina tornado's fury was
confined to the outskirts of the city,
the main business and residence
portion not being touched. Tor
rents of rain accompanied the winde,
ut within five minutes after its
ii tst onslaught, the sun WIS shining
upon a scene Of fearful desolation.
Unconfirmed reports from White
sulphur, seven miles from Gaines
vile, say that about twelve persons
were killed there. Their names are
aot yet obtainable and hopes are ex-
pressed that this report is unfounded.
The furious wind next descended
on the plant of the Pacolet cotton
mills at New Holland, two miles
from the Southern station. This is
one Of the largest cotton mills in
the South, employing more than
800 hands The storm spared the
Ps4colet factory but entirely de-
molished a hundred of it's cottages
s. sanding nearby and tenanted by
ITS operatives. Here the fatalities
We're greatest, upwards of 80 persons
being buried in the ruins of the
,itages. Bodies were blown hun
dreds of yards and many of them
"h' picked up bore no semblance
to humanity. The trunk of one
young boy was found with the head
dtcapitated as if by the guillotine.
From New Holland the tornado
swept o ward to the east in the
direction Of White Sulphur, town
of about one hundred persons. The
extent of its destruction there can
not now be definitely told, but re-
ports so far received indicate con-
siderable l,ss of life.
The bodies of most of the dead in
the two cotton mills were fearfully
torn and mangled; the skulls of
many Of them were crushed and
the limbs broken; some were torn
and crushed about the abdomen
with tAe viscera visibly protruding.
The locol physicians who gave first
aid to the injured, say the sights
were horrible beyond description.
The death list IS expected to be of
much greater magnitude by morn
ing as nearly thirty are believed to
be hurt beyond hope of recovery.
Gainesville has only. twelve local
physicians and their services were
found to be entirely inadequate to
,he situation. Surgeons came in
tonight, however, from Atlanta
md several other points so that the
number in the city now is forty
md all possible care and attention
s being given the injured people.
The property loss, it is now esti- {
mated, will reach about 100000. |,