The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-03-08
CUT DEADLY SWATH
A Terrific Cyclone Swoops
Down Upon Meridian.
TWENTY-FOUR ARE DEAD.
..
Many Large Buildings in Center OF
City DemoIished-Work Of Rescue
and Rebuilding Quickly Put
Under Way.

The revised list OF dead and injured
as the result of the tornado which
swept through Meridian, Miss, shows
a total Of twenty-four dead and forty
six injured, a number OF whom are
not expected to live No additional
deaths had been reported since Sat
Grday night.
The property loss has been semi
officially reported at S1,250,O00, the es-
t1Inated destruction OF residences
alone being placed at s5c0,00o, prac-
tically all in the Lindsey Hill section
Of the east end and Georgetown. OF
the sufferers from the tornado, only
FIVE carried tornado insurance, amoun-
ting to $4,000.
Seven companies of state militia
are still on guard and enforcing work
by idle negroes, one hundred being
put to work removing the debris.
Work of relief was continued all
day Saturday, and hundreds of me-
cnanics are ready to begin the work
Of rebuilding.
Authentic reports received FROM
Macon, Marion and Meehan Junction,
al of which were. reported destroyed,
state that there were no fatalities at,
either place. Meehan Junction es-s
capped entirely, the destruction OF the
commissary being traceable to other
causes.
No fatalities occurred other than
those in and around Meridian.
The general relief committee de-
;ided to accept the voluntary contrt-
buttons from other points, but stated
positively Meridian was not seeking
outside aid.
Many sensational reports were sent
cut o; an appalling loss of life, due
probably to the chaotic condition OF
affairs Immediately following the vis-;,
itation of the storm, but after a care
full canvass of the situation, the fore
going figures appear to be complete
A mass meeting of citizens Of Me-.
ridian was called Saturday, and SS..s
eco was immediately subscribed to aid
the destitute and injured. The Mis-
sissippi legislature, in session at
Jackson, appropriated $4,000 to the re-
lief fund.
Governor Vardaman at noon secur-
ed a special train, and loading It
with convicts from the Rankin coun-s
ty farm, dispatched it at once to Me-
1idian. The city now enjoys the
unique spectacle of state convicts
a1ding in the rescue work.
The tornado which played such
frightful havoc appeared in the south
west at 6:27 o'clock Friday evening
A low, funnel-shaped cloud was seem
to form near the city. A heavy
downpour of rain had been falling
when suddenly the humidity became
intense. With roar that could be
heard a great distance the storm ap-
preached from the southwest and de-
scended upon the city. @
First Reports Exaggerated.
Details of the cyclone as first sent
out were as follows:
Information reached Mobile, Ala..
Saturday morning at two o'clock
by telephone, all telegraph
wires being down, that a destructive
tornado visited Meridian, Miss, at
e:3O o'clock Friday evening, killing
twenty-one white persons and over q.
hundred colored people and damaging:
property to the extept Of $1,5oo,0oo.
Two large wholesale stores, several
smaller ones, parts Of the principal
hotel, the electric lighting plant and
all the small property between the
Mobile and Ohio railroad and the bust-
ness part of the city were badly dam
aged.
Twenty men were caught in one res
taurant and several were killed. Two
stories of the Young Mems Christian
Association building were wrecked
and other buildings suffered In the
upper stories.