The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-20
ATHENS SUFFERS FROM
 FURY OF THE WHIRLWIND
Track of Tempest Leaves Swath
 a Half Mile Wide.
Demolfshes Houses and Carries Away Property, Leaving People Home- less and without Shelter --Great Damage in
 Other Sections.

Gadsden, Nov. s.--(special)-A cy- clone. cutting path half mile wide. struck the little town of Henneger in DeKalb County, Sunday morning at daybreak and carried death and ruin fin it's path. the town being completely wrecked. Not building was left standing. according to reliable reports received here.
 The cyclone started near the home of Rev. R. l.. Wilson, about half a mile from the town, and completely demol- ished his barn and other outbuildings. killing a pair of mules and other live stock. The Wilson home was just out of the path of the storm, and was un- injured.
 At Henneger the stores of Kirby Brothers and l. B. Breel, and the Rural Drug and Dry Goods Company and the drug store of pr. E. R. Smith, togeth- CT with the Methodist Church and high school building were twisted into a mass of ruins. Every dwelling and outhouse in the town is reported de- stroyed, and 1t is considered miracle that no one was killed, as most of the people were in their homes asleep and had no warning of the storms ap- proach
 No reports from the country districts have been received, but 1t is feared the loss will amount to thousands of dol- Jars. as the storm is one of the most violent that has ever Visited that por- tion of the State.
 Henneger is twelve miles from the nearest railroad station, and 1t has been impossible to obtain further de- tails of the storm here. The town is located on one of the highest parts of Sand Mountain. and is six miles from the eastern brow and twelve miles from Valley Head on the Alabama Great Southern Railway.
 Rev. Ira Hawkins presiding elder of the Gadsden District, Nof this city. who was at Henneger during the fear ful cyclone at that place Sunday morning, arrived here at o'clock to- night. He says words can hardly de- scribe the scene of ruin and destruc- tion wrought by the terrible cloud.
 Stores and houses were reduced. to splinters, and families were blown from their beds and hurled into the streets, while everything they posses sed was carried and scattered for miles in the whlriing mass. Fifteen build ings were wrecked, and the four stores had their contents scattered about pronniscuously, and are a total loss.
 The path cut by the storm was about one-fourth of a mile wide. The cloud approached from the southeast and swept three and half miles north and perhaps further. A farmer coming this distance said every farm house, fenca and tree was blown flat, and dead an- imals and fowls were to be seen every where.
 Rev. Hawkins, who was occupying the parsonage, states he was awakened about o'clock Sunday morning. The entire atmosphere seemed to be a living mass of fire. The house began to shake and twist. and finally the roof blew off.
 The storm lasted only about a min- ute, and the scene following, he states, was indescribable. The people gather ed under the parts of their homes that were left and waited for day. light to come, and then sought shelter in neighboring homes Mir. Hawkins says the cyclone as 1t left the little town, resembled an immense ball of fire. and the noise sounded like d mighty roar that could be heard for several minutes after 1t had passed.
 He says that the citizens of the little town held a mass meeting and offered a thanksgiving service. thank ing God that their lives had been spared. They appointed committees to assist the needy and to provide shelter for the homeless. They have sent out an appeal to all outside places for help and anything in the way of food or clothing will be thankfully receiv ed. This is the first storm of this kind that has visited this part of the State in many years, and the most de structive in the memory of the oldest citizens