The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-26
LONG LIST OF
DEAD IN THE
GULF STATES
Half a Thousand Lives Lost in
Districts Swept by the
Tornado.
OVER ONE HUNDRED
FATALLY INJURED
TEN TIMES THAT NUMBER PAIN
FULLY HURT, PROPERTY LOSS
WILL AMOUNT TO MILLIONS.

NIS-s April Z0.-Op TO
= o'clock tonight the dead and in =
{. jured IN Fridays tornado are as =
= follows: Z:
(. Louisiana-Dead, 1Os; injured, :.
:: $50. ::
= Mississippi-Dead, 159; injured, ::
- $50. :.
:. Alabama-Dead, 81; injured, 11S. -
= GeOrgia-Dead. %; injured, 100. =
:. This makes the dead for four ::
!: states, 1923: injured, in which mi -
:: nor injuries are not included, 1,213. =
New Orleans, La, April 25.-Probably
half a thousand lives lost, hundred
or more persons fatally injured and
many times this number painfully
hurt. together with property loss
running up In the millions, is the rec
ord so far of tornado that originated
in the west two days ago. Sweeping
Texas, Arkansas. Louisiana, Tennessee,
Alabama and Georgia, ii has left a
path OF death, desolation and want in
its wake. seriously interrupted all
communication between cities in the
south, and brought about chaotic con-
ditions In the smaller towns.
Mississippi Worst Sufferer.
Mississippi, already a sufferer from
more than one tornado this year, has
again borne the brunt of the winds and
rains. Estimates of the number of
those who lost their lives in that state
place the death list near 300. with a
thousand or more injured.
IN Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and
Georgia. the death lists are also large.
with serious loss of life in Arkansas
and Tennessee. Authentic information
is in many instances lacking owing to
the crippled facilities for communica-
tiOn. and the lack OF time to form
anything like an accurate estimate of
the damage done in many sections.
Martial Law Declared.
In half a dozen communities martial
law has been declared. so terrible was
the destruction and so helpless were
the stricken people left by the disaster
Serious disorders have occurred in some
places, including Amite, La. Looting
and other crimes have been reported,
but these instances have been on the
whole rare.
Several places have issued appeals
for aid, and in Mississippi Governor
Noel has been asked to provide tents
for the homeless.
Storm Lasted Two Days.
The tornadoes lasted in ali a period
of nearly two days. 1t was Thursday
night that damage by tornadOes trav-
cling eastward was first reported from
points In Texas This was followed
during the next twenty-fOur hours by
similar reports from Arkansas, Louisi
ana. Mississippi and Tennessee. Last
night Alabama came within the flight
of the storm, and today reports of seri-
Gus damage by the winds in Georgia
have been recorded.
Wounded and Helpless.
Utter misery of every sort was found
today at Purvis, Miss, by relief par
ties. Despite the fact that of the 2,503
inhabitants which this little town
boosted yesterday morning there were
only 600 today, still there were not
sufficient accommodations in the
wrecked village for even the wounded
Negro mammies and little black chill
dren lay wounded and helpless under
the broiling southern sun. Some had
broken bones, some were partly
crushed and others had been wound
ed by sticks and splinters. These I'M
foTtunates were lucky if they had
blanket or a storm wrecked couch
upon which to rest. There was no
shelter in the town to protect them
from tie sun. and many of the walls
W IcllidlIltO ldu no IOOlSs
and By a queer freak of the tornado
many of the trees which had not been
uprooted had been snapped off a few
feet above the ground. The grove of
pines was mutilated in a manner so
that IL appeared as If a giant scythe
had swept through the grove about
twenty-five feet above the ground.
Distracted Refugees.
The greater part of Purvis' popula-
ton today were refugees in Hatties-
burg and Lumberton, Miss. about $50
of them being badly injured. OF those
who remained in town many appeared
distracted. and they told remarkable
stories of the number of their fellow
townspeople who had been killed.
Many hurried funerals We're held to-
day, and a count of the visible dead
revealed only thirtyfour, about half
of them negroes. Many negroes were
reported killed in the vicinity of Pur-
Wis.
The manner in which the tornado
Continued on Page 2.