The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-25
Entire Business Section and 15O Dwellings Are Tom
 From Their Foundations
BODIES BURIED IN RUINS
 CANNOT BE ENUMERATED
Scores of Homeless Walk the Streets Seeking Loved Ones-Two Hun dred Gadsden and AttaIIa
 Citizens Go To Rescue.

Gadsden, April 24.-(Special.) With nine known dead and 50 or more per sons injured, many of whom it is be- lieved will die, Albertville, a city of 200o inhabitants, 25 miles northwest of this city, lays in ruins as the result of a cyclone which struck that place at o'clock this afternoon. The greatest confusion reigns and in the darkness which prevails over the stricken city friends and relatives search for the dead and injured.
 It is known that bodies lie In the ruins which have not yet been recov- cred. The storm was one of the most shocking and disasterous that ever swept over this section of the state.
 Tonight it is impossible to estimate the total number of dead as all the bodies have not been found. The list of names as learned tonight is as foi- fows: Mrs. John Decker and two children.S Mrs. William Avery Brick McCord, aged 14, son of Attorney Ed McCord MT. Sadler Mrs. Burkhart, aged TO; Young Birdsong.
 It is impossible tonight to learn the names of those who have been injured, further than that John Decker, whose wife and two children are dead, was iri- jured and e not recover. l, ? ,N si, From .ssn
 AN aol'sk is,} ana $, i Louis lpasse} If is train enich went !, the Gene of fhe disaster at 6 o'clocR tonight when the call for assistance reached the city, arrived here at 1O:15 tonight It brought several people who had been at Albertville. and ofie man who had been there through the cyclone. The details of the disaster are narrowing in the extreme The in- jured persons are being cared for in the few houses in the town which are left standing. Physicians to the num- Der of about 10, who left this city and Attalla with the relief train, are still in Albertville dressing the wounds of lose injured. Two hundred people from this city who went on the re- lief train are still there, lending all the assistance in their power.
 Details of the Storm.
 The most complete details of the storm were received here tonight when the relief train reached this city. Thomas w. Riddle a barber of this city, who was with the expedition, re- turned with the train at 10 o'clock to- night. He and other passengers gave details of the storm and the terrible havoc wrought. The entire business section of the city Is virtually wiped out As closely as can be estimated tonight 15 business houses also have been blown down. It is estimated that more than 150 dwellings have been torn from their foundations and wrecked. In the main path of the storm not a building Is left standing and the debris is scattered over wide strip of territory surrounding the place where the town was located. Bruised and bleeding, more than half a hundred of the survivors of tn storm walk the streets homeless. Dog ems of persons are unable to leave the place where they were struck down and their friends seek for them in the darkness. Up to II o'clock tonight a number of bodies were known to be under wreckage and could not be re- covered at once owing to the lack of knowledge as to their exact location. Frequently means would be h card and then the searchers would pry up the ruins and there find the mangled body of the victim.
 Many Were on Streets.
 Unsuspecting the terrible storm, many people were on the streets when the cy- clone struck. They were carried off their feet and carrid through the air only to be hurled on the ground thrown against the side of some building and ter ribly injured. Many reports are received tonight of persons being carried for long distances and left by the cyclone unin- jured. The majority of the dead and most seriously injured met their fate while in their homes.
 Perhaps the ssddest deaths are those of Mrs. John Decker and her two small children. The Decker home is on the north side of the town. At the time the storm struck Mrs Decker. together with her husband and two children, was in the house Suddenly the building was raised ] from it's foundations and carried into the air. It was dashed to the ground several yards away, and in the crash the woman and her children were killed outright. MT. Decker was lodged in the wreckage and was terribly injured. He was picked up half an hour after the storm and physi- clans WnO attelueu nun ,ohiehl say He cannot live. He was merchant of the town.
 Followed By Downpour.
 Immediately after the cyclone, and while the city was in the greatest disorder. rain commenced falling in torrents. Situated as it is on a level plot of ground, it was but few minutes until the ground was covered with several inches of water It seemed as though a cloudburst had fol- lowed fin the path of the wind Persons who tried to go to the rescue of the in- jured were driven back by the falling ~~~>~~~>>>~~>>>~~~~~-
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