Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1908-05-01
STORM VICTIMS $50
DEATH LIST IN THE SOUTH HAS
GROWN RAPIDLY.
BADLY INJURED ARE 1900
Serious Wreckase Reported from
Forty.Six ToWns-Storm Moved
In Three Currents-Relief
for Sufferers.

New Orleans.-The totals of death.
misery and ruin caused In four south
ern states by Fridays tornadoes have
come to hand in approximately cor
rect form. Briefly stated they are:
Killed, about $50; injured, painfully
or seriously, 1900; homeless. severa
thousand. Towns reporting serious
wreckage, 46: habitations and bust
ness houses practically complets
ruins in these towns. about 1850.
Tho above figures do not include the
wreckage on plantations and farms
scores of which were struck and dam.
aged. ..h
The number Of dead may never be
known accurately for the reason that
about 800 of them were negroes and
they were buried in many commune.
ties without careful records being
made Of their numbers.
Course of the Tornadoes.
BY following the wreckage Of towns
the general direction CT the tornadoes
can be traced closely. Apparently the
storm struck in three separate cur
rents, each describing the arc OF
circle and travelling toward the north
east The first of these struck through
northern Louisiana. Mississippi and
Tennessee before daylight Friday
morning. The second appeared fur
Their south about seven O'Clock in
Louisiana and Mississippi. The third
portion of the storm appeared Friday
afternoon, further south than either OF
its predecessors. This was the storm
which demolished Amite. La, and
Purvis, Miss, the towns in which the
wreckuge was worst.
Why the fatalities were so unusual
ly large is apparent from glance at
the photographs which have arrived
here from many. portions of the tor
nado belt. They all tell the same
story. Whole blocks of what were
formerly little residences and cabins
lie spread over the ground in ruins.
Under this mass of wreckage many
hundred persons were buried, not one
in hundred escaping without some
injury. The houses which were thus
scattered about were mostly negro
habitat;ons.
Queer Experiences Related.
Along with the accounts Of suffering
have come many recita1s Of remark.
able experiences of which the follow
ing is typical.
At Amite, La, when the tornado ap.
peared there were seven persons at
the dinner table of Hamilton, Warn.
er's home, including three children.
One of the diners, Claude Bennett,
saw the whirling cloud in time to
shout warning, anc rushed out doors.
but the others remained in the dining
room. The wind tore off two doors Cd
opposite sides of the room and an as
tonishing procession Of live and in
animate objects began to pass into the
roorl through these doorways. First
camo calf running before the wind.
The animal jumped over the dining
table and went out the opposite door,
Afterward came horse which fol-
lowed through the exit taken by the
calf. The three children sought refuge
under the table and no one was in.
jured.
Sunday was day Of relief meas
ures throughout the wrecked district.
The ruined towns have been visited
by thousands of spectators. many Of
whom went with few dollars in their
pockets to distribute among the
needy. Sheds made from the wreck.
age have become the homes of hun.
dreds. Small parties of men on horse.
back have gone through country dis.
tricts taking inventories of the assist.
ance needed and rendering aid where
it was most necessary. At least a
dozen funds have been started in as
many cities and towns.
Another Tornado Reported.
Mobile, Ala. - A special from
Meridian, Miss, says that dis
astrous tornado passed through
sparsely settled section of east Missis-
sippi south of that city late Sunday.
Meridian also was visited by re-
markable wind, rain and hail storm.
much damage being done to crops and
shrubbery Reports from Causeyville
say the main tornado passed seven
miles below that place. Timber prop
critics are reported almost devastated.
Bryan Men Are Defeated.
Trenton, N. 1.-THE Democratic