The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-27
DEATH TOTALS
 OF TORNADO Three Hundred and Fifty
 Lose Lives. TWELVE HUNDRED INJURED Several Thousand Homeless and Forty-six Towns Wrecked. Above Figures Do Not Include Wreck age on Plantations and Farms, Scores of Which Were Struck
 and Damaged.

NcW Otlodns, La, ApEtt AV-A ho " tals of death. misery and ruin caused in four Southern States by Fridays tornadoes came to hand today in ap- proximateiy correct form. Briefly stat ed they are:
 Killed. about $50.
 Injured. painfully or seriously, 1,2oo.
 Homeless. several thousand.
 Towns reporting serious wreckage, forty-six.
 Habitations and business houses prac- ttcally complete ruins in these towns. about 2.5o0.
 The above figures do not include the wreckage on plantations and farms. scores of which were struck and dam aged. The number of dead will never be known accurately. for the reason that about 300 of them were negroes and they were buried in many commu- mites without careful records being made of their numbers. While some of the. first reports giving apparently re- liable death lists have since proved untrue, nevertheless remote places which were late in reporting their dead have served to hold the total death list uniformly around $50. The manner in which this death list has grown for two days, in spite of contin- ual subtractions from early reports. has been a melancholy index of the in- ter state scope of the disaster. Direction of Tornadoes.
 By following the wreckage of towns, the general direction of 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 North ern Louisiana, Mississippi and Into Tennessee before daylight Friday morn ing. The second appeared further south about breakfast time in Central Lou isiana and Mississippi. This apparent iy was the portion of the storm which swept on through Alabama and Geor- iga Friday night and Saturday morn. ing. The third portion of the storm appeared during Friday afternoon, fur- finer south than either of It's predeces- sors. This was the storm which de- molished Amite, La. and Purvis' MiSs.' the two towns in which the wreckase was worst.
 Why the fatalities were 80 unusu- ally large is apparent today from a glance at the mass of photographic which have arrived here from many portions of the tornado belt. They all tell the same story. While blocks or what were formerly little residences and cabins lie spread over the ground in separate boards. If huge Jumper pile had been scattered over these areas. the number of individual boards. unattached to anything else, could scarcely have been greater. Many or these blanks show very few breaks where they were separated from the other construction. Under this mass or wreckage many hundred persons were buried. not one in a hundred escaping without some injury. The houses which were thus scattered about were mostly negro habitations. Tne hones of the whites held together better, ana tha nbotorraphs show many of them with half the top or the upper half or inc structure ripped off, but leaving be- low nrotections which must have saved scores from death.
 Remarkable Experiences.
 Along with the accounts Of sunertn8 have come many recitals of remark- abIe experiences of which the foiIoW- ing Is typical: . .....Ao ap- neared there were seven persons at tne dinner table of MT. Hamilton warner Horne including three children. one ot the diners, Claud Bennett, sa" '"e whirline cloud In time to snouI warning and rush out doors put tne others remained in the dining room
  doors on opposite sides or tne room snd an astonishing process of live ana Inanirate objects began 10 pass through these doors. First came calf running before the wind. The animal jumped over the dining taple' and went out the opposite door from which 1t entered. Afterward came rorse which after one or two prances about. followed through the exit taken by the calf The three children sought refuge under the dining table ana no one in the room was. injured
 Today has been one of relief meas ures throughout the wrecked district The ruined towns have been visited by tbousa nds of spectators. very many or whom went with a few dollars in their nockets to distribute among the needy Sheds made from the wreckage have become the homes of hundreds Small narties of men on horse back have gone through country districts taking in- ventories of the assistance needed ana rendering aid where it was most neces- sary. At least a dozen relief funds have been started in as many cities and towns and at New Orleanss Mayor Behrman has called a meeting of the heads of business institutions for to- morrow to take charge of relief from here.
 Lists By states.
 Following Is list oy states or the forty-six towns reporting more or less damage and most of which are quite small:
 Louisiana-Lucerne. Kenmore. La mourie. Richland. Amite. Essie. Pine, Angie, Franklinton. Sheridan. Award. Eunice Total twelve
 Mississippi-Giles Bend, Purvis, Church Hill, Lorman. Tillman. Melton, Baskerville, Braxton, Sunflower, Waha- -nrs yvingate, Columbua, Walls, Fair chiids Creek, Quitmans Landing, Mo Laurin McCallum, Winchester. Pine Ridge Total nineteen.
 Georgia-Columbus, Chipley, La Grange, Harris. Griffin. McDonough. Locust Grove. Cedartown, Cave Springs Total nine.
 Alabama-Albertville High Mounds. Hatton. Lesburg. Settlement. Blounts- vile Total six.
 The four members of the Rayburn family reported killed at Baskerville. Miss, were not killed, but were in- tured, two of them. Robert Rayburn and wife, seriously.