The Green Forest tribune., 1908-05-08
TORNADO SWEEPS AWAY MILL SaWmiIl Plant of Hammond, Lucas G DeVore Company Is Destroyed- Office Blown Into Forest and
 Lost.

Little Rock, Ark.-Moying in nar- row path less than 200 yards wide, terrific tornado swept away the saw mill plant of the Hammond, Lucas &s Devore Lumber Company at Marche Monday afternoon about o'clock. The frame office building of the plant was taken up bodily by the wind and car ried into the woods. Trees were blown down as though they were but dry reeds, and there were a number of narrow escapes from death by the fall ing trunks.
 Wires into Marche, which is situated about ten miles from Little Rock on the Fort Smith branch of the Iron Mountain railroad, are all down, but news of the destruction was brought to Little Rock Monday night by the passengers and crew of freight train, which had stopped near the station not more than 40 rods from the course of the storm. Great trees were blown across the track and considerable de- lay in the departure of the train was necessitated before the right of way could be cleared.
 J. D. N1cRae of 20f Izard' street, Lit tie Rock, was one of the passengers in the caboose of the freight train. He said that while the fury of the wind was at it's worst, it became as black as night, and although the cars were only few rods from the path of the storm, the occupants could hear noth- ing of the falling trees or of the de- structiOn of the lumber plant, every building of which was leveled. Where the office stood there is nothing. but the bare site, for the structure was lifted by the wind and blown com pletely away.
 Marche is lumber town with pop ulation of about 150 people.
 At Hot Springs a storm of wind and rain, mingled with some hail, swept down the valley between and 5 o'clock, and probably $2,000 worth of property was destroyed. Four costly plate glass fronts along Central avenue were broken, and the cellars of number of big retail stores along that thoroughfare were flooded. Water rushed in torrents down the noun tain sides and the stream, which in the business part of the city is arched over with masonry, was choked, and, the streets above were for time small rivers. The wind which blew a gale for 45 minutes was singularly variable.i Without a moments warning it would shift from one direction to another
 Telegraph and telephone wires are down in every direction and there are few principal points in Arkansas with which direct connection is open. All of the Southwestern Telephone Com pany's lines are dead between Littlei Rock and Fort Smith, Texarkana, Dal- las, Conway, Philadelphia, Russell vile, Morrilton, Marche, Fourche, Per ry, Roland, Jonesboro, Helena, Bates. vile, Prescott, Newport, Carlisle, Shreveport, Brinkley Forrest City, Searcy, Camden and Beebe All Okla homa and Texas lines were reported down and also one of the St. Louis lines. The only lines open are those to Pine Bluff, Malvern, Benton, Eng land and Hot Springs. In the east ern part of the state nearly all wires are down.
 The Western Union lines are brok- en between this city and Fort Smith, Lonoke and DeValPs Bluff. Between Conway and Plumerville about 15 poles were blown down.
 In eastern Arkansas most of the Postal wires are dead and are cut off from direct communication with Lit tie Rock, although most of the points in that part of the state can be reach ed through St. Louis or New Orleans.
 Near Conway a number of farm, houses were blown away, but it has. not been learned whether there were any fatalities.
 Soon after midnight Tuesday morn ing word came from Conway that number of buildings had been blown. down, but no details were learned. Heavy property loss is also said to have been sustained at Watson in De- sha county.