The Green Forest tribune., 1909-03-12
THREE KILLED
 AT BRINKLEy
TERRIFIC WIND AND RAIN STORM SWEEPS OVER ENTIRE STATE -SEVERAL PERSONS RE-
 PORTED KILLED.
PROPERTY LOSS ENORMOUS
Tornado Dips in Outskirts of Little Rock, Killing One and Injuring
 Five Near Fourche Dam.

Little Rock.-That a storm carrying dipped to the earth, bringing death
 and destruction, swept over Arkansas early Monday evening, is certain, but the extent of the damage, owing to the crippled wire service, cannot be ascertained.
 From most reliable reports the town of Brinkley in Eastern Arkansas suf- fered most and the report from there are conflicting The onfy wire to Memphis Monday night was Rock Island dispatcher's wire, and the
 Brinkley yardmaster reported as he sonal knowledge three had been kill
 ed and six injured The debris which
 covered the streets and the former sites of residents and business houses soon caught fire and, driven by the high wind, the flames spread over the entire town. A communication from Cotton Plant, seven miles from
 Brinkley, states that the glare of the flames in burning Brinkley could De seen there. Forrest City, which is about 23 miles east of Brinkley, heard that the entire town was demolished
 and from eight to 10 killed. The citi-
 zens made up a relief train on which
 were all the physicians in the town
 and hurried it out. The Rock Island sent a wrecking train on which were c. H. Shoemaker, trainmaster; F. J..
 Easley, superintendent; c, H. Eggars,
 master carpenter, and several others.
 This should have reached Brinkley at
 about o'clock Tuesday morning.
 That the storm was general is shown by report to the effect that the
 windows were blown from a train in the western part of the state, and by brief message from Walnut Ridge that the rain there had been heavy.
 but that there was little wind. Mor- rilton reported at 1 o'clock Tuesday morning that there was no, damage there but an exceptionally heavy rain. Probably never before has there been such a complete paralysis of
 wrie service out of Little Rock. At | one time the only point which could be obtained by telegraph or telephone | was Fourche Dam over the new phone. And this wire went out for about 20 minutes between and o'clock. Af- ter midnight the telegraph company and telephone company began to pick up nearby stations, but at 3 o'clock Tuesday molning not a dozen towns in the state could be reached
 A feature of the storm was the loss
 of Cotton Belt passenger train be-
 is supposed to be off the track or
 behind wreck near Baucum, but
 there are rumors that it has been
 blown from the track and another that
 it had been struck by lightning It
 was due in Little Rock at 6:30 Mon
 day night.
 A tornado struck near Fourche Dam
 five miles east of Little Rock, late
 Monday afternoon, killed negro boy
 seriously and probably fatally injured
 five other negroes and caused heavy
 property loss. The same tornado is
 reported to have gone on to Baucum
 and it is known it ripped through Kerr, in Lonoke county, where several
 homes were destroyed, but no one killed, although several people were hurt
 When the tornado crossed the Ar
 kansas river near Fourche Dam it lifted water spout 100 feet high.