The Neshoba Democrat., 1909-03-18
DEATH LIST
INCREASES
Work of Terrible Cyclone
at Brinkley, Ark.
Mayor Appeals for Aid-S1oves,
Building Material, Food and
Bedding Badly Needed.

Brinkley, Brinkley is wiped out.
The proud and prosperous little city
OF 1000 people is tangled mass of
wreekage. Not building in the busi-
ness section of the city has been left
intact. not a residence but that has suf-
tercd i'll a fearful cyclone which swept
the place Monday night, leaving death
and desolation in it's wake.
More than fifty people are known to
have pcrished in the storm.
Damage Enormous.
lhe property damage is enormous
Conservative business men estimate the
damage at more than 81 100000. More
than 1000 houses were wrecked, or par
TALLY wrecked, by the great wind. Every
business house is in ruins, every church,
save one, is destroyed, and there is
hardly home that has not at least suf-
tercd the loss of roof OF wing
First Work One of Mercy.
The first work was one of mercy,
Mayor Harry jackson took command
OF the relief committee, DR.. +. D. Nc
might was assigned to the position of
chairman of the doctors committee. Be-
fore it was hardly day, relief commit
tees were coming from all directions
Each brought physicians and nurses,
armed with medicines and supplies,
eager to help in the work.
In the few houses still standing it is
well nigh impossible to start a fire, be-
cause chimncys were among the first
things to go and the situation is terrible
i'll the extreme.
The Catholic Church and the Green
lee building, the latter minus roof in
parts and otherwise damaged, have been
converted into hospitals, and here the
doctors are working with the injured.
Many OF the citizens are badly hurt, but
determined to help those worse off than
themselves, have refused to go to the
temporary hospital.
Most of the dead were caught in the
wrecked buildings, and crushed almost
beyond recognition. The family of Isaac
Reed was almost completely wiped out.
Reed, his wife and their two sons Rus
sell, aged 16, and Raymond, aged -,
were instantly killed. Miss Murlie Reed,
a daughter, alone escaped death, but she
is seriously injured.
Did Cyclone Stunts.
Straight across the city from the
southeast to the northwest swept the
warning elements, leaving death and de-
struction in their wake. The tornado
jumped, turned, writhcd and twisted like
a thing endowed with life, judging from
the wreckage which marks it's flight.
1t left no path, as is usual with cy-
clones, but spread itself out over a wide
area and embraced the entire town
within its deadly grasp.
1t first struck the residence portion of
the city. Cottages, two-story frame and
brick dwellings crumbled beneath the
mighty rush of the winds. Trees were
uprooted and carried hurtling through
the air for hundreds of feet, crashing
through flimsy wooden walls as if they
had been so much cardboard. Telephone
poles were snapped short off at the
ground and tossed about the streets
like pipe stems.
1t struck the business section with
ever-increasing violence. Solid brick and
concrete storehouses fell crashing to the
ground before its fury. Heavy awnings,
doors and even the front walls of MANY
stores, tin roofs and flying debris of all
kinds filled the air, while the elements
ragged and the rain fell in torrents.
People Panic-Stricken.
Men, women and children ran scream
ing and terror-stricken into the streets.
The city was in total darkness. The
Brinkley Light and Power Company was
one of the first plants struck by the
storm. 1t was demolished and its wires,
along with the telephone and telegra ph
wires, spread over the ground in ver-
liable network of steel, iron and copper
meshes.
Husbands sought for wives and wives
sought for children. Brothers cried
aloud to mothers and sisters, and as the
full fury of the. wind died away to q
steady and ominous roar, their screams,
combined with those of the in jured, rang
out piercingly in the almost Stygian
darkness. Strong men paused, shud-
dcred and knew not what to do or where
to go. Women sank down in the streets,
which had become veritablc torrents.
gathering their children to them, and
offered up their prayers for the deliv.
erance of their lives.
The reaction came in another moment
Lanterns and torches were secured