The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-24
HOMES FALL BEFORE STORM Famous Texas Planta-
 tions Devastated. GOVERNOR HoGG IS LOSER Hansion Noted for Hospitality
 Destroyed. Us<.rss TA@t wsr.i.s .s w.atAes Durea. Preve.tsa sGrs.t Lsas
 q Lafe-Youns Baptist.
 All safe. .

and Texas, which are new being re- ceived in this city, are the stories of many famous old plantations having been destroyed. in some instances al points hundred or more miles back in the interior of the country.
 Foremost among these Is the old home of Governor Hogg of Texas which was situated near Columbia. e; the mouth of the Brazos River. It wal one of the finest plantations in Texas and the news of the destruction of ths old mansion and the devastation of its broad acres serves as . reminder te many prominent Southerners of ths happy days they have spent beneath the hospitable roof of Texas popular chief executive. His once elegant home is but mass of scattered wreckags tonight, . condition which marks many more plantations in the same section
 In the light of the indisputable prop. 8rty destruction. amounting to severa. million dollars and the state of ruin which is now visible throughout ths hurricane swept area, that there wal not greater loss of life Ia regarded d fnexplicable. At many places the de. structive forces marshaled by the hur. ricane equalled, if not exceeded, those of the terrible storm of 1900, but this time the appalling loss of life is lack. Ing. This is attributed in a large measure to the hurricane warnings which were sent out by the district forecaster in New Orleans early lasl "Wednesday
 Every hour brinss reports of narrow escapes. Persons who had planned fishing parties or outings for the day fin exposed places took heed when tho Governments bulletin arrived and re. snained in places of comparative safe By.
 Hunt Cyclone Cellars.
 Not unusual in the reports is ths story of how families had constructed cyclone cellars following the storm ol 1900 and how they used them last Wed nesday as places of refuge while theil homes were being blown away.
 Again. the houses which were bull ever the storm swept area Of 1e0i were much better than those whici had stood there prior Co that year ana thsN wfthstood the ravases of th, storm in better way than the elt structures.
 Hnddled together in their dark, dam, cellars, many families spent the fargel portion of the day Wednesday waitins for the winds to subside and shudder' ang at the thought of what news tn, Fe-establishment of communication with relatives and neighobrs woult bring.
 At the Baptist Young Peoples En. campment. on the Gulf coast. where several thousand people were assem-, bled. conditions bordering on panic prevailed for some time. Many of thu pious folks were at prayer meetingi when the wind struck them with suci force that in one instance 1t ia re ported to have carried parson. pulpit and all down into the midst of hii flock. Hymnals and psalm books flew through the air like birds awing. ana religious literature was soon scattered over a large portion of Texas.
 The rain began to soak the garment of the worshippers and all sought ref uge in flight to places of shelter. ant there remained until the fury Of thu storm had abated.
 A special train which was run dowI to the encampment by, the Southern Pacific Railroad brought away manJ of those who have been in ,attendanc, upon thfs protracted meeting. and i is probable that the encampment vii be broken up.
 {. Death List is a
 Huston, Texas, July 23-Other thai to add several hundred thousand to tn monetary list tonight, dispatches iron the storm-swept coast sections o Louisiana and Texas and into the in terior for a hundred miles; add but lit tie to that already told of the hurri cane of Wednesday which Eivaled il intensity the storm of 1900.
 Tonight the number killed is conserv atively estimated at twenty eight. thos more or less injured at twice as many and the property loss is conservativel. estimated at approximately s1.800. 900 While belated reports may add to tn list of casualties and property damage other than to isolated points. communi cation has been restored.
 Late dispatches add the towns o Rock Island, Wharton and Weimer t those which suffered to an extent iron the sweep of the wind. At Rock Islen, nine of the largest buildings wer either razed or partially wrecked. tn damage being estimated at 275.000.
 Fifty houses were blown down a weimer and the property loss will ap proximate s100,oo0.
 wharton suffered more than from tn storm of 1900. The streets are blocke, with debris and a shortage of labo Is delaying the restoring of norma conditions. while from Quintanta come the report that the sloop Columbus with all hands on board. had beel blown out to sea.
 Dispatches tonight do not increas the list of fatalities. Whether or no the boat escaped to some ether port i not known.
 Path OR the storm.
 Advices show that damage was don by the storm throughout a section Il Texas extending an average of 10 miles into the interior. Tn som counties some reports indicate that very few home owners escaped losse of at least a minor sort. which. in tn aggregate. total a large sum.
 While the property destruction ha been great. the life loss and seriou injury is almost inexplicably small This is attributed largely to the fac that storm warnings gave the inhabit ants an opportunity to prepare for tn expected blow. Again. the severes of the blow came in daylight.
 In many places crops have been pros trated. but the hot sun following tn hurricane is doing much to restor normal conditions in the fields and los estimates from this source are yer. easy of exaggeration.
 Along the coast the storm extende from a point near New Orleans ( Brownsville, with the center of sever tty in the neighborhood of Bay City an velasco. At Brownsville there wa heavy wind but small damage. In tn interior the damage zone furtheres north ls along the Galveston. PArris