The vidette. (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Miss.) 1912-1967, 1915-10-14
IuKA TIsHoMINGo COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI

underneath the buildings began.
Those still living were rushed to
the one hospital left standing and
they had to wait Physicians and
nurses from other nearby cities
who came in Immediately, and the
ladies of the town went right in
and went 10 work. Women we
thought could do nothing but play
cards, dance, and give and go to
parties came in, rolled up their
sleeves and aided in the work of
caring for the injured, dead and
dying. The hospital looked like
a butcher shop. The society
women worked side-by-side with
washer women in this great work.
One boy, formerly graduated in
the same class as | did, was hit by
a falling iron beam and rushed to
the hospital at 2:30 and did not
get attention till six or seven
O'Clock. A dear little messenger
boy, Indian, was out on duty on
his wheel passing the station and
was terribly burned. He had
presence of mind enough to go to
the sanitarium, went in and said;
Won't somebody please do some-
thing for me?" He died after
wards and his poor mother, big
Indian woman, was heart broken.
1t seemed as if she could not be
comforted. The little boy was a
general favorite with everybody.
the clerks and young girls that
were able were coming to see
about him. Some Of the boys
came to see him, and Mr. Post,
owner of one of the drug stores,
went to see him and The little fell
low knew him and called him
Rufus and asked for a coc"
and they sent for coca cola and
fed it to him through straws.
The boys asked what they could
do for him and he said he wanted
milk shake. They went to get
it for him and when they returned
he was dead. When we went out
to the house the casket, piano and
table were covered with flowers.
Every body loved him. A travel
ing man came in from Texarkana
on the one O'Clock train to go out
at five and was caught. He was
badly burned and later died. A
man and his team and wagon
were buried under fallen wall.
These are only a few of the many.
There were many negroes killed
in a pool hall, and the negro part
of the business town was
wrecked, a great many being
killed.
The passenger depot was
wrecked and people killed in it.
The freight depot was wrecked
and burned, there is nothing left
of it. One whole block of restau-
rents and rooming houses was
razed to the ground, Pennington's
wrecked, the Wilmington Hotel
and others.
The white undertaken had taken
care of 27 bodies and the negro %
the last rep ort.
One boy was identified by
watch with his initials, stuck on
the back of his neck, just burned
to crisp. One woman by par
ticle of a red plaid waist, another
man, the one who was to fix the
tank, blown all to pieces, identi-
fed by a finger ring and a gold
tooth-and others.
Anything | might tell you
would not be exaggerated. l
can't tell you more as my paper is
giving out. The relief fund is
growing. Five thousand dollars
last report. The outside world
has been so good. Undertakers
from other places came in to help,
then the doctors and nurses, and
the manager of the Rocky Mt. di-
vision of the Red Cross and 9TH
ers. Thousands of visitors came
to view the ruins. The damage
to property alone is estimated at
$500, 900. The people are in a
state of nervous dread and ex-
pec.ancy. The ruins look like
the pictures we have seen. Mon
day and Tuesday were days of ex-
citement and panic, since then the