The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-05-29
OF DEATH AND
 DE EVASTAT TON REPORTED
 FROM TOWN OF BRADFORD

l Bradford, May Especial )-with ap- proximately one-third of the structures | completely destroyed, equally as many badly dama aged, 26 of the negro resi- | dents dead and 36 injured, the little town | of Bradford, in the northern part of Jefferson county, p miles from Birming- | ham, was almost wiped out of existence | by the tornado which swept various sec | tions of the state early Sunday night. l Bradford is mining camp operated by | the Imperial Coal and Coke company and
 is chiefly populated by negroes. The en- l tire list of dead are negroes only two whites having suffered injuries. | The little hamlet presented a pitiful sight to visitors early Monday morning who accompanied the relief train to the ! unfortunate village. Wreckage from the ' houses was distributed freely over the camp, while the injured were being cared for by friends or relatives in the open. The fortunate whites and blacks who escaped injury worked strenuously to aid their comrades. First aid crews were organized and the injured were placed in | the idle coke ovens where they received partial medical attention. The dead were collected and placed in lone shack re- maining ill one of the hollows swept by the gale.
 ONLY ONE PHYSICIAN pr. J. T Love was the only physician in the camp to aid the injured. He was greatly handicapped by the loss of all of his equipment when his office was blown away. The wounded were relieved of their pain in the best manner available until a corps of physicians arrived from Birmingham. According to survivors at the camp, pr. Love worked heroicaly
 and he accomplished great work, con sidering the great handicap under which he was aboring
 Sights of all descriptions caught the
 visitors eye as the relief train slowly ran into the little town. A gerater part of the survivors were at the station. Women ano children were the lone unem- ployed in the camp. They atood by the naked hills and watch their kin aid the nortally wounded
 Blacks and whites mingled. There was
 no color distinction. All were working
 for the aid of their fellow workmen who
 had greater misfortune than they
 Stretchers were hastily constructed of
 tenting material and men in crews of
 six worked together, gathering the dead
 and injured.
 The 16 dead were gathered in small
 shack in a hollow which was swept
 scores of houses being completed dernol-
 ished. Of the total dead, five were men,
 six were children and five sre women.
 Of this number all were instantly killed.
 Bodies were found scattered in a radius
 of about 500 yards. All were badly mu-
 tilated.
 KILLED BY SPLINTER
 One VOnne negro. bOv a b0I1t 11 uoare
 of age was killed by splinter piercing
 his chest and abdomen. It ripped the
 youngster from the neck to the stomach
 Another pitful sight was the remains of
 an infant negro child. A huge oak tree
 had fell across the small body and
 smashed 1t beyond recognition
 There were numerous other sights on
 this order. Most of the dead among the
 men had their heads torn to pieces and
 were identified by the clothing they wore
 One negro woman was found about 300
 yards from the spot she was opposed to
 have been when the gale struck the camp. Every bone in her body was crushed.
 This is only part of the terrible sights in the stricken village. The injured pre- sented a much more pitiful view. A num- Der of negroes had their skulls fractured and were only lingering. NOthers sus- tained serious fractures in other parts of
 
 One old darky was paralyzed by LOW from flying timber across his back Bradford is situated on a few hills slightly within Jefferson county The greater part of the village is in the ho-- lows where the gale did ne greater damage. The tornado is supposed to have approached the town from the northeast, sweeping only the ouses and other structures on the hills own before it. As the gale proceeded down the hill- sides it is thought thati it encountered the heat from the coke ovens, causing it to reverse it's course. The gale then swooped down on the thickly populated negro settlements in the hollows and snuffed out life after life.
 The new negro quarters were the most seriously damaged. Of the approximately 90 houses. only two Were left standing
 In one of these the dead were accumu- I lated while the other, which was without
 roof, the injured were placed to secure | medical attention. But the tornado did l not stop at this thickly populated settle ment, but hurled house after house down | in another quarter.
 Panic reigned in tn ecamp. The white | residents, whose quarters were not | touched, rushed to the aid of the negro unfortunates. It was fully 90 minutes. however, before order was restored and l the men began their work to gather the injured, according to several leaders. The camp was first struck about 9 o'clock" according to Supt J. O. Colley The crash was loud and furious but l lasted only a very few minutes The peo- pie naturally were excited but I think they conducted themselves excellently considering the seriousness of the stua- tion. pr. Love worked wonderfully and the lives of many negroes were saved by his splendid first aid methods WHITE SECTION UNHARMED we have about 300 people in the camp the greater number being negroes. The white settlement escaped unharmed aside from number of chimneys being blown down and several houses being jared otr their pillars. There are about 250 houses in the camp. About 200 of these are oc- cuped by the negro laborers Of this number, I would estimate that approxi- mately 50 and maybe 75 are left stand ing. Not a negro house in the camp es- caped some sort of an injury "The men in the camp worked spIen- didly following the catastrophe and due to their efforts the loss of life was greatly reduced. It is the first sort of an accident Bradford has ever expe- rienced.
 Services were being held In the negro church at the time the tornado hit the camp. A negro preacher. John Avant