Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1922-01-11
GOLD WATCH IS
FOUND IN TREE
AFTER 5 YEARS
Vest Stripped by Storm
From Brother Of Rev.
Bridges Discovered Dam
Cling From Tree.
(From Tuesdays Dauy)


First Baptist church, is in receipt
If letter from his father at Pine
Bluff announcing the finding of Il
gold watch that was lost from the
lGthing of his son, J. w. Bridges,
who was instantly killed in a cy-
lone or tornado that swept the
region twelve miles west of Pine
Bluff December 26th, 19l6-a little
more than five years ago The
watch was found by S. H. Ragsdale,
4 son-in-law of the elder Mr..
Bridges, last Friday while the for
mer was making his way through a
strip of woods 1t was dangling
from limb, high up in tree,
where it had remained more than
five years following the terrible
storm that killed j. w. Bridges and
brother, f. A., who were at the
home of their brother-in-laW spend
ing the 1916 holiday vacation from
school at Ouachita college.
MI. IldSSudlC, III Otllti -lil-ltbN VI
the two victims of the storm, had
known how anxious the elder Mr.
Bridges was to recover the time
piece lost by his son and had never
ceased looking for it during his
trips through the neighborhood of
his home. Upon one of those trips
last Friday, casually going through
the woods about mile from the
home that was stricken by the
storm. he observed an object in one
)f the trees, apparently discarded
piece of cloth that had become lodg-
ed in the branches. Noting a re-
Election from the object the sugges-
lion that it might be the long look
ed for watch came to his mind.
Procuring an axe he felled the tree
and the object proved to be the
timepiece that was carried by the
brother-in-law, attached to the al
most decayed vest the unfortunate
young man was wearing upon the
fateful day. 1t had been carried
distance of approximately mile
by the terrific force of the wind
the vest stripped from the body OF
the young man who was himself
blown a distance of ninety yards
The timepiece. was Immediately
taken to the elder Mr.. Bridges and
is dearly priced by the aged gentle
man as a keepsake, together with
the watch that was taken from the
body of his other boy who was kill
ed in the memorable storm. He i'm
mediately wrote to his son, Rev. b.
L. Bridges, of this city, telling him
of the appreciated find and writ
ing that he was anxious to bring it
to Paragould for him to see. The
timepiece had stopped at the hour Of
5 o'clock in the afternoon. two hours
after the storm that carried its toll
Of death in its destructive path
Weather exposed for more than five
years, the movement refused to
run; perhaps, it was broken when
the tree was felled last Friday by
the brotherin-law in order to re-
cover the timepiece.
The storm that killed the two
Young men is said to have been the
worst that ever visited the Pine
Bluff section of Arkansas. 1t was
described as a most violent twister.
Houses were swept from their foun-
dation and torn to splinters, trees
were uprooted leaving death and des-
olation over a wide areaa. The home
Of Mr. Ragsdale, the brother-in-law
Of the young men, was almost COM
pletely wrecked The room in
which Mr.. Ragsdale and family
were at the time of the catastrophe
was the only one that escaped total
destruction. The massive logs of
which the house was built were
split and twistd into fragments. The
two young men were hurled with
the debris, one distance OF seven
ty yards and the other ninety yards.
Their bodies were horribly bruised.
one almost beyond Identification.