Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-05-17
FOLLOW GREATFLOOD
THAT SWEEPS HOT SPRINGS
CLOUDBURST SENDS
N|NE FEET Of WATER
THROUGH STREETS

HUI SPRINGS, Ark, May Is!
by the Associated Press. )-There
was no loss of life in the flood and
fire VIII ch swept Hot Springs last
night. according to survey made
late today after all the water had
receded from the streets.
The property damage, estimated
at $2,000,O00, will be a complete
loss as the property owners had no
insurance against floods, it was
said. The fire burned the Marquette
hotel and the Commercial Block
building to the ground. Last night
the depth of the water in Central
avenue was nine feet.
There have been no deaths re-
ported, and no one is missing, ac-
cording to Hot Springs city officials
and newspaper men who made q
complete check Of all undertaking
parlors and other sources of death
reports.
The fact that there was no loss Of
life was attributed to the residential
sections being located on the hills
surrounding the city. The business
street of the town nestles between
two mountains and formed the
stream bed for the torrents,
The flood came first and, at it's
height, the fire broke out.
AS the downpour continued. a thin
column of moke rose through the
roof of the Grand Rapids Furniture
company, and flames soon broke
through. Attempts at fire fighting
were useless and the fire soon
spread until the entire Commercial
Block, in which the blaze originated,
was a mass of flames.
The fire ragged for hours, casting
a red glare over the city made more
awesome by the darkness in which
the city had been plunged by the
suspension of electric light service.
Many persons reported having
seen bodies floating down the tor
rents, but the heroism Of volunteer
life-savers in the lower section of
the city resulted in dozens of per-
sons being dragged from the waters
to safety after they had been swept
for blocks. Many of these, it is be-
lieved, were persons carried away
on the crest of the flood and thought
drowned.
Reports received here from Ben
tnn A rL fnd0U sStutnA
were felt for the safety of farmers
in the Saline river valley south of
Benton. The Saline rose swiftly
last night.
The Marquette hotel is a pile OF
charred bricks and stones represent.
ing loss of more than $25O,00O.
The only building left in the Mar.
quette block is the Citizens Ma.
tional bank.
The city is without street car.
electric or gas service. All utility
plants, including the telegraph of.
flee, were flooded and put out of
commission. ....
Rough estimates as to- losses in a
few of the many places wrecked fol-
low: Marquette hotel, $25O,OO0; Ro-
senthal Shoe store, 100000; Wauke-
sha Drug store, $4,000; Welcher
Clothing store, $4,000; Moscowitz
Clothing store, $4,000; Ozark Drug
store, $4,000; Grand Rapids Furni-
ture store, $4,000; Housley Dry,
Goods store, $4,000; Towel Jewelry
store, $4,000; Citizens Cigar store,
$4,000; Hines Schwartz Tailor, $500;
Mazzie Cigar store, $4,000; Milsaps
Cigar store, $4,000; Flower Shop, $4,-
900; Kress (manager could give no
estimate, but said loss would be uni.
der $4,000; Potter Furniture COM
pany, $4,000; Wolf and Roth Shoe
store, $4,000; Citizens National bank,
$4,000; Phillips cafeteria, $1,000; Jim
and George confectionery, $4,000;
Morris Drug company, $4,000:
Sweat Clothing store, $4,000; Katz
Clothing store, $4,000; Felhemer
Furniture store, $4,000.
Fl DEAD IN TEXAS;
RELIEF WORK PUSHED
COLORADO CITY, Tex, May IS.
The death list was increased TO
twenty-one today by the finding of
four additional victims of the tor
nado which swept Mitchell county
early yesterday The list of injured
contains about two hundred names,
a large majority of them Mexicans.
Property loss will probably reach
$5O0,000, according to latest esti-
mates Some of the injured probably
will die Three hundred persons are
homeless. having lost everything
they had.
The path Of the storm varied
from two miles to quarter of
mile in width and was about thirty
miles long. Scarcely a house was
left intact, trees were uprooted and
miles of telephone, telegraph and
electric transmission lines were lev.
eled.
Reports more or less fra gmentary
declare fifty houses, at least, were
razed and thousands of head Of live
stock lost.
Today every church, hotel and
home in this city are housing the
homeless. Food and shelter are Of
tered everywhere and the colony of
he tornado stricken country-folk is
receiving care of doctors. and nurses
'ushed here from Sweetwater, Big
Springs, Abilene and other places
nearby, who came in special trains
and automobiles.
Inc tWlSteH came IN the nOur be-
ore dawn. when the county slept,
and it is agreed here that shelter
saved many lives. Some houses
were carried through the air and re-
placed with occupants merely shak-
IN from their beds. Other houses
we're cut from their foundations, the
walls and ceiling sailing away, leav-
ng families suddenly awakened,
gazing skyward, but none the worse
A three-months-old baby was
ound alive in a field after the storm.
An eighteen-year-old girl. whirled
lizzy half mile, escaped even
bruises. Elmer Bizzel, with his wife
nd two babies, awoke from slum-
Ter half mile from where their
louse stood when they went asleep,
he house being carried along intact
nd deposited on the ground, leaving
ven mirrors unSba ttered