| Show MISSISSIPPI TOWN IS 3 WRECKED I DX BY TORNADO Windstorm Strikes Meridian and T Ter Terrible er Havoc Is Add Adda Added a ed to Horror of the Sit Situation Mobile Ala AIa March A longdin tance telephone message to the Item from Meridian Miss says a tornado accompanied by a heavy henvy rainstorm struck that city this evening at The storm center was in the southern portion of the city and particularly heavy along Front street one of the prIncipal business streets of the town Nearly every house on Front street is reported to have been demolished The Armour Packing plant is the only building left standing and the roof of that is gone Fire broke out in the ruins and despite the heavy rain the flames were burning fiercely when this report was filed A num number number ber of bodies are reported to be In Inthe Inthe the ruins The city Is in total dark darkness darkness ness the electric light plant having been badly damaged The tornado did severe damage at other poInts adjacent to Meridian and all traIns entering Meridian are delayed The Western Union Telegraph corn com company pany reported hav ig lost fifteen miles of wire and the Postal Telegraph corn com company pany also suffered great damage Great Fire Raging A private message re receIved received from Meridian at p m says fire is raging in the devastated district The work of the rescuers is going on bravely but owing to all lIghts being out lanterns and candles are being used and the work is necessarIly necessarily slow It Is thought that bodies are in the The Union station is one of the buildings blown away The telegraph wires are still down between Meridian Mobile and other points A telephone message to the Item from Meridian gives details of the tornado that struck that city at this evening as follows During a heavy rainstorm at a storm cloud developed in the south and moved on the city stoking Front street the business center with full force The wind was as blowing sev miles av r h passed over in two minutes an and during that period three or whole squares were devastated The Heavy Losers A conservatIve estimate places the number of buildings blown down dow at between thirty and forty The heaviest losers are the Meyer N me Hard Hardware Hardware ware company Tom L Lyle le Co Jo Joseph Joseph seph Moore dry goods and groceries the New Orleans Northwestern rail railroad railroad road freight depot and other buildings the names of which are not obtainable at this hour The Mobile Ohio depot is safe as well as the Southern hotel but the Grand Avenue hotel was con considerably considerably damaged The guests in the latter building escaped From the business center the torna o jumped to the east end where a number of reel lesi dences were blown down and adly damaged The correspondent stated that the number of lives lost is small probably not more than three or four persons Several fires were started as a result of the tornado but the only one of serious consequence was that in one of the cotton compressors All AIl fires were extinguished by 10 p m tonight from the operator at Toomsuba Miss four miles north or of Meridian who had just come from the scene of the disaster says that upward of persons wore killed and that the property loss Joss will wUl be enormous He says all buildings between Front street and the railroad tracks were demolished and calls for fer a large force or of workmen to assist In remo removing ng bodies from the debris were be being tug ing made |
