Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1909 — CITY DESTROYED BY FIRE; 8 DERD [ARTICLE]

CITY DESTROYED BY FIRE; 8 DERD

Brinkley, Ark., Rained by Tornado and Flames.

SURGEONS RUSH TO SCENE

Cyclone Causes Waterspout Two Hundred Feet High and Hurls a Train From the Rails—Wires Are Down. Glare From Burning Center Visible at Distance of Twenty Miles —Place Had 3,000 Inhabitants and Was a Junction Point. Little Rock, Ark., March 9,—Nine persons are reported dead and many Injured as the result of a violent storm which swept through western, eastern and southern Arkansas. Eight are reported to have been killed at Brinkley and dispatches today on the only wire in operation between that place and Little Rock, a railroad wire, were to the effect that the town was in flames. A special train bearing surgeons and nurses and the fire fighting apparatus has started from Forest City for Brinkley. The fire today Is still burning and the reflection can be seen here, a distance of twenty miles. Brinkley was a town of 3,000 Inhabitants and a junction point for several railroads. Near Baucum, a Cotton Belt passenger train, which is hours late, is reported to have been swept from the tracks. The tornado crossed the Arkansas river within five miles of Little Rock causing a waterspout of several hundred feet In height. A cyclone struck at Fourche Dam within five miles of Little Rock, killing a negro boy and injuring other negroes. Ail the windows in a train between Gurdon and Rester were blown out. At Malvern the Methodist church was entirely destroyed at a loss of $6,000.