Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1900 — VICTIMS OF A TORNADO. [ARTICLE]

VICTIMS OF A TORNADO.

At Least Twenty-five Persons Are Bead ia 'leunessee. Leaving death in its wake,, a tornado swept across the central Southern States as darkness fell upon Tennessee and Mississippi Tuesday night. Wednesday the sun rose upon a scene of pitiable desolation in the cities and towns lying in the path where the angry visitor spent its fury. At noon it was estimated that the number of those who lost their lives would reach twenty-five, while twice that many were badly injured and entire communities had the narrowest escape. But yvhat the mortality and the amount of the damage to property actually are cannot be ascertained until telegraph and telephone wires are strung again and railroad communication is established anew into the stricken districts.

Columbia and La Grange, small towns in Tennessee, probably are the worst sufferers. The principal business street of La Grange is in ruins and several persons are dead. At Columbia and many points along the Illinois Central Railway line there is also loss of life and great damage, with resultant destitution. Columbia is at the junction of the Louisville and Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis roads, and La Grange is situated forty-nine miles east of Memphis on the Southern Railway, in Fayette Count*’. The cyclone lasted for about five minutes and its path, which was about 1,000 feet wide, is clearly marked by devastation. Many houses, including a large number of negro cabins, were blown down and many others unroofed and otherwise damaged. The fencing surrounding the United States arsenal was blown away, but the building remains intact. A freight train on the Nashville, Florence and Sheffield Railway was lifted from the track.