Pinson, Deanburg, TN Tornados, Mar 13, 1923

THIRTY-ONE ARE DEAD IN PATH OF TORNADO IN DIXIE.

THE STORM TOLL
Tennessee -- Twenty known dead; fifty or more injured.
Kentucky -- Nine dead accounted for; property damage big.
Ohio -- Two dead; heavy damage to property.

Atlanta, Ga., Mar. 13 -- Today the real facts regarding the terrific wind storm which struck the southeast Sunday night began to trickle to the outside world as wire repairs were made and communications restored. From Jackson, Tenn., came confirmation of reports that twenty persons had been killed when the tornado wrecked Pinson and spread destruction about it. The number of injured however is placed at less than seventy-five, the latest report putting the total at "more than fifty."
A story of the utmost heroism and tenacity of purpose reached International News Service from Jackson.

Youth Is Hero.
A mere youth who has not been identified and who vanished from sight as soon as he had performed his mission, started on horseback from Pinson to Jackson to give the news of the disaster which had struck the hamlet. Finding the roads impassible after traversing only two miles of his journey, he abandoned his horse and struggled through mud, rain and the raging wind on foot. He reached Jackson very late and spread the alarm.
The force of the storm in western Tennessee as expended in Pinson, Madison county, and Deanburg, Chester county. The known dead at Pinson, it was reported today, are:
MRS. J. L. JAMES, wife of the pastor of the First Methodist church.
MRS. B. G. VAN TREES and two daughters, MADGE and MABEL.
Four months old son of MR. and MRS. J. C. ERVIN and their six-year-old son, HOWARD.
JOHN KERRENT and his wife, negroes.
HENRY NEAL.
EUGENE WARREN.
JOHN HADDEN.
DEWITT ROBINSON.
DEVAUGH ATKINS, all negroes.
The negroes killed are employed as section hands on the Mobile and Ohio railway and were struck down at their work.

Towns In Darkness.
The town of Pinson was thrown into darkness immediately when the tornado struck and the neighboring hamlet of Deanburg also was dark. Wire communication with any place was impossible.
When word of the storm reached Jackson, Mayor J. D. JOHNSON, ordered two relief trains immediately sent to the stricken towns.
Persons who went from Jackson to Pinson toiled until far in the day relieving suffering, removing bodies from wrecked dwellings and sending the injured to improvised hospitals for emergency treatment and then to Jackson where they were placed in a hospital. Many Jackson women are serving at the hospital as volunteer nurses. The regular staff of nurses was unable to meet the emergency. The Red Cross chapter at Jackson has taken charge of the relief work and a corps of workers is now on the scene of the tornado.

More Deaths Feared.
All residents of Deanburg and Pinson have been accounted for, according to reports reaching here this morning but it was stated fears are felt for the safety of persons living outside these places, as the wind reached a velocity of eighty miles an hour during the storm.
A severe electrical storm accompanied the tornado and at least one farmhouse was struck and burned.
An Illinois Central freight train standing on a side track at Pinson was blown from the track and all members of the crew injured none of them seriously.
The storm had not yet spent its fury today. Rain was descending in torrents over most of the southeast at dawn, having started last night. South Carolina was visited by a heavy electrical storm which centered near Chester during the night.
Mississippi and Northern Alabama reported heavy damage to farm property. No deaths have been reported from these states, however.

The Mansfield News Ohio 1923-03-13

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!