While the streets were all forsaken

voice; guitarsSung by Dan Yocum Ft. Smith, Ark. July 15, 1965 Reel 374 Item 5 Collected by Dan Yocum For M.C. Parler Folklore Class Sing-A-Bout Transcribed by Linda Humphrey (While the streets were all forsaken] While the streets were all forsaken On that sad and fateful night, And no one was thinking of the horror. They thought not of the fate so cruel, They thought not of the blow That was to break so many a heart And lay so many low. The wind it blew in fitful gusts, The rain was falling light, And coming through the darkness Was that horror that night. Bot Whitely said to ____________ Sleeping on a bed so near, And men dreaming of their homes And the ones they love so dear.While the Streets . . . continued While the streets were all forsaken And the lights were burning low When coming through the darkness Was that dread cloud all aglow, Clash, flash of force overwhelming, Mighty flood and awful roar, The In a moment it was o'er. Oh listen to the screams of anquish, Piercing cries of pain, Hark, hark I hear a cry for help come dashing through the rain, Heroes go to render help at risk of life and limb. And dashed in thunder 'n lightening And rain the rescue to begin, Destruction here on every side, And many a building gone. Scattered like chaff before the wind, while suddenly stood alone While hear the mighty demon there, it is to be seen, While high above the scaffold The stars smiled down serene.While the streets. . . continued As mothers found their loved ones dead And kneeling by their still forms pled, For some small sign of life While their hearts with anquish bled. Oh God is this your vengeance, Is all this suffering for the best? We ask forgiveness for those left And for those who have gone to rest. Mr. Yocum learned this from Mrs. Dolly Whitman of Rad- cliffe Ark. The song tells the story of the Ft. Smith cyclone which went through and almost wiped out the town on Jan. 11, 1899.Funding for digitization provided by the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Happy Hollow Foundation