The Shasta courier., 1865-10-28
A Terrible Tornado.

The llth of August, 1881, is day that will
never pass from nv memory. Ny residence
at that time was at Bridgetown. on the IS
land of Barbados but that evening had
ridden few miles into the country. to spend
the night at the house of friend, with whom
resided a young lady, niece, who has since
become bound to me by the closest of earthly
ties.
| reached my friend Palmer's house little
after sunset on the evening of the 10th. and
found the whole family seated on the piazza.
with the addition of couple of gentlemen
neigbbors, who had dropped in for an even
ings social call and one of them, young
and single man, perhaps with design SINH
lar to my own. The servants took charge of
the horse, and joined the group. The mo-
met the first cordial family greeting and
lntroductions were over. the weather as usual
was brought in. to start a subject Of conver
sation in which everybody could take part.
" 1t is very warm" said one.
Excessively So" said another
And not a breath stirring" Joined a
third
''And the heavens like glowing furnace, /"
said fourth.
''Did you see the sun set tonight. Mr..
Granger ?" said Miss Clara Templeton, the
young lady mentioned, turning to me.
81 did,"
''Oh, it was magnifcently beautiful /.
beyond the pen of poet or pencil of artist"
. / don't like it, said Mr.. Grayson, one of
the two neighbors alluded to, and who was a
plain blunt man; these beautiful red sun
sets don't bode any good on this island !;
storms generally follow; and if I'm not
mistaken, we'll soon have to pay for ali this
pretty sky painting"
" Why. there's no more poetry in your
soul than in a column of figures" said Miss
Templeton, with q gay laugh Come, let
us have a more cheerful prophecy. Mr.
Granger are you a weatLerwise ?'
81 fear am otherwise" ] laughed.
The sunset had certainly been one of the
most beautiful | ever saw, and even yet the
western sky was all aglow, the soft flush
reaching far up toward the zenith and
beautifully blending with the blue above =
The air was still, almost painfully so, as if
nature were holding her breath and some
how the mind was led to take on this impres
sion even to sadness, as have heard more
than one remark since the dire events of that
awful night.
A little after nine o'clock. the neighbors
visiting at nv friends house took their leave,
and presently the family, with tire exception
Of Clara. retired to rest We remained some
time on the piazza, conversing in low tones,
and then withdrew to the paror, facing the
west the inner shutters of which were closed
As lovers, then, destined to the nearest and
dearest ties of relationship, we had thou
sand tender nothings to say, which concerned
no one but ourselves, and which would not
bear repeating. Time flew by ON golden
wings, unheeded and unnoted, and an hour
or two passed away as so many minutes.
Suddenly we were startled by fayorite
cat springing into the room from the one
mewing as if from terrible fright,
ind running crouching round the walls, with
distended and glaring eyes. At the same
time we first became conscious of strange,
sullen roar, and that the wind was already
blowing fercely, matter that we had not
before noticed, owing to the pre-occupation of
our minds looked at Clara and saw that
she was pale with fear.
Something terribe.' she said in ner.
vous whisper.
"Only a Storm I replied, assuming an
indifference did not feel.
She pointed to the cat, and reioined =
creation more than our reason does US. fear
this is only the beginning of terrible
tempest"
As she spoke, and as if in confirmation of
her words, lurid fash was visible through
the cracks of the shutters. and was instantly
by a crash that fairly brought US to
our feet.
"Oh, merciful God.'' exclaimed Clara.
sinking back upon her seat and covering her
face with her hands.
Do not be alarmed" said |, tenderlv;
'' it is only a storm such as we often have on
this island. and will soon be over"
From this moment the wind RAPIDLY in
creased in fury, and in the course of an hour
the roar of the tempest, commingled with the
howlings and shriekings of the wind and
crashings of the thunder, had become so great
that the human voice could only be distin-
guished when pitched on its highest key
For some time had felt very anxious and
uneasy, but now | was thoroughly alarmed,
and Clara was SO frightened as scarcely to be
able to speak or move. Furious as the wind
already was it was still increasing, and more
than once felt the house tremble and rock.
What the end was to be, heaven only knew.
The air, which during the first part of the
night had been oppressively close and warm.
had now become disagreeably cold and
seeing Clara shiver, | went and got shawl
from the adjoining room and threw it over
her shoulders
do not give way to fears" shouted in
her ear, the only way could now make my
words distinguishable above the awful roar
the storm is doubtless at its hight, and will
soon abate."
She grasped my hand nervously, but made
no reply. Some time after this, my friend,
Mr.. Palmer, came hurrying into the Office,
his pale face and quivering lips clearly
expressing his fears.
This is terriblel" he exclaimed, terri.
BILE, Already the house rocks, and fear it
will soon be down with crash, burying US
under its ruins"
He was Immediately followed by his wife,
leading two children, boys of seven and ten.
She tottered to seat, sat down, and began
to cry and wiring her hands, the children
screaming in terror and clinging to her for
protection. Clara now got up, staggered
forward, and threw her arms around her