The Brookhaven leader., 1884-04-17

NllllC lIlC luHCl I'sli Voo va q All "
yellowish color. ] should judge that
the cloud moved at the rate Of eighty
miles an hour. The houses shook
and tremblcd as if during an earth
uuaka" r y
Mr.. B. f. Jones, postmaster al
Beaurcgard, who resides in the ex
treme southwest portion of the town,
states: The FIRST Iuilding IN Beau
regard struck by the cyclone was the
residence of Mrs. Benton, situated
sixty PAGES from my house, which
was of course, the second one to fol
low. The first intimation Of the
storm was az overcasting of the sky.
| and q deep rumbling noise. n
The cloud was oval-shsped, of dark
greenish hue, and hung from a black
mass Of cloud. Great balls of fire
seemed to drop down to the ground
and flying in the air, in front of the
cloud, were immense trees and long
pieces Of timber. l also saw part Of
q house lifted bodily in the air. The
debris flying before this fearful cloud,
twisted round and "ound like so
many feathers. | few that death
was approaching us, and l told my
wife to hold on tight and we would
die together. ! saw Mrs. Benton's
house lifted up and completely
twisted around from right to left and
bl oxen into kindling wood, the de
bris being scattered to the north and
northeast, at distances ranging from
fifty to over hundred yards. The
air was full of flying timber. My
house blew to pieces, the debris Fall
ing upon us. My wife had heavy
head of long, black hair, which was
cut Of from her head as if shaved,
leaving two deep gashes in the neck,
Our eyes, mouths and ears were
filled with dirt. AS showing some
of the peculiar freaks of the storm,
| may state that the large sign over
my office, which was strongly bat
toned one inch thick and "a by IS
feet in length, was carried on dis
tance of SO miles and deposited OIL
the bank of Pearl river. \
A peculiar feature of the
cyclone was that the trees and houses
we're blown toward the centre of the
track. The main force of the storm
passed within the trees. About 200
yards fromi the main track Of
the storm stood six negro cabins.
After the storm passed there was
not even a splinter left on the ground
which was swept perfectly clean and
smooth. The residence of Mr.. Thomp-
son, standing 200 yards from the
main track, was comparatively unin
jured, only the roof being carried off,
while fifty yards distant the house Of
Mr.. Rembert was entirely destroyed.
On March llth, 1876, similar cy-
clone struck this place, and travers-
ed the same path, i. e., from the
southwest to the northeast
From Judge Bridewell the follow
ing facts were gathered. "Three
days previous to the storm heavy
gale blew from the southwest.
There was no indication of storm
but large, white clouds foated around
and the atmosphere was exceed
tingly dry and warm. This gale con
tinued TO blow from the same direc,
tion which fact excited general atten-
tiOn but created no alarm. On Satur-
day night there was an appearance
of rain and the thermometer stood at
IS degrees and there appeared to be
perfect wave-clouds passing.
"But few people residing in Wesson
or Beauregard are aware of the fact
that two cyclones passed over US,
The llrst cloud appeared about l:tO
o'clock on Sunday afternoon. 1t
came from the southwest, and ap-
peared to be an immense black mass
Of boiling matter. There was no
distinct shape, as in the case oc the
second cloud. particularly noticed
that innumerable focks of birds were
flying directly in front of this black
cloud and winged their way due
north. The appearance of this black
cloud was frightful. Great streaks
Of molten gold as thick around as my
arm came down from the cloud, and
so gradually that was able to count
six of them in succession. They
were not streaks of lightning, but
came down in perfectly straight col
umns. This cyclone lasted about
fifteen seconds, causing no damage
save the destruction of stable and
large elm tree. Thinking that
most of the storm had passed, l con
tinued on my way to Brookhaven." i"
Judge Bridewelrs brother continjied
the narrative from this point. He
said; My house was located 100
yards from the main track of the
storm.
"The first intimation. was a deep
roar, like eight or tens&eight trains
passing over bridge! It struck
Beaurcgard like a water-spo1t, a
seething, twisting column of cloud.
sulphury in appearance. The earth
trembled and shook violently. l saw
trees and broken timber jerked up
into the vortex and whirled about
with terrible fury. When first seen,
the funnel cloud appeared half mile
above the ground, and looked more