The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-03-26
For the Farmer and Mechanic
The Recent Tornado.

U
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So much has already been written
concerning the receu; storm which
passed through several counties OF this
and other States. that yOur readers are
hardly expecting to hear anything more
concerning it. The papers Of the State
have given full account OF the destruc-
tive work Of the storm so far as lie and
property are concerned, so that but lit
tie more need be said at the present
time concerning these points. There i
another part Of the subject, however,
concerning which | wish 10 ask the at
tention of your readers.
The recent storm was a surprise to
US all. There had occurred before in
the State, storms that were quite Sc
we're over limited areas, and in several
different cases these storms have as
sumed the form Of tornadoes, Cor as
they have generally been called. cy-
~clones.) but we have often congratulated
ourselves upon what we believed to be
true. that. whatever else might be said
of the advantages or disadvantages OF
this section Of our country, this much
could be safely claimed in its favor. it
was free from such violent and destruc-
tive toruadoes as occur Oh the plains OF
the GREAT West. The estructive tor
nadoes which passed through Richmond,
Montgomery, and other counties, on
Feb. 10th, lwere hence as unexpected as
they were violent, and have resulted in
somewhat disturbing our long accepted
and often stated belief concerning our
safety. No one knows how Don anOth-
er such storm may strike some other
section, or as the negroes 0 Rock
ingham would have it. NOW that the
track is open, another storm may come
along in the same path as before;' and
hence they dislike to build in the same
place.
Now, however, that the excitement
Of the time has somewhat subsidized, we
may as well take comfort in believing
that as no such storm has occurred be-
fore in the history of the State $50 far as
he record shows it may be an indefin-
itely long time before such an u &C.
ours Tin the State) again.
|. myself, was so little expecting such
a storm that it was not until l had Wis
tied Rockingham and examined the
track over which the tornado had pass
ed that | could full believe the reports
rs published in different papers. These
| reports reminded one very much of the
newspaper accounts of the Kansas tor
nadoes of 1879. But a personal exami-
| nation of the scene of destruction neal
Rockingham convinced me that with a
few minor exceptions the published ac-
| counts concerning the violence of the
storm and its destructive work had not
been greatly exaggerated. The tornado
after crossing the Pee Dee River, some
s miles below the Carolina Central r.
r. bridge, passed within about one mile
of Rockingham in a Northeast course.
The violence Of the wind seemed to
have varied along its course, as the
track shows greater violence from near
Rockingham on toward the Northeast
than from Rockingham back toward the
river. Over this course of the storm
the trees and houses were blown down
only along a definite track which track
varies from about 500 yards to one mile
wide.
Fortunate it was for the town OF
Rockingham that it was not in this path
Of the storm, as | fear but few of its
houses could have withstood the force
Of the wind. The negro settlement,
known as Philadelphia, unfortunately
for it, was made up of houses arranged
principally along the side of a road
which lay directly in the storms path,
about /! miles to the east or north
east Of Rockingham. The only houses
that escaped destruction here, and tor 5
miles along the track, were a few near
tha nntar linnit On fha ono Ciln or tho
other. 1t was through this settlement
that the destruction of life vas greatest.
The wonder is not that so many were
killed (1S) and wounded (75), but that
so many of the persons exposed to the
storm in this Rockingham region (about
2l3 in alp escaped.
As to the appearance of the track of
the storm, no one who has not seen
this one or some other can at all realize
how it looks and it would be useless
for me to attempt to describe it in a
short article like the present. In fact
it has a different appearance at different
places. For about II miles before the
storm path crosses the Carolina Central
r.. r. Coming from the SOUTHWEST it
passes through a forest of pines. Here,
with the exception Cf one place, but a
small proportion of the trees are blown
down. AT a point neal the railroad,
however. in about the center of the path.
over q space Of about |! acres every
tree, excepting a few very small ones,
has been Frustrated. Many trees are
left standing, however, all around this
place. For about 2 miles toward the
Northeast from this point the storm
path passes over a rolling or somewhat
hilly section, with alternating groves of
trees principally pine) and clear old
fields. Many trees and several houses
were blown over, but a large number of
trees are still standing.-some have
their tops broken Otf,-Some tough oaks
a foot III diameter are broken and splin-
tered several feet above ground. Along
through the Philadelphia settlement,
and for several miles beyond, the more
destructive portion of the storm path
was not more than half a mile wide.
Within this portion of the path very few
large trees were left standing. Practi-
cally everything was blown down ex-
cept tie small blackjack oaks, many of
which, though left standing, were badly
bruised and broken by the flying timbers,
which, being carried along by the wind,
struck against them. For several hum
dred yards on both sides of this central
portion of the path many large trees
were blown by the wind, but the des-
tructlon was not so complete as in the
central region.
There was a good deal of regularity
iii tie direction that the trees fell. as
they were blown over by the wind. Be
Ginning on right side Cooking toward