The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-10-14
CAPERS OF a STORM.
Some Wonderful Stories Told by COL
OneI johnson.


Colonel Richard Malcolm Johnson,
the writer of Southern plantation
sketches, tells some wonderful stories
about Georgia weather. He admits that
he would not believe them himself were
il not for his unbounded faith in every
thing Georgian in general, and his per
sonal knowledge and unlimited conf
dence in the veracity of the men who
told him the stories in particular. II
heard them" he said TO Baltimore Sun
man, "whilc on visit 10 my old home in
Hancock County, Georgia, some years
ago, and / know that they are true. We
had a big storm down there about ten
years ago; the folks called it a hurri-
cane, the weather man said it was n tor
nado. But hurricane or tornado, it cut
some queer old capers. Colonel Humber,
over in Putnam County, saw the storm
coming up, and knew it was going to be
a big one. There were IA number of ladies
at his house and. of course, his first
thought was for them, so he got them all
safely in their rooms and went down in
to the large hall which ran through his
house and shut the door. Now, Colonel
Humber is big man weighs about two
hundred pounds. When he got down
stairs he found the storm was blowing
through his hallway and before he knew
what had happened it picked him up,
carried him out on his lawn and laid him
down-not roughly, but gently. AT the
same time it took heavy stone and
brick chimney off the house and laid it
on top of him to keep him in place. 1t
didn't throw the chimney on him but
laid it down with so little force that only
his leg was broken. In moment or
two another gust came along, picked up
the chimney and carried it of and Col
onel Humber crawled back into the
house.
"That same storm went little farther
on till 1t came to barn in which were
two horses, two mules and two cows.
These were in separate compartments.
W 18th whirl the roof OF the barn was
taken off as clean rs a whistle and car
red away, and while the stock was won
dering what had happened section Of
the storm went in the top of the barn,
Gifted those horses and mules and cows
high up in the air and set them down
again without hurting one Of them. But
the queer part of the proceeding was that
when it had those animals in the air the
tornado changed their positions so that
when it set them down on their feet the
mules were where the COWS had been,
the cows were in the horses apartments
and the horses were occupying the mules
stalls.
"But that storm hadn't missed cutting
up its capers. 1t struck house in the
same county and made its way into a
lady's chamber. A bureau was standing
against the wall, having on it lot of
such traps and trinkets as ladies usually
ave-cosmetics, bottles and so on. A
bandbox with few laces inside was
standing by it's side. The wind took
that bureau, moved il to another part of
the room, but didn't disturb the band
box. 1t went into another lady's room,
picked up trunk filled with clothing,
carried it out of window and waited it
over into Hancock County-my own
county-and deposited it in a field forty
miles away from the house from which it
had been taken. 1t was found there un-
broken the next day and returned to the
owner whose initials were stenciled on
its end. am glad, however" remarked
the genial colonel. as he wiped his fore
head, "Ihat the storm didn't carry that
trunk more than forty miles. | couldn't
have believed another mile
N