The morning call., 1893-10-22
A GEORGIA STORM.
A Sort of Kindly Carefulness Charac.
teriZed All Its Franks.


Colonel Richard Malcolm Johnston, the
writer of Southern plantation sketches. tells
some wonderful stories about Georgia weather.
He admits that he would not believe them him
self were il not for bis unbounded faith in
everything Georgian in general. and his per-
sonal Knowledge and unlimited confidence in
the men who told him the stories in particular.
81 heard them" be said, "while on a visit TO
my old home in Hancock County, Georgia, some
years ago, and know that they are true. We
had big storm down there about ten years
ago; the folks called it hurricane, the weathe r
men said IL was a tornado. But, hurricane or
tornado, II cut some queer old capers. Colonel
Humber, over in Putnam County, saw the
storm coming up and knew II was going TO be a
big one. There were number of ladies al his
house, and. of course, his FIRST thought was for
! them, so he got them all safely in their rooms
and went down into The large hall which ran
through his house and shut the door. Now,
COlOnel Humber Is big man-weighS about
200 pounds When he got downstairs he
found the Storm was blowing through his hall.
way. and, before he knew what had happened.
il had picked him up, carried him out on his
lawn, aud laid HIM d0Wn-not roughly, but
gently. AT the same time 1t took heavy stone
and brick chimney of the house and laid 1t on
top of him 10 keep him in place. 1t didn't
throw The chimney on him, but laid IL down
with SO little force that only bis leg was broken.
In a moment or two another gust came along,
picked up the chimney and carried 1t of, and
Colonel Humber crawed back into the house
That same storm went little further on til !
1t came TO a barn IN which were TWO horses.
two mules and wo cows. These were in sep
arate compartments. With whir the roof OF
the barn was taken off as clean as whistle and
carried away, and while the stock was wonder
ing what had happened section OF the storm
went in the top of that barn, lifted those horses
and mules and cows nigh up In the air and set
them down again without hurting one of them.
But the queer part or the proceeding was that
Whr it had those animals In the air the tor.
nado changed their position so that when it set
them On their feet the mules were where the
cows had been, Ihe cows were in the horses
apartments and the horses were occupying the
mules stalls.
"But that storm hadn't finished cutting up
Its capers. 1t struck house In the same
county and made Its way into iady's chamber.
A bureau was standing against the wall. hav-
Ing on II lot OF such traps and lrnkets as
on. A bandbox with few laces inside was
standing by its side. The wind took that
bureau. moved IL to another part OF the room.
but didn't disturb the baDdbOx. Ii went int
with clothing. carried 1t out of window.
aud waited 1t over into Hancock County
my own cOunty-and deposited II into a
field forty miles away from the house
found there unbroken the next day and
returned to the owner, whose initials were
stenciled on lis end. L am glad, however," re-.
marked the genial colonel, as he wiped his
forehead, "that the storm Cidn't carry that
| trunk more than forty miles. l couldn't have
believed another mile.
Georgia Is great State" he continued,
"but even such storms as that do not occur
often. To prove that such queer things do
happen, there Is a section OF telegraph pole
IN the museum of the State University. This
pole has light cypress shngle sticking
through IT, about half OF il projecting from each
side. That shingle was picked up in a storm
and blown clear through the telegraph. pole and
left sticking there"