Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1894-03-03
cAPERs OF \ STORM.
AnimAis and Property Tossed About
with Care BY a Cyelone.

AnimAis and Property Tossed About
with Care BY a Cyelone.
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 him
self we're it not for his unbouuded
faith in everything Georgian In gen
eral and his personal knowledge and
unlimited confidence in the yeracity
OF the men who told him the stories
in particular.
Il heard them, y he said to q Balti-
more sun reporter. ..while on a visit
20 my old home in Hancock county,
Georgia. some years ago. and know
that they arc true. We had a big
storm down there about ten wears
ago The folks called il a hurricane;
the weather man said il was a tor
nadO- But hurricane or tornado. IL
cut some queer old capers. Colonel
Humber. over in Putnam county. saw
the storm coming up and knew it
was going 10 be big one.
There were a number Of ladies
at has house. and OF course his first
thought was for them. so he got
them all safely into their rooms and
went down into the large hall which
ran through his house, TO shut the
door Now. Colonel Humber is a
big man-weighs 2l0 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 and
carried him out on his lawn and laid
him down. not roughly. but gently.
AT the same time il took a heavy
stone and brick chimney of the
house and laid il on top Of him TO
keep him in place. 1t didn't throw
the chimney on him, but laid It down
with 50 little force that only his leg
was broken II a moment or two
another gust came along. picked up
the chimney and carried il of, and
Colonel Humber crawled back into
the house
That same storm went a little
further on. till il came to a barn in
which were two horses. two mules
and two COWS These were in sep
arate compartments With a whirl
the roof Of the barn was taken on rs
clean as whistle and carried away.
and while the stock was wondering
what had happened. section OF the
storm went in the top Of that barn.
lifted 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 pro-
ceeding was that when ii had those
animals in the air, that tornado
changed their positions so that when
it set them on their feet the mules
were where the cows had been, the
cows in the horses apartments and
the horses we're occupying the mules
stalls.
''But the storm hadn't finished cut.
ting up its capers. II struck a house
in the same county and made its way
into lady's chamber. A bureau was
standing against the wall. having on
it a lot Of such traps and trinkets as
ladies usually have-cosmetics. bot
ties and so on A bandbox with q
few laces inside was standing by its
side.
1.-The wind took that bureau
moved il to another part Of the room.
but didn't disturb the bandbox. II
went into another lady's room. picked
up trunk filled with clothing. car
rled it out Of window and waited it
over into Hancock county-my own
county-and deposited il in a field
forty miles away from the house
from which il had been taken.
ut was found there unbroken the
next day and returned 20 the owner.
whose initials were stenciled on its
end | am glad. however, - remarked
the genial colonel. as he wiped his
forehead, that the storm didn't
carry that trunk further than forty
miles. / couldn't have believed
another mile
Georgia is a 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 a telegraph
pole in the museum OF the State
university. This pole has a light
express shingle sticking through It,
about half Of 1t projecting from each
side. That single was picked up
in storm and blown clear through
the telegraph pole and left sticking
there.
a Dangerous ~Soardsr.