Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-10-11
A CYCLONES FRANKS.
QUEER TRICKS PLAYED BY A MIS-
SOURI, WIND TWlSTER.

This storm, So IL II Alleged. Drove
wheat Straw. Through Pine Boards
Like Nails and Cut Up Other Very
Curious Capers-
People who have never travelled over
the track made 10y a cyclone always
look incredulous when told Cyclone
stories" But those who have had ex-
perience with the dread twisters or
Seen privileged TO note some of the
queer freaks perpetrated 10y the storms
are prepared to believe anything \
cyclone can perform most wonderful
freaks. Their power is not alone dem
onstrated by their dcStructiveneSs, for
often It seems that the storm is pos
seSSed Of HUMOROUS bent.
In the Grinnen Qa) cyclone about
Is years ago the storm perpetrated
some queer jokes. one victim of the
storm was gentleman whose resi-
dence was blown into space. He was
the pOSSeSSOr Of new frock coat.
which he had hung upon the wall Of
the sitting room Il few moments before
the storm struck. In the pocket of
the coat was a big silk handkerchief.
After the storm the coat was found
two miles from the spot where the
house had stood. but the handkerchief
was gone. and in its place was n brick
bat.
About Il years ago cyclone passed
over n portion OF Andrew county. Mo.
II struck near Elk Dale. n country
postofiice and played some queer
pranks. II struck an orchard and pro-
ceeded to show what II could do.
There were Is rows OF trees in the
orchard. Every other row was I'M
touched. and in the rows struck every
other tree was twisted off at the roots.
but every other tree in the stricken
rows was left uninjured.
Seated Snder a walnut tree near the
Elk Dale pOstofiice was n woman en-
gagged in churning with an old fashion
ed dasher churn. The cyclone snatch
ed the dasher from the churn and
drove IL through the wOman's thigh.
but the churn was not overturned, and
not a drop OF the milk was spilled.
a stretch of pine fence about 10
rods long was blown to pieces by this
storm. Broken bits Of board were
scattered all over the surrounding ter
ritory. Wheat had just been harvested.
and that storm drove the ripened
wheat straws through those pine fence
boards like so many nails splintering
the boards and remaining stuck there
in.
A country church several miles
northeast Of Elk Dale was struck by
the storm The building was lifted
L
quarter Of the way around and set
crosswise OF the foundation, and the
plasteriDg on the walls was scarcely
cracked.
This storm struck a farmhouse
where family OF five had just seated
themselves 10 eat supper. The frame
of the house was jerked into the air.
but the floor was uninjured, and the
family suddenly found themselves eat
ing supper in driving rain.
Among the other animals owned by
DR.. Bond Of Elk Dale was q colt that
promised to be n world beater on the
track. The storm forever settled the
fate of that colt. 1t picked the animal
up and carried il two miles and then
gently deposited it in the crotch of
an oak tree 80 feet from the ground.
This story would sound better if it
went on TO relate that the colt was
uninjured, but truth compels the state
ment that the colt was as dead as
Julius Caesar. The strange part OF
this incident is that there was neither
mark. bruise nor broken bone about
the animal. DR.. Bond insists TO this
day that the colt died of fright
n n a
Dale three horses and three COWS were
housed, the horses on one side of the
partition. the COWS on the other, horses
and COWS facing. The barn was de
molished, but not scattered, and the
middle horse and middle COW were
killed. The rest Of the animals were
uninjured
The steeple Of a church that hap
pened to be in the track of the storm
was jerked upward, turned upside
down and driven through the roof Of
the church, the point of the steepl'
resting on the spot where the minister
was wont to stand when reading tn,
Sunday lesson. The pulpit carpet coulC
be shifted under the point, and the
steeple itself could be swung a foo
or more in any direction.
Milt Laughlin's we'll on his farm wa
attacked by the cyclone. Water was
drawn by means of an old fashioned
wooden pump. and that pump, tubing
and all, was snatched out of that well
and no trace of them was ever found
The well, however, still remained.
This storm was not noted because o
its destructiveness of human life, n
one being killed, although a numbe
were severely injured. But it was de
structive OF property, demolishin;
houses and barns, killing stock ant
blowing the newly harvested whea
crop into the sweet subsequently. Yol
can tell the people living in it's tract
any kind of cyclone story. and the.
will believe it with all their hearts
They know what n cyclone can d.
when il tries.-Omaha World Herald
Rufus ChOate's Sharp Tongue.
Rufus Choate's thrusts were not al