Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-06-30
NATURAL PHENOMENA.

In New York paper recently, there
was a strange story about a little girl
detying The lightning like Ajax of old.
The story was to the effect that dur
ing a thunder storm few weeks ago,
lightning struck tree near the house
OF an Episcopal minister, and a ball
Of fire the size of a mans fist went
through an open window and fell
spinning on the floor. The minister's
little daughter jumped up and in
stinctively kicked the ball of fire into
the hallway and thence out the front
door, and to the ground where it
sputtered a few moments and finally
disappeared.
The writer a few days ago recited
this story in conversation with a
well known York county farmer, and
when the conversation drifted on va
rious other natural phenomena, in
cluding cloudbursts and water-spouts,
the farmer who is a man Of the best
intelligence and Of unquestionable
veracity told this story which is so
strange, unusual and interesting as to
be well worth printing:
"One day, some forty years or
more ago, while 1 was plowing in the
field with some negroes, / noticed
overhead a small dark speck, that
seemed no larger than a good sized
hat. Except for this speck, and I had
no definite idea of what II was at the
time, the sky was cloudless. Pres
emily the speck began to grow notice.
ably larger, and after a few minutes,
it obscured the sun. 1t continued to
expand and directly there came a
downpour Of rain, which was so heavy
as to make me hurry to little shell
ter house in the field. The negroes
began to make for the shelter house
at the same time. Before 1 got to the
house my breathing became uncom-
Portable because at every breath
seemed to take in enough water as to
almost make me strangle. I put UP
my hand In an effort to shield my
nose but 1t seemed to do no good. II
was as II were being ducked. When
l got under the shelter, l found no
change although l could see objects
for quite a distance, the atmosphere
seemed charged with fifty per cent OF
water. The negroes who were plow-
ing with me were similarly affected
and all the mules which were breath
ing with apparent difficulty were ex-
pelling water from their mouths and
noses. After what seemed an age, but
which could not have been longer than
a few minutes, the atmosphere began
to get right again and we were able
to breathe more comfortably.
ION making survey Of the situa-
tion, I found that the downpour had
covered but a small area, extending
less than a quarter Of a mile In each
direction; but the runs, bitches and
gullies through the broken ground over
which the shower fell were all fuller
of water than had ever known them
before, or have ever seen them since
and cotton rows had been washed into
bitches.
Now as to just what was the cause
Of all this" the speaker concluded, 81
do not yet fully understand; but as
have reasoned 1t out, have concluded
that 1t must have been a very severe
cloudburst. Under peculiar condi-
tions Of the atmosphere a very large
quantity of vapor must have been con-
densed in an unusually small space,
and we on the ground must have been
surrounded by one Of those very black
clouds that we generally see over
head"