WADSWORTH & NIPHER TORNADO OF APRIL I4, 79. ID/ 



tornado come from? We had followed its path through town ; 

 it seemed to be a belt about 200 ft. wide, bearing a little north of 

 east. Had interviewed Mr. Wm. Friend, who stated that he, in 

 company with Messrs. Courtney and McKinney, was hunting 

 near the woods along the Cahokia creek (see i Diag. i) and ob- 

 sei-ved the clouds were moving in all directions, some of a dark 

 green color, others white as steam ; while discussing these pecu- 

 liarities they heard a roaring noise, just above the tree tops and a 

 little below them, in the creek, and saw a balloon-looking cloud 

 flying rapidly to the S.E., and remarked that there would be 

 trouble where that went. 



Mrs. J. W. Peers stated that she was looking out of a second- 

 story window to the S.W. of her residence (No. 2 Diag. 2 Collins- 

 ville) and saw a funnel-shaped cloud of a dark color approaching 

 from the S.W. over Mr, Gaskil's house in Germantown (see No. 

 30, D. 2) above the tops of the houses, and in a direct line with 

 the school building, and immediately recognized its great danger. 

 Impressed with the fact that her son was in that building, she- 

 stood spell-bound as it quickly passed over it, and, leaving the 

 tower still standing, felt the building was safe. She noticed as 

 it passed over that it became of inky blackness. (It had scat- 

 tered one of the large ventilating shafts down to the roof, and the 

 soot was the cause of the change in color.) 



Now here was a confusion difficult to understand. The course 

 through town was a little north of east. Mr. Friend's evidence 

 placed it S.E., while Mrs. Peers sent it to N.E. Determined to 

 solve this problem, we' commenced a survey of the line of the ap- 

 proach to the blufts at Mr. Sumner's farm (see No, 2, D. i), and 

 found it had continued in the same direction as through town. 

 Here we interviewed Mr. Alonzo Sumner, who stated as follows : 

 "Was standing beside a barn at the foot of the blufl', in company 

 with Mr. Nash, and observed the strange action of the clouds 

 over the valley, and almost immediately heard a great roaring 

 noise like a train of cars, and observed a cloud in the shape of a 

 cone, with the small end far to the front, coming over the woods 

 near the lake to the N.W. ; it was very white, like a fog. Just 

 then another barn below us turned over, in which were a number 

 of colored, refugees hallooing for help. The ground was covered 

 for some minutes With clouds so densely, that one could with diffi- 



