282 Tornado in N. E. part of Ohio, Feb. 4, 1842. 
tance of forty four paces—where it struck a tree; the bottom 
fell; the upper timbers were carried various distances, the clap- 
boards were broken to shivers and lie mostly strewed on the hill- 
side, which rises on the northeast, some lying loose upon the 
ground, and others sticking fast in the soil. Clapboards of the 
usual size and pieces of flooring with square ends were driven 
obliquely into the ground from six to twelve and even eighteen 
inches, and some with sharp ends to the depth of two feet. The 
soil is chiefly of clay, was at this time drenched with rain and 
was almost entirely free from frost. The land was not ploughed 
but covered with the usual turf. Other fragments of clapboards 
from this building, easily distinguished by their red color, are 
found strewed through the woods to the north and east, and some 
are said to’ have been discovered at a distance of seven or eight 
miles. 'The chimney of the house was carried N. 40° E., the 
ridge N. 30° W. A number of apple trees near by were almost 
entirely stripped of their bark, probably in consequence: of the 
cudgeling they received from sticks flying in the air. Four gees 
were found dead in this vicinity without any material loss of 
feathers. A large barn, containing ten tons of hay and a ton of 
straw, was unroofed and carried N. 25° E. six feet. A corm 
house, containing two hundred bushels of wheat and corm and 
three barrels of salt, was also unroofed.and moved from its foun- 
dations northward,—the west corner four paces, the east corner 
two paces. It ploughed into the ground, throwing up earth to 
the height of a foot or more, particularly at the northwest angle. 
The school-house M was lifted entire from its foundations, ca 
ried N. 10° W. twelve paces, and dashed upon the ground. ~The 
fragments were scattered as usual. ‘The hill towards the north- 
east was covered with a very heavy growth of timber,—he 
beech, oak, &c. of vast size.: Soarce a tree of any importance 
now stands entire. The breadth of the track at this place wa 
measured with a chain, 230 rods. 'T'wo waggons were carried 
in the tornado, and only one wheel has since been found. 
~The following data will enable us to estimate the velocity of 
the tornado’s progress. I requested Mr. Gates to follow in imagi- 
nation the:smoky column as he saw it advance from its 
pS a -and with a watch in my hand 
noted the time... 'The mean of three such trials, which wane’ 
Y consistent with each other, oar Rane: 
Sem 
