5l6 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO I76I. 



on which it fell with the utmost fury, and in a moment effected its complete de- 

 struction. 



The house was of wood, 2 stories high, and both the chimneys of stone. 

 Near the house were a shop and small shed ; and the barn stood on the opposite 

 side of the road, about 10 rods distant. As soon as they perceived the stonn 

 coming near the house some men within endeavoured to shut the south door; 

 but before they could effect it they were surprized by the falling of stones around 

 them, from the top of that chimney which was in the middle of the house. All 

 the people in the house were in that instant thrown into such a consternation, 

 that they can give no account of what passed during this scene of confusion, 

 which was indeed very short. Where the house stood nothing remained but the 

 sills, and the greater part of the lower floor, with part of the two stacks of 

 chimneys, one about 10 feet, and the other not quite so high; the stones which 

 had composed the upper part lying all around them. Except these sills, there 

 were only 3 pieces of timber, and those very large, left entire ; one of which, 

 about l6 feet long, and 10 inches by 8, was found on the opposite side of the 

 road, nearly south, about 20 rods distant from the house. The rest of the tim- 

 bers, from the greatest to the least, lay broken and twisted to pieces between 

 N.N.E. and E. for 70 or 80 rods from the house ; some on the ground, others 

 sticking into it a foot and two feet deep in all directions. Part of one of the 

 main posts, about 10 feet long, with part of one of the plats of nearly the same 

 length, and a brace which holds them together, were left sticking in the ground, 

 nearly perpendicular, to a great depth, in a field southerly from the house about 

 8 rods distant. The boards and shingles of the house, with 3 or 4000 new boards 

 which lay by it, were so entirely shattered, that scarcely a piece could be found 

 above 4 or 5 inches wide, and vast numbers were not more than 2 fingers wide; 

 some within the course of the wind and some without, at great distances on both 

 sides of it. What has been said of the boards and shingles was likewise true of 

 the wooden furniture of the house: the tables, chairs, desks, &c. shared the 

 same fate; not a whole stick was to be found of any of them. Some of the beds 

 that were found were hanging on high trees at a distance. Of the heavy uten- 

 sils, pewter, kettles, and iron pots, scarcely any was found. Some nails that 

 were in a cask in the east chamber were driven in great numbers into the trees 

 on the eastern side of the house. The shop and shed before mentioned were 

 torn in pieces, nothing of the shop remaining but the sills and floor; and a horse 

 standing under the shed was killed. Only one person was killed. 



From the whole, it seems highly probable that the house was suddenly plucked 

 off from the sills (to which the upright posts are not fastened), and taken up 

 into the air, not only above the heads of the persons who were on the lower 

 floor, but to the height of those parts of the chimneys which were left standing. 



