Tornado, April 29, 1909. 31 



almost due east course. Near here a piece of wood was found 

 driven into a solid telephone post which was still standing. 



After destroying the schoolhouse it seems that the tornado 

 lifted a little, or became more diffused and less intense, as there 

 was less evidence of destruction, and the house of Mr. Swift, 

 which appeared to be in the line of the storm's path, was unhurt. 

 From this point the track lay for some distance through open 

 fields and nothing remarkable was noted. 



About three miles from the starting place it crossed the Clarks- 

 ville and Port Royal pike, at an acute angle, going northeast 

 through the Anderson place, swept a cabin away, which was at 

 the top of a slope, and, descending on the other side, it destroyed 

 the Anderson barn, but only partially damaged the residence, 

 which was a little to the left of the track. Just here it passed 

 squarely over a deep sink-hole with very steep sides. This sink 

 was estimated at fifty feet deep and perhaps two hundred feet in 

 diameter. 



The work of the tornado here was very remarkable. Instead of 

 skipping across this deep hole, as might have been expected, its 

 destructive power was manifested down to the very bottom of the 

 sink, which was full of trees. The trees were smashed off and 

 forced down into the hole on all sides, some of them falling in 

 the very teeth of the advancing storm. 



Just beyond this sink hole a large old house, occupied by Mr. 

 Dunn, was torn to pieces and caught fire and burned up. 



Next the track crosses a deep, but rather wide, valley or ravine. 

 Here the trees were mostly twisted ofif some distance above the 

 ground; but after ascending the slope and coming to the brink of 

 a steep declivity, instead of jumping across, the blast of air seems 

 to have rushed down the steep slope and the trees were destroyed 

 dowm to the bottom, almost as in the sinkhole. 



Going further, to the Henry Whitfield place, the tornado fell 

 upon the house of Mr. Cox. Here houses and fences were swept 

 clean away and a heavy grove of oaks nearby smashed and splin- 

 tered in a wonderful manner. The family was blown out of the 

 house and scattered about, one boy had a leg broken and an- 

 other's skull was fractured, but neither fatally hurt. A little be- 

 yond this place a large sycamore tree stood to the right of the 

 track in a low place. Most of the limbs and top were torn of¥ 



