254 Account of a Hurricane at Shelhyville, Tenn, 



ley of the Mississippi that there is a constant current of air setting 

 in from the Gulf and blowing up our water courses. This is occa- 

 sionally interrupted for a few days by a wind in a contrary direction, 

 accompanied usually by rain. Probably this^s only an apparent 

 variation produced by the gyral motion of the wind operating on a 

 very large and extended scale. The smaller gyrations which pro- 

 duce our thunder gusts and tornadoes come very sensibly from the 

 southwest. It will be seen from an inspection of the map of North 

 America, that the mountains of Tennessee present the first obstruc- 

 tion which this great southwestern current of air meets with in its 

 progress across our continent. That country is in a position which, 

 while it catches and is refreshed by the softest zephyrs and the most 

 refreshing showers of this great atmospheric current, likewise ex- 

 poses it to the first rude blasts of its angry tempests. More than 

 any other portion of the United States it bears on its bosom the scars 

 of many an awful contest with this tremendous power, and its up- 

 rooted forests tell us too plainly the overwhelming force of the un- 

 conquered enemy. 



The writer had an opportunity of witnessing one of those awfully 

 grand and terrific convulsions of the atmosphere, which nearly de- 

 stroyed the town of Shelby ville, in the month of June, 1830. For 

 some days previous to the catastrophe the air had been unusually 

 calm, sultry, and oppressive. It was a very fortunate circumstance 

 for the inhabitants of the village that they were reposing quietly in 

 their beds when the tornado swept over them. Had it occurred in 

 the day time, when the people were moving about, and when the 

 doors and windows were all open, the loss of life must have been 

 much greater. It may be well to remark here, that it was found 

 from the experience of that night, that the complete closing of doors 

 and windows, so as to exclude the external atmosphere, was of the 

 utmost importance. Not a house stood, whose doors and windows 

 were left open, or were too weak to resist the impulse of the wind. 

 On the night of the storm at Shelhyville, a strong western gale blew 

 throughout the State of Tennessee, and several distinct gyrations 

 were formed in different portions of the current. The town of 

 Charlotte, sixty miles northwest from Shelhyville, was blown down 

 two hours before the destruction of the latter. Another gyration 

 took place twenty miles northeast of Shelhyville, which destroyed a 

 farm, and was equally violent with that at Shelhyville. The clouds 

 began to cluster in the west, and the wind to blow, at an early hour 



