100 HS. Whitfield on Tornadoes in the Southern States, 
face at about fifteen hundred yards, and its diameter, consider- 
ing it a sphere, at about six hundred. It was entirely at rest. 
e first view of this cloud suggested to me the possibility 
of a tornado, and I watched it closely as I drove along in my 
buggy. While I was driving, leisurely, more than a quarter of 
a mile, it maintained its position and outline unchanged. At 
length a farm house with its shade trees intercepted the view 
for about a minute, and when I came again in sight of it, the 
projection beneath the cloud appeared in violent commotion. 
There was now no longer any doubt of the character of the 
ibited, and satisfied, from a knowl- 
near me, I leaped from the buggy and released the horse as 
quickly as possible, in order to give him a chance for his life. 
This did not occupy more than a half a minute, and when I 
turned to look again, the black column was formed, reaching 
from the cloud to the ground. A few moments showed that it 
was rapidly approaching. I remember noticing small frag- 
ments of cloud moving toward it from the north, but there 
was no perceptible breeze where I stood. When about a mile | 
distant I saw that it would go south of me, and at this time I 
1. The gyratory motion was distinctly visible. When a little 
farther on, it became so enveloped in douse as to be no longer 
distinguishable, but I knew, by the now frequent peals 0 
thunder, that it was increasing in violence and levelling all 
things in its path. 
is tornado was formed about a mile and a half southwest 
cen refuge within on its approach. 
e are other like instances well au- 
