H. S. Whitfield on Tornadoes in the Southern States. 97 
up to a considerable elevation. I have seen a pine tree, six- 
teen inches in diameter and sixty feet long, float out from the 
black -vortex of one, at the height of a quarter of a mile, and 
sail round, to all appearance, as light as a feather. 
In May, 1868, a very destructive tornado originated in the 
extensive flats on the Bigbee river, south of Columbus, Miss., 
and crossed Pickens and Tuscaloosa counties, Ala. A few 
days after its passage I visited the wreck of a large, two-story, 
framed house which had stood in its way, twelve miles east of 
Columbus. The timbers were soaiterel? for miles along its 
9 and all the family, five in number, were killed. Thei 
ies were found at some distance from the site of the house, 
Weighing sixty pounds. It was transported more than a hun- 
dred yards. 
Jy 
To produce such results required a pressure of at least one 
poun every square inch, a force fearful to contemplate as 
possible for the wind. Some idea can be formed of it when we 
reflect that this house, being fifty feet long by twenty-five in 
. ary O J direc- 
ton of gyration coincides with that of progression. Should the 
\dvancing speed of the storm just equal the velocity of rotation, 
then on one side the effect would correspond with the sum of 
as the tornado would go forward. 
ble Sesmestiue accurately the average speed of 
__ ‘Me to fix upon forty miles per hour as very near the truth. 
Am. Jour. 8c1.—Tu ep Series, VoL, II, No. 8—Aveust, 1871. 
7 
