302 Tornado at Wisconsin. [April, 
east sixteen rods. One wheel was entirely broken to pieces 
and the tire left hanging on a tree io feet from the ground. 
This tire, J in. thick, i and i|- ins. wide, and very slightly 
worn, was broken twice in two and bent in such a manner 
as to show that it had been aCted upon by a force of great 
power. 
Eighty rods north-east of Osmonson’s stood a house 
belonging to Mrs. Ketchum. This house was on the south 
side of a hill. It was taken bodily from the foundation, up 
the hill north, and left in a little niche in the woods north- 
west from its starting point fifteen rods. The family escaped 
by going to the cellar. 
The storm bent to the north at this point, destroying 
everything in its course, and scattering the debris east, west, 
north, and south. The deed of a farm, the house and two 
barns of which were destroyed, was found ten miles distant. 
A portion of an organ in the house was found 4J- miles 
directly north, while the boiler and some cooking utensils 
were carried east one mile. On the bank of Sugar river a 
granary and log house were destroyed. The stove, a part of 
the furniture, and some of the logs of the house were blown 
into the river. A lady school teacher boarding at the house 
was saved from the same fate by a log falling upon her and 
holding her down. And this work of destruction proceeded 
until in Jefferson county the storm entered an open marsh 
and was dissipated. 
It has often been noticed that the severity and destructive 
violence of tornadoes is much greater in some portions of 
their path than in others. In the present case there are 
instances of buildings remaining uninjured while strong ones 
near by were destroyed. In many places where there was 
continuous timber there would be strips from ten to thirty 
rods long in a direction parallel to the axis of the storm, 
where nearly every tree was prostrated, then an interval 
where little damage was done, and again another piece where 
all were down. TraCts of interrupted violence frequently 
reached entirely across the track of the tornado, but they 
usually extended only partly across. In Prof. Daniells's 
opinion they were more frequent north of the axis than 
south. 
