A REMARKABLE WHIRLWIND.

Patea Mail, 4 September 1882, Page 3

A REMARKABLE WHIRLWIND.

The following letter has been addressed to the Melbourne Argus : I was an eye-witness to the effects of the whirlwind which passed over the northern suburbs on Sunday afternoon. At Clinton Hill, while enjoying a cigar and watching two of my youngsters at play on the garden walk, I heard an unaccountable noise, like the sound of tropical rain that steadily nears a becalmed vessel. The air was so still that the leaves of the trees hung motionless, and minor sounds were audible at unusual distances. Turning to the eastward, whence the noise appeared to come, I saw the corrugated iron roof of a building, which was itself hidden from view by intervening villas, mount in the air and distribute itself with picturesque elegance as if by the action of dynamite. The trailing shreds of cloud dependent from the main mass of vapour above now began writhing in a manner very suggestive of a waterspout. Seizing a youngster with each hand, I made very good time indeed across the paddock. About midway the whirlwind passed me, its centre composed of pieces of sheet iron, bagging, slates, &c. This gyrating mass of lethal weapons was for the duration of a second within ten yards of the writer. It made the scene somewhat lively'. Instantly afterwards tha collection of odds and ends rose in midair a thousand feet up, circling towards Brunswick, where, I trust the distribution of gifts was heartily appreciated. To the six empty kerosene tins taken from my back j’ard I am sure the Brunswickers are heartily welcome.