A FEARFUL TORNADO.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 186, 31 August 1871, Page 7

A FEARFUL TORNADO.

(CoiTCtpondcncc of the " Nno York Sim.")

Only a brief reference has been made to what was termed a tornado in Ulster county, near Cent eville, on Wednesday. It was almost an exact counterpart of the. Illinois cyclone, and, although it did not do much damage, solely because it passed over a partially uncultivated country, yet it was of a frightful character. We paid a visit to the scene this morning. Stopping at the Centrcvillo toll-gate, on the new Paliz road, wo accosted a middleaged woman, who gave her name as Mary York. Her husband is the gatekeeper. When we questioned her in relation to the cyclone, she said : " Tou see that there mountain over there. Well, near it is a bog meadow/ and it was there we first saw it cornin'. It made ur all look that way from the roarin' sound we heard. There was a light cloud about as big as the house, and round. It rolled over and over, and looked frightful. We could seethe trees in the mountain fonsts w'url round also, and the air was filled with dust and broken limbs. Then the ball of cloud stopped whirling a minute and next passed on close to the earth and across El Depew's corn field Every husk oK corn was torn into rib-

bons. ttuddenlv the cloud looked like a diunerhoru, and then 1 heard two or three loud explosions, and the water from the brook [)luugcd* upward into the cloud. Oh, it was awful! My daughter thought the world was coming to tin end. I was at raid it would st. ike the house, but it didn't It rolled on to M' Leans farm and blowed his 'iay press to atoms, besides moving his barn from its foundation and partially destroying the roof. All of his berry crop isg me. I saw one like it about forty yeais ;igo. This was quite close to the ear t!i.

Passing on to Cen'reville we met Eli Detnsey. His statement is as follows : "' I first heard it to the left of us, and ifc appeared to be a quarter of a mile away. I heard a single explosion, and then a mighty wind. Looking toward the cloud I saw boards, trees, rails and shingles whirling high in air. One

.ipple tree' went straight up into the air as far as I could see. We were all veA'y much fVirhtenpcl. I never saw siifh n ni-rht before in my life, no!"do I waut to agaiu. Along the mountain the the trees were leveled and whirled in every di ruction. In this place we all con cremated together awaiting the worst." L>i\in^ C< nt.-eviUe, wo drove to M' Lean's farm, where we met Vincent Bimpkins. The following is his stor\ 2 " I stw a cloud coining from the mountain. Tt looked like a funnel turned upside down. Then I heard a ie rifle roaring sound as from a rushing torront; next limbs of trees, rails,

&c, were whirled into the air. away up, and fences were prostrated. The cloud sometimes looked inky black, then red, then bright, then heavy explosions followed. Then it seemed as if theair was filled with smoke, and I thought there was a- largts- fire in Siinpsonville, as tnoro appeared to bo a noise as if from cnu-kYuiif flames. We all saw* the cloud niovinir towards us close to the earth. Lt rolled over and over like a hall. "We were greatly frightened by such an unusual sight, and all the members of the household left for an open lot. .David Sauford threw himself o.i the gioundand grasped a berry-stake. T ie cloud passed the house, and, striki;iT t\e hay press demolished it in an instant, and, passing on, hit the barn md moved it two feet from its foundation. As the hay pres3 fell flying timbers struck Mr. Sanford on the head and badlyhui't him, rendering him un*conscious. Tie is, however, slowly recovering. He says when the wind first struck him he was partially lifted from the ground, and would hav3 been carried away if it had not been for the berry-stake. .Some boys who were swimming in th* brook h.^ard the roar, and,!ha»teniug out, threwthemse'lves on the ground also, and were only saved by grasping saplings. It was a terrible bight. I never saw anything like it. Tfc conH nit have pissed over a wide tract of land, say about 100 feet in width and two miles in length.

From a conversation with other parties we should judsje that tlie damage done was not serious, because of the narrow tract which the whirlwind covered. That it was a remarkable phenomenon there is no doubt. Strange to say, iii the walce of the cyclone there w/is no rain on any account ; but half a mile from ifc, on either side, the water fell in torrents. When the cloud conuected with the water hi the brook, there were loud crackling reports, which were heaid ■for miles, and then the cloud assume d a strange form, resembling two funnels with their mouths put together [t looked as if it rolled from the mountain top down th rough the valley, and then, after a bowling along the ground for two miles, shot upward and disappeared. $1,000 will cover the less.

V school in aster in Binuiit rharapton, N. T., has been fined $1,700 for circulating a copy of verses found upon the floor of his school-room, ia which the character of a lady in the neighborhood was maligned. The aefclon was brought under the new law, making it an offence to impute a want of chastity to a woman ; and ifc is said fchafc some members of the jury were ia favor of placing the damages a£ $10,00:). The writer of the veraesi* now to be proceeded against