Infrequency of Such Events More to be wondered at Than Fact That They Occur.
Probably the most remarkable thing about the many reported showers of such objects as fish, frogs, toads and the like is the skepticism with which the accounts of these occurrences are greeted. The wonder is, observes a writer, not that they occur, but that they are so infrequent. Everybody has seen the wind carry away, to be deposited in parts unknown such light objects as leaves and scraps of paper. Everybody has also heard, at least, of the astonishing feats performed by tornadoes and hurricanes in transporting much heavier articles.
For example, at Beauregard, Miss., April 22, 1883, the solid iron screw of a  cotton press, weighing 675 pounds, was carried 900 feet. On another occasion a hencoop weighing 75 pounds was transported four miles. In a tornado at Mount Carmel, Ill., a piece of tin roof was carried 15 miles and a church spire 17 miles. What goes up must come down. We know, from the facts first cited, that the fall of so light and common an object as a frog, for example, must happen rather frequently in any part of the world subject to high winds.
Post a Comment