Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1863-10-13
THE LAWS OF STORMS.

track towards the nearest Pole; and
the other is the law Of rotation, ac-
cording to which every storm is an
aerial eddy, or whirlwind. As great
whirlwind may be revolving so slowly
that the wind produced by it will vary
from a gentle breeze to a gale, the
term cyclone has been adopted for 1t.
Some ftheSe cyclones are exceeding
" destructive, In July, lUS, one
visited France, and destroyed the
crops in 1880 parishes. All the
storms thas have ever been traced IN
the middle attitudes of the Northern
hemisphere travel east-northward.-
The cyclones Of the North Atlantic
ocean arise in the Gulf of Mexico,
about 100 from the Equator, and
travel at first NORTHUMBERLAND, through
out the Gulf; then re-curve, sweep
along the coasts Of the United States,
and cross the Atlantic ocean. towards
Europe, in north easterly direction.
All the great West India hurricanes
on record, and most Of the great At
lantic storms have been carefully eX-
amined, and their paths mapped out !;
and all confirm the two laws euunci-
atcd. In the South Pacific Ocean
Investigations have also been made
respecting the character of the storms
which prevail there, and these have
also been found to be cyclones, but
moving il a different direction to
those in the northern hemisphere.
These laws were FIRST announced by
Colonel Capper, in 1901, in work
On winds and monsoOuS ; but the late
". c. Redield, of New York, was
the first person who fully investigated
the question, collected reliable data,
and published convincing proofs Of
his views, in the American Journa!
Of Science, in 1881. About this
time Major Reid, Of the British Army
was also investigating the same sub
iect, while residing in the West In
dies; and Mr.. Redtie!d's paper having
co,ue to his notice, he said, 1T was
the first publication he had met with
which appeared to convey any just
opinion on the subject Of hurricanes"
Mr.. Rsdield traced and mapped a
cyclone, which, in October 1916, pas
sed through Honduras, Cuba, and
extended beyond Newfoundland-a
distance of over 5000 miles. In
December of the same year, one was
trac d from Arkansas, across New
Jersey into the Atlantic ; and another
from Wisconsin, through Lake On
tario, into the Gulf Of St. Lawrence.
The width of these was usually linn
tied to from a hundred to hundred
and fifty miles but strange to relate,
the places of the beginning and end
ing Of these storms were undeter-
mined. Near the center Of cyclones
the aerial current sometimes moves
with terrific velocity, and they th'ra-
fore are very dangerous to vessels at
sea caughtin their whirls. Their ap-
proach is indicated by great fall of
the mercury in the barometer; but
an inexperienced navigator may be
errried around in one as IN whirI-
pool, for want of knowledge to guide
his bark in the safest course. The
clipper Charles HedlLs, c,ted by Mr..
Redfield, sailing from Mauritlus to
NIuscat, was caught by hurricane
and carried round and round in it for
III hours. Hurricaned occur most
frequently on the Atlantic Ocean in
the months of August and Septem-
Der; but they are not confined to
any month OF the year. The island
o. Mauritius lies directly in the hur-
rlcane track, aud being most favor
able situation for observing these, the
Government of France has done
much for the caase of science in erect
ing an observatory there. 1t has
been asserted by MIR. Bosquet, of this
observatory, that he can predict the
approach of a hurricane and deter
mine the course it will take. The
barometer, he states, is affected by an
advance aerial wave, which causes it
to stand higher than usual and this
inequality of atmospheric pressure
causes the mercury to oscillate fer a
period amounting to about "a hours
in advance of the hurricane.
The Gulf cyclones spend much Of
their force before they reach the
Nothern States; but they are very
dangerous to coasting vessels. Mr..
Kedield first suggested that the tel
egraph should be employed to give
notice Of their occurrence, and a coast
line of telegraph would undoubtedly
be valuable to vessels in port, in
giving them warning Of approaching
danger. The cause of such storms
is yet mystery. 1t has been as
serted BY some persons who have ex
pressed opinions on this subject, that
thsy are caused by volcanic eruptions,