, 1870-07-23
TORNADO AT 0WAT0NNA.

Fearful Starn of Wind. Without
itnin or Iiniz Houses, 'Fr.c> ANTI
Fences HeAtrutcd--a lsrtIlinlls Air
Fscnh hnd il~ Explosion.
0uasuna tJoiy auj Correspondence Of tie 81 fnuut
{fsas
This morning, II about half-past . o'clock,
this citr was ylrltt.l aIv the most terrific and
destructive tornado winch 1t has ever known.
Tie round house Of the Ninona t st. Peter
Ea1lfua1 COMPANY wAa Nnranfed. ~ttl large
portion OF the walls demolished. The Gu
t-ius "Cler1uuut" was uear1y hurel III the
debrir, hut Sustained no serious damage.
The night watchman was in the ho,1se
~hc,, it tell. hut found safe refuge in the pit
u,1dt rncatl the engine tender. Tue wheel of
the Windmill on the emincnce west Of the
.1ty wae completely destroyed. This wheel
unA nearly Que hundred feet in diameter. 4
l-rgc ice house was blown to atou,s. The
clleere factory was SO badly daE,ageI AZ to be
,l1.tlt TOR further Use without repairs, aud
a1u told that the summers = accumulation Of
cheese n,let he removed. do nut know
ahet4er tue disaster will occa+iou an iNtelrup-
lion in the Manufacture or not.
The upper portion OF t1c frouts Of several
buildings wa. tlou1, OF: awnings AMI 4igu
loa.,ls we're badly damaged; trees aui garden
fences suffered severely. aut! c1im:ets all
rut-ahlli.alnEs were quite gcnn.alv cap
sized. Some roofs wete quite bally broken,
and tthetr damaged but little.
There VA. ueitl,cr rain nor hail. There
seemed 10 le one current approaching the city
irtm ihc southwest anu auutAer from the
saathcast ard ~hrn / ::7ft noticed these crs-
rc1te they ncrc quite distant from
"a. il otLer. but ti,ey rapidly approached, ron
/ ,rrgiug directly npou the city. When app2-
rcutls \ mile away. there srreare,l miawsy
| between the two currents. and At Il Inv eleys-
tim, . iiFtt, small at tir~t. hn: gradually i'll
Ct, as..:s u1.sl it reached the size OF All otll-
pa1s l.,.rsLcad. Its base wa parallel to the
! ru,f fase If tho earth The slusss seemusl tu
| appltsrla each other II au inclination OF about
t1irtv degrees. At the top Of this con.. aad
Apparently ju-t separated fr'm il; arl'e're1t
| l,,isht blaze, which shut toward tho zenith il
,oslel flames, judge from ten to titiees
| feet in height. The cote beneath the l'laze
seemed to Taro1ye rapidly around at
| nxir, yesr,cle to the centre Of tile earth
| The bri1iiancy OF this air-fenti became
co1,stantls more intense as the currents 4p
proachcd each other, aud it's revolutions be-
came pspporuonAtelv more rspil, uutil in the
ehock caused ht shc collision which occur1et
on Cc.las street. xume duffy Th!s uurtA OF tat
| public -.iuare-a terrific aid deaftniug Houtlt
was beard, followed hy dispersion Of son
lif,y frasments OF electrical light, in ~
rhoeheiins il every erection. approach
,ug the earth. and withdrawing from it il
f.ntaetic. though APPALLING gyratious
| 1'hr scene Of this phenonacnou ~a* the Fesio
Of the greatest disaster. The wind tle'
| sharply but did not do the damage. Thez
was tie,cc aud tc11iblr force in tho air, nc
the air it-elf. whseh nothing could wi,hstant
Sue1e shingles were pucke1 from rsufs. Ou
picket was torn from the fence. while liz fc
fowr we1c unuoved, A single row of onion
| in 4 neightsore Rafa!en HeEe torn trom I'll
ground. and the others left to GruW and 17pe
ucdi.turLe1
The foregoing facts furnish data Lt,o
which hare the following theory: The exec
, | siye beat Of the two preceding days M. euc
a. to produce great disturbance IN the atuua
rherr, and to give rise to the formation
strong wrial c,lrrruts. which. after heeouii
.. complicated. Eioted 4 while in close combs
md then separated. l'ashsps by electric.
. fprcc, formed again in different quarters
two strong channels OF moving alr enleFEit
!. upon a common centre. Approaching e.:
\ niher The erace through WHICH the elce:t'ci
Inherent III the air WAS diHusea. bccau
rapidly less, and still 1ess. II the sAn
time It would be carried along II its o.
adhesion 10 the moving mh"~ OF csont'
1t thu. became gradually condensed, n
by itr own motion, together with the cunstAt
: II increasing pressure Of the approaching Gu
Il reu,s. forming walls through ah,ch it cou
| not break, ard tho friction czr.eed hy tho n
T. hilisv Of itf own PARTICLES upon themselss
j., intensified the hea, until it became tsst luu
= nous, then larnbeni. then concentrated in Il
~ citle form. anu finally. tirla.re to the i'ov
Ii pf its own explosive forcc, burst SsunA
forming numerous batls of concenslated II
nhich aiscolo.el and spent shc.1 fury On E
e rounding Objects
Traces OF this tornado arc visible a. far e
4. Lewiston. unattended. however, bs any
nous damage