, 1873-05-26

! Tha recount Of tho fearful tornado which
! swept through two counties In Iowa, on Thurs.
| day last, las alroady boon giyon in our col
| umns tn vory graphic detail, by our correspond
! onts on tho spot. Incredible aa como OF theso
details msy appear, thoy arc nevcrsbeleas true.
! No words can oxaggerato tho destructive povor
! of ono Of thcso eycIones whom 1t gathers full
forco and sets out upon It's orrand of disaster
and death. In D Lowell country nothing oau With
! stand their shock. Tho tlrmly~rootod mountains
odes the only barrlor to their progrosa, and ovou
| upon mountain-sido they will destroy treos,
shrubs, and vegetation, md hurl rocks about
like playthinga, before they aro finally diasi-
patcd. Tho recent tornado, In Its various fen
tures, recalls that which destroyed tho towna OF
oamancho and New Albany, in the eamo stato,
aouae years ugo, with tho exception tlat tho
Camancho tornado travelled much faster
than tho Washington ono, and passed
ovor much wider and longer OK
tent Of country, not having expended It's
force entirely until 1t roachea aomn rnin. ii,
Eastern Wisconsin. In their methods OF dcstruc-
tion, howover, tho two woro precisely similar.
1n each Of these disasters the Same popularity OF
total destruction was visible. It is not romark-
able that largo and prominent objects liko
houaca, churches. barnB, or even trees, should
bo rent to pieces when struck by this terrible
whirllng wind, but it's capabilities for destroying,
tearing asunder, splitting, aud literally picking
to pieces the sma]leat and most minute objects
even, almoat staggor belief The accentricitsoa
md freaks Of theso tornAdoes in caus1ng do
struosion have no parallel in any other Of tho
natural forcea. The Oamancho tornado, like
that at Warrington, plucked tho feathers from
fowls, literally fayed cattlet diBembowe}el
shoep, cleaned corn-cobs Of every kernel, toro
grass up by tho roots, wronohod the leaveB out
of books, tore the loayoa of from shrubs, md
denudea trooa which were not torn up Of thoir
bark. Thore WAS, in fact, nothing 30 small
or Insignificant as to escape their viattation.
They wero thoroughly impartial in the beatowal
Of thosr favors, although tho rosults Of their
rough handling OF things were not always the
aa1na. For instance, In tho Camanoho tornado,
ono pihno was whirlod through tho air tor at
least an eighth Of a mile, and whom 1t camo down
alightea like cat, feet 1rat, into tho soft mud
Oh tho river bank, mono tho worao for itB ae1iaa
journey, except that after such shaking up It
needed tuning. All tho rest Of tho pianoB In
CanaanoAo however, were torn into splintors.
In the Washington tornado, aome cattle which
took tho aamo journey as tho rest escaped ull-
harmed, Whilo others had their hides taken or,
horns and all, or wero driven head first lulo tho
ground.
It is eyfdont from the operations Of thoso tor
nadoas that science can suggost no precautions
against them. Their origin il aa mysterious Us
their rosu1t sdisastrous They give no warning Of
their coming by any unusnal agitntion OF nature.
They leave no time for the Escape OF anything
Within thoir oou,Ho. II has thug far almost al
Ways happened thai their visitations hayo boon
attended by hot, sultry atmosphere, still,
dead air, and peculiar yollowiHh lfght but those
arc conditions which often occur in tue warm
soason, aud may happen many tlu,os IN q
summer without causing any natural phonomo-
non or disturbance Of any sort whatever. solenco
may predict tho coming rain and SNOW and itn-
mediate changos In Temperature. It may even
indicato with certainty tho approach Of heayy
galea, hut 1t can no moro Indicate with cortainty
tho visitation OF q cyclone thau it can the erup-
tion Of q volcano or tho outbreak Of IN Garth
quake. Thirty or forty years ago, little whirl
OF dust In yil1ago street in Western Mnasachu-
sotta. such Us may DO aeon almoat any summon
day. developed rapidly into tornado,
which swept for miles with torrlflc
fury, until 1t was broken by tho
Dorkshro hills, with which 1t came in contact.
Uauully, however, there is not even this much
notice giyou. The hugo monster whirlB through
tue air With the apocd OF riflo-ball, and swoops
down upon yillagc 80 audaen1y tint but worry
few people in it's eourso hayo time to oaeapo to
their cellars or othor underground o1cavatiom
which arc tho only places OF safety. 1n m on
tiroly opon country, whero the Wow IL unob-
struotod, tho approach Of tho tornado may DO
aoon for some distance, II tho slsy happens to be
clear, but even then its spoed Is 10 rapid that 1t
strikes yil1ago almost as soon as 1t is discover
cd. It affords no data. however. for seleutiQo