The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-05-30

fFrOm the New York journal or commerce.
Philosophy of the Tornado and IDS
meteorological Forcrunncrs.
Some people, who have never seen tor
nado at work, or visited places il has made
desolatc, may suspect the Iowa reporters
of exaggeration. But there is no exhibit
ton of power incredible in full-blowing
tornado Its general movement is a hun
dred miles an hour, and its rotary motion
one of unestimated rapidity. The atmos-
phere, itself Il material and ponderable
substance, is compressed in the whirl and
dashed against all objects with the force
of thousand battering rams. An explo-
sion of gunpowder is merely the release of
pent-up gases, themselves of great tenuiiy,
but producing the known results by the
speed of their initial motion. Water,
soft yielding body in its quescent state,
il capable of lifting up stones hundreds of
tons in weight and hurting them high upon
the beach, In all these cases the force of
the first impact supplies the want of sol
idity in the materials which do the mis-
chief, as is again illustrated by the fami-
liar experiment of shooting tallow can
die through board. 4 prioyi, there is
nothing surprising in the accounts re-
ceivcd of the Iowa whirlwind. 1t could
tear up trees and blow down the strongest
houses and stone walls, and bear human
beings, cattle, hogs, sheep, and everything
else in its path, through the air for quar-
ter or half n mile or any other distance.
Some OF the most extraordinary of the
statements made prove themselves,
as where it is said that large trees were
driven deep into the ground at long dis
tances from the place uprootcd. This is
precisely what the tornado might he ex-
pectcd to do with trees. Thrown by the
mighty hand of the wind, they would only
be javelins or arrows, of which the trunk
would represent the shaft and the top the
feathered part. tits said that old stumps
over which the cyclone swept were, in
some instances, cut off, fresh and smooth,
as by circular saw; this would be in con-
formity with a well-known law of lorna
does, which, when passing over level sur
| faces, do not quite touch the ground, but
eXpend all their force within few feet of
it, The inconcevably rapid whirl of the
air would operate exactly like saw upon
the stumps, as above described. But when
it comes to Il honse, or forest, or a hilock
or any large sized object which obstruct its
way then its power seems to be eXerted
more downward then it strikes into the
earth and roots up everything. One of the
Iowa stories speaks of scooping out cellars
stones, human inmates and all, which il
not at all improbable. We lack exact in.
formation about the width of the tOrnado's
path. Probably it was very narrow, moi
more than two hundred or three hundred
feet, the intensity of the action being pro
portioned to the concentration of the base
A cyclone in Connecticut many years ago
left devastcd path of not over two hun
drcd feet, leveling the objects in its cours,
and not even breaking the boughs of tree
just outside that limit. Its swath was a
well-defined as mowers in the bayfield,
Many years since, a tornado struck piec,
of country near kcarsarge mountain, New
Hampshire, and Frustrated every gian
tree in belt about three hundred feet wild,
finally passing up the side of Kearsarg
and breaking its force on the summit. The
path of this tornado, straight and clean cut
could be seen for long time on the noun
tain's side. 1t follows from these facts i
one is apprised of the approach of Il lorna
do in season, and notes the direction of tn
wind that precedes it, he may possibly es
cape its effects. But it generally sweep
too suddenly upon its prey to permit this
Fortunately, in this country, such cyclone
as that of Iowa are among the rarest o
phenomena.
Two very remarkable meteorological oc
currences forcran the Iowa event, and
will be worth the while of scientific pei
sons to see if they were not conditions pre-
cedent of that grand climax. One was til
wonderful solar halo seen on Monday, tn
Goth, in this city and vicinity, and we d
not know where else. Some authorize
speak of this as not uncommon phenomC
non and that is true of some circles whic
appear about the sun, but this particula
one was very marked and striking. Tn
attention of the most careless observer wa
powerfully attracted to it, and Its impor
wondcringly guessed at. These halos hav
been explained on the theory of the pre-:
ence of small ice-crystals moving in til
upper air, and when coming between tn
spectator and the sun, causing the appar
ton of the halo by their united refractin
power The passage through the air i
great numbers, so as to produce the pht
nomenon of solar halo, indicates, we ma
suppose, violent disturbance in the atmo.
phere, and presages storms. The move
mcnt begun in this part of the country may
perhaps, have terminated in the frightfl
cyclone of Iowa. The other prodigy {
which we would speak occurred in low;
as far back as the 14th instant, or a wee
before the tornado burst forth. At DE-
Moines, Iowa, and at other places in til
| Sltlt, lllt all W as lllltNl WIFI tlCClilIlll, u
thoughn storm occurred For hours it W;
impossible to work the telegraph wires
G but that was the least astonishing part {
the manifestations. On the eastern bour
express train on the Rock Island road Il
track seemed road of fire under and b
hind the cars. The light was so vivid
5 to illuminate the track for some distance
= the rear One observer describes it as
'traiing banner of fire." This, of cours
n was Immediately caused by the friction {
J. the car wheels, but the atmosphere mu
have been very highly charged with ele
q tricity to permit its exhibition through SUI,
simple agency. Des Moines is only nil
-. miles from the center of the tornado trac
:, and that city herself suffered to some C
" tent from thunder storm on the EVENT.
22d instant. The incidents to which '
d have referred are separated by time
l. space from the Iowa tornado, but that
no reason why they should be summari
: rejected from the equation. Nature wor
l. fast in some things and slow in others.
is a well settled fact that the greatest co
:, WILSON'S of the elements, which come Il
u on us so suddenly, as if without warnin
. are, in fact, slowly prepared, and herald
by minor phenomena for weeks beforehal
n This is known to be the law in respect
ii volcanic cruptions and earthquakes; a
we believe it also to be true in relation
:, tremendous outbursts of atmospheric en-,
gy. AT present the weather bureau kee
o. itself to reckoning the probabilities for
hours in advance but when it has becor
~. more familiar with the now little und
!. stood laws of the weather, it may
IL able to foretel the coming of tornado
like that of Iowa. and to fix, proXimatc
re- the scene of their raVarps