Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-09-17

narrow space hail hurtles, fre-balls glare;
lid whirlw,nds waltz. and the performan-
,es usually conclude with general walk
round of the elements, and shower o.
frogs and other amphibia. Blood that
upon examination proves to be infusoria,
lends an air of novelty to the
general precipitation. Aud yet, we be
leve, as a general thing. the Western ed'-
tor is not happy.
For there Is, so to speak, certain reg
ularlty and sameness about the pro-
gramme. The Western tornado exhibits
steady malevolence towards barns. out
houses, faIm-wagons and agriculture
mplements-seidom if ever ou'tting q
hayrick from its schedule of damages
that is, in the end, monotooous and de
pressing. Then there is the usual family
just taking dinner or supper, on whom
the tornado swoops like an uninvited
guest. and carries their roof into another
township: there is the usual farmer, who.
being overtaken in the fields BY the storm
is compelled into . waltz with his own
agricultural implements, and then is drop
ped some hundred yards away-s sadder
and, let US hope, q wiser man. Then
there is the baby, torn shrieking from its
mothers arms and lodged in a tree top.
where, rocked like the infant of the nur-
sery legend. it is afterward found un-
harmed. Then there is the COW; but lei
us speak of the COW as we fod her. the
gentle, uDobtrusive. persecuted heroine OF
the Western tornado.
1t may be safely observed that Of al
domestic animals probably the COW is least
fitted for arlal locomotion. Her shape, her
sedentary habits. her reflective turnof mind
cautious temperament, and the embarras-
sing functions of maternity m ght be
supposed to indicate that she was lncapa-
BILE of soaring like the eagle or skimmlnQ
like the swallow. Even on land, her
saltatory performances are not remarkable
for grace of movement or rapldity ol
action. 1t is true that it has been poeti-
cally stated that she once leaped over the
moon, but the narrative, weighted rs it il
by even more improbable statements re-
garding an equal levity in dog, dish
and spoon, should be received with grea'
caution. Yet Notwithstanding this, with
the hand of Nature and of Fate clearly
against her, it is the COW that becomes al
essential feature of the great Western
tornado. 1t is she that "rides on ths
whlrlwnd and direc's the Storm" 1t i,
she that, patiently rum'nating in tn.
meadow, or standing mid-ieg deep in SOM,
quiet pool, is first swooped upon by ths
gyrating whirlwind and bor ne sloft only
to add az other terror to the storm. Once
lifted from her native earth she assumel
an aw.ulness of demeanor strangely incon
sistent with her previous mildness, /,
levity in CHASTITY contrast to her former
dignity. Accompanied by few trees, /,
roof or two, an assortment of caimneys
and baby, she flashes like . meteor
across the darking prairie, and comes
lown heavily upon the distant settlement
1t is then that the citizens of Indiana and
Iowa call on the rocks to cover them. Sns
collIdes with steeples; chimneys she scat
tereth like chaff before the wind she es
teemeth hay-rlcks as stubble even school
houses stay not her devastating career
Tue next day she is found peacefully
ruminatlng on the roof Of church Of
calmly contemplating the ruin she ha:
wrought from the attic window of farm
house. Her removal at such times to q
more eligible location is attended with
great expense and some d fheulty. Four
teen men in Wisconsin, the other day
could not dislodge her from the cupola of &
court house, where she was finally killed
in obedience to an excited public senti
ment.
1t is barely possible that some exagger-
alton may have crept into the above
details as delivered by eye-witnesses to a
truthful Western press. We have en-
deavored to collate aud present them more
IN feeling of justice to peaceful domes.
tic animal, whose hidden merits and re-
markable capacity have been overlook ed
in our familiarity with its humble virtues
than with any idea of recording remarka.
bic meteorological phenomena. The fact
that these take place in remote districts
and that the great Western Tornado usu-
ally evades the larger towns and villages
and is recorded only by one correspondent
may to some extent account for any lack
of accuracy in observatlon.-New Yorh
Tribune