Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-06-10
The Cyclone and Its Work.

THE weather reports have not vet
reached perfection. They warn mariner
and farmer of storms, and tell cities when
to put on overcoats and carry umbrellas.
But the instruments used cannot vet
register the exact intensity of the coming
atmospheric disturbances, so that occasion
ally, instead of the wished-for rain-storm
which is to help the young shoots of corn
above the surface of the earth, the aston
ished farmer has just time to say "a
blizzard, by gosh, F." when whirling
cyclone takes corn, earth, house, farmer
and family into the next county. Biz
Zards-this new word is the Granger
equivalent for cyclone-are becoming al
together too common on sea and land.
Sufferers from them will take m0urnful
pleasure in finding out all about them
from the Popular Science Monthly for
June Mr.. James Macintosh, who writes
the article in question, considers the
cyclone as the fundamental fact of meteor
ology, which explains winds, storms
everything, up to the creation Of the whole
solar system.
The cyclone itself is q comparatively
simple phenomenon. When the air near
est the earth becomes heated it rises
through the colder strata above. But in
stead of sitting gradually up it breaks
through these strata in a wedge-shaped
column. This is because the upward
pressure is too great to allow any slew
3 l. -, RI
up and pours forth currents of sir into the
higher atmosphere, while the other cur
rents rush in below to take its place. If
this were all the equilibrium would be
quickly restored, and the damage done
would be confined to an exceedingly small
area. But this is not all. When the
whirling column has once been formed, it
moves forward, sucking up the heated air
next the earth as it goes, SO producing
cOmmotion over great surface of coun-
try. Mr.. Macintosh ikens it, in this
phase, to a chimney travelling after q
moving fire.
The air which pours forth at the top Of
the column expands, and in expanding
throws off heat. So much heat is lost that
the vapor of water carried up by the air
condenses and pours back upon the earth
in the shape of hail, snow Or rain.
The tremendous energy Of the cyclone
seems less inexplicable when we recOllect
that the sun and the earth JOIN their forces
in order to produce it. The sun is the
furnace and the moist lands and the seas
of tho aartb ORC tho bOilpr
The phenomena would be the same,
however, whatever was the source Of heat
Following out this thought Mr.. Macintosh
draws sublime picture of the cyclone as
creative force. When the universe was
simply one vast atmosphere the gases of
the same specific gravity naturally ar
ranged themselves in the same stratum
until the whole mass was so divided. The
force that kept the particles of matter
apart was heat. In order to form worlds
much of this heat must be got rid of. This
was done by a cyclone, millions of miles
in height, whirling through space. As it
rushed up the vapOr contained in 1t con-
densed at different elevations into granite,
iron and nearly every other solid sub
stance. These fell in a fierce rain upon
the lower strata and melted again. But
the work had not been in vain. A vast
amount of heat had been transferred from
the center of the universe to the circum-
ference The union of the particles lying
at the center was now possible and worlds
we're formed.
This is magnificent conception Of the
cyclone of the past. If it fails to fully
comfort the sufferer from the cyclone of
the present he can at least rejoice that his
lot is no worse. Mr.. Macintosh informs
us that when the primeval whirling col
umn was at work, "all kinds of igneous
rocks, mingled with molten metal, chased
each other millions of miles down through
the fiery gloom" The modern cyclone
does nothing as bad as this.-Chjcage
Tribune.