New-York tribune., 1876-10-18

coming directly off the sea strike its coasts,
sometimes without any warning from the
Government weather reports OF that country.
It is admitted that the list of unannounced
storms in Great Britain last year included
some of the most destructive ones. a specl-
men instance of the kind occurred on the 2Sth
ult on the Hampshire coast. Nature has
compiled the various accounts so IA to present
the facts succinctly At about 7 in the morn
ing an immense black cloud, sweeping appar-
emily close down to the surface, struck west
Cowes in the Isle of Wight As it approached
it gave out low, moaning sound, aWful 10
"hear;p an observer on yacht just OUTSIDE
the track of the tornado describes the noise as
like that Of escaping steam at mgh pressure
The instant when the tornado reached the
land, the whole sky seemed to be darkened
with articles of all forms and sizes. These
were carried three hundred feet high and then
scattered along the shore. Many boats were
sunk by the bricks that fell upon item; 1t is
said that bricks were carried in the air to a
vessel moored half a mile away. A hotel WAS
blown down, a pier demolished, and IN two
minutes $5O, 900 to 100000 worth of damage
was done at Cowes alone. For sixteen miles
of its course through Hampshire the hurricane
made thorough work, tearing up everything IN
its path, utterly uprooting trees and under
brush, destroying buildings, and causing some
loss of life.
The fact that there was no warning gwen
of the approach of this tornado has caused
much comm ent in English newspapers. NO
practical means for establishing weather sta
tions at sea have ever been suggested. Inc
general drift of scientific opinion III Engllsn
newspapers favOrs closer study OF the local
indications which precede storm. In TINS
particular case it is proposed TO obtain COM
pilation of all the details of change in temper
ature, wind, and humidity, which may have
been observed by people i'll the neighborhood
of the tornado, at or before its advent. In
general it is suggested that larger number OF
people should be encouraged throughout treat
Britain to make continuous observations on
the weather. 1t is quite curious to note that
even so high a scientific authority as AdtWe
urges that observations made without lnstru-
ments should be collated, as OF value Mr..
Proctor has expressed the opinion that more
weather knowledge may be attained by the
careful study of the clouds than by any other
means.
A resort to such methods for predicting the
advent of storms will seem to most American
meteorologists backward step. Perhaps 1t Is
the only one that is practicable Oh the re-
stricted area of Great Britain, where, as Amer
leans are said to believe, an Overstep might
lead to a plunge into the sea. But II IN
more thorough study of the local indications
of instruments, and by an analysis OF the value
of ordinary weather signs Englishmen can
evolve new rules or principles, these will be
thankfully accepted on both sides of the
water. The power of predicting small local
tornadoes such as occur in our Western States
has not yet fully descended upon our own
Signal Service Bureau; perhaps it may come
after the British Blue Book of the future has
presented the needed data and they have been
duly digested at Washington.