Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-06-20
CAUSES OF TORNADOEs.
The BIasIus Theory Of Local Stormsapd
the Laws which Govern Their Origin
and Development 'sCyclones" MS.

and Developments Cyclones" MS.
homer.
To the Editor Of the New York Herald;
An expression in one OF the editorials
Of the Herald on Monday, June2, caused
me some surprise, appearing in jour
nal which has done 30 much to forward
the cause of popular science. The ar
ticle was one commenting on the lorna
do which visited Kansas last week, and
after first calling IL a cyclone" (which
your own telegraphic dispatches on the
very next page show distinctly that il
was not) ends with this sentence: ut is
to be hoped that science may, before
long. enable our meteorologists to fore.
tell the coming and the path of these
cyclones with accuracy, 30 rs to give
timely warming to those who are within
their track"
Now il by the words science" and
"our meteorologists" the Herald means
the United States Signal Service, the
Smithsonian Institute, and such bu-
reaus of meteoroogy rs are kept up at
public expense on the strict principles
of red tape which pervade the doings
of General Meyers brigade OF record
ers and certain college professors, then
il must be admitted that we may wal.
n long time for the successful pre-
diction OF the paths of these local Amer
lean tornadoes, so called. The societies
named, working ~ they do on the ex-
ploded "cyclonic theory" can never dis
cover the causes and probable paths Of
storms OF this character. but IL, on the
other hand, the Herald seems 10 include
NIL earnest and successful students OF
meteoroogy in the last 81 those on
whom it calls for information, the IN"
formation is already ut hand and easily
accessible, and only ignored by the sig
nal service and "olIicial" meteorologists
in the United States because the discov-
erer il an amateur, and not one who
makes bis living from the practice Of
meteorolgy.
| refer to Professor William Blasius,
of Philadelphia, whose book on
"Storms" gives the only satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION OF American local tornadoes
yet uttered.
Having said thus much, il may not
be- embarrassing to the readers OF the
Herald to know why the word "cyclone"
cannot be correctly applied to the Kan
sas tornado. II may be said that i
means the same thing rs tornado"
Partially true, but the one is II local
and vulgar name, applied to the
storm for local characteristics; the
other IL BO-ca!led "scien-
tifc" appollation, expressing nothing
more nor less than u direct falsehood.
We can put up with good deal of in
correctness in II vulgar appellation, but
scientific nomenclature should be exact
or nothing. 1t may sound strange to
people who have heard 30 much about
"cyclones" of late years, but IL is never
theless true that there il no authentic
instance on record of any such thing NJ
"cyclone," or "revolyng Storm TINT
ia, il storm wherein tho wind blows IN u
circle round point called the storm
center" The only perfectly reliable
records we have oil the progress and III.
rection of great storms aro those Of The
United States signal service, and in all
their maps md records for tho last ten
years there 10 not q single instance
wherein the hmtest approach to q re-
vovlng storm can be traced, Small cd
dies and local whirs, appropriately cali
cd "tornadooa, pcxist In tho air as they
do in tho water, and, from the sumo
cause, the Gushing opposing currents,
owing to local impediments; but great
revolving storm, accurately reported,
cannot bn found in tho annals OF mete.
orology any more than u great circular
current can DO found in the ocean, how
ever numerous lts local eddies and wa
torspouts. ,aHtF& TER
THE KANSAS STORM.
The justification of these structures,
~ far NJ regards tho Kansas storm, is
TO bc found in the next page o! the
Herald, June ., where appears n four
column account OF tho storm, again
headed "rhe Cyclone" Right in the
middle of the second column are these
words: "rhe path Of this awful storm
was. like all others OF tho kind, very
crooked and zigzag, Mt no time pursuing
" straight course for moro than few
hundred feet. II frequently made u
curve and returned in mn opposite di-
roetion for some distance and again
turned back TO the general course. BY
this means almost M much again OF u
obpBO VI NNahNJ WIZ ~
would have been the case had the
course been straight"
Other witnesses call attention to the
same fact OF its crooked and zigaag
course. The question arises, Can II zig,
gag storm be called with any scientific
propriety,a "cyclono'p 1t is true that
If forms small whirls at the angles OF
the zigzags, but these are only momen-
tary, the lending characteristic of the
storm.path being tho zigzag lines OF
movement.
WHAT 4 roRNADo Is.
| have called special attention to this
fact, because IL underlics the whole SO.
cret of the cause and paths OF American
tornadocs as explained Ivy Blasius and
because the theory can now he verified
or disproved with comparative caee and
chance Of attracting public attention
TO the true causes Of the North Ameri-
can tornado-a peculiar institution OF
our country, owing 10 our peculiar cir
mate and topography. A tornado is
nothing mora nar leaa than tho meeting