Osage Valley banner., 1880-05-20

wire IN contact with 81 water. Both
wires were part of q sfctit In conuec-
ton witha Leyden iag In passing
discharge through the circuit, the glass
ban was dispersed niio dust. What
was the capse of thW eyplOsion and
eofIseqtieut dispersions
epg,ihd of water neasures 22.752
cubic inehgsl II the water be gastfied
il will make a.. sa2 euliir inches Of ghs,
that is l9,g94 cnbio INCHES Of oxygen
gas and 20, S8S cubic ikches Of hydro
gen. The water fhufefore, IN being
gasilied. dilates ab0uf two thousand
times In volume. T'kr Massage OF the
electric current Il q Ncs that Is
sgasifies, as lnstantaneously the water rs
fire explodes gunpowder. The drop OF
water hence was instnntaneously ex-
panded to two thousand times its orig
inal volume, and this shattered the glass
ball into fine dust.
The sap under the bark and in the
body Of green wood was in the lorna
do Instantly gasiiied by the bursting mp
from the earth "a a negative electric
current to meet the positive eloctrici-
ty descending on the rloud-spout. An
explosion was the consequence; the sap,
or rather the water in IL, was expanded
by Justification two thousand times in
volume, throwing of the bark, shatter-
ing the trunk and rfting the green
twigs into minute fihers. That this
WAS what took place is proven conclu-
sively by the fact that the dead aud dry
limbs and twigs were not affected, and,
though in immediate contact with green
ones, remained intact. f
The great affinity of tornadoes for
bodies of water, for railroads, for me
tallic roofs, for anything made Of metal
or containing it. is explained upon the
same principle. Metals are the best
conductors OF electricity known. They,
hence, respond with the greatest elac.
rity to the induetive action of the cleo.
: trio cloud, and confront It with higher
charges of electricity than any Other
objects upon the surface of the earth.
The most violent electric explosions,
hence, occur at the points covered by
| metals. Every one conversant with
I electric laws knows that this will be the
natural and inevitable result
! could take up seriatim all the phe.
nomena attending tornadoes and dem
onstIate that they are the ehectS o
electricity, but have neither time MOI
space TO devote to that purpose. On,
more remark and ] will close. Tha
tornadoes are electric phenomena j,
beyond controversy. An eNperionc,
and observation prove Il conclusively
This proof is amply furnished in theii
aspect, If il were in nothing else. Tn,
! funnel-shaped pitoh-blaek cloud-spou
depending and dangling from the buff
! colored or deep orange upper cloud in
/ dieates 1t. A fiery red core is some
times in this jet-black spout; sometimes
! green, blue and red flames run al
around and over the lower end OF III,
\ spout as though il were on fire; a
other times the spout has dull leader
core like burning candle surrounded
by haze with a phosphorescent glow
These aspects are constantly changing
and endure but for moment.
! At some points after this last mos
wonderful meteor had passed fire ball
brought up the rear, exploding lik,
rockets; at other points electric cur
rents for half an hour flowed through
iron rails and wires. A telegraph use,
by boys in Marshdeld to learn the ar
of telegraphing was thus affected 70
more than thirty minutes afterward
That water was gasitied by the tornad
is proven by the odor OF sulphur, 0
rather phosphorus, along the track
This odor was ozone, and ozone i
oxygen gas Just liberated from its com
bination with other clements
JoHN II. TIcE