Sharp County record., 1880-06-03
ELECTRICITY AND TORNADOES.
Prof Tice's Observations on the heceh'
Missouri Tornado His Theory OF the
Electrical Cause of Cyclones.
TFrom the St. Louis Republican,

Missouri Tornado Ills Injury VI 'N
Electrical Cause of Cyclones.
TFrom the st. Louis Republican,
THE word cyclone is of comparatively
recent invention, and is only to be
found in the more recent editions OF
dictionaries. 1t is the generic name
for all storms that have rotary motion
around an axis, such as WhirlWlnds,
tornadoes, waterspouts and hurricanes.
These are species of cyclones. Hence
every tornado is cyclone, but every
cyclone is not tornado 1t may be a
dry whirlwind, sandspout, water
spout, etc. =,
From all facts so far ascertained the
storm-center, whose clOud-canopy car
ried the tornado, had forward motion
or translation across the continent from
southwest to northeast at the rate OF
fortv-three miles an hour. Evidently
the tornado was not continuous, nor
was it formed at any fixed point on the
cloud, but at various points on the
cloud, and at different times numerous
intumescences formed which developed
into cloud-spouts and dropped as tor
nadoes. In proof of this, fifteen min
utes after the tornado had passed
through and devastated Marshileld, an
other cloud-spout was seen dangling
from the sky and sweeping with equal
if not greater fury through Panther
Valley, fourteen miles south OF Marsh
field. Nor did the tornado sweep with
uniform velocity along the face OF the
earth. but it was seen at times for few
moments to stand still, and then with
inconceivable velocity to dart forward
again; however, only to halt again tor
breath. 1t was on such dart that it
swept through Marshfeld in less than
half a minute. One of the citizens OF
undoubted veracity, who was in it, but
whose house was fortunately not
wrecked, who was looking at it while
coming and passing, to give an idea OF
the shortness of its duration said he
could think of nothing that would give
an idea of it except "that two OF us
being together, L, facing south, saying
Here she comes;' he, facing north, say
ing There she goes" Twenty per-
sons at least were present who were IN
the tornado and they corroborated this
statement They said-and their state
ments were confirmed by Mr.. L. n
Paul and others who had war expert
ence-that an unearthly bowling, as
though the air were filled with thou
sands of flying shells, heralded the ap-
proach of the tornado, a nomentary
tremor of the house and then a w-h-i-sh
and the house was gone, and all was
over.
The shortness of the duration is an
important fact that must not be over
looked in explaining facts that will be
mentioned hereafter. At one point be-
side the railroad, some four miles be-
fore it reached town, it excavated the
earth to depth of five feet, according
to some, and of much greater depth ac-
cordine to others, and several rods
square. This is a repetition of what
was done in Reno County, Kan, on
the 18th day of May, 1878, when at
least one-half an acre OF the soil was
shot into the cloud-spout, as though a
mine had been exploded underneath.
According to the monthly weather re-
view for May, 1878, printed by the sig,
nal office, similar explosion occurred
twice at Darlington, H., on the 23d OF
Nav, 1873, when in all respects SINH
lar tornado to that of last Sunday swept
the States of Iowa, Wisconsin and
Northern Illinois. The Signal Office,
however. gives the area OF soil hurled
ND in one case about one acre, Ill the
other one and quarter acres. For a
distance of about seven miles along the
railroad which the tornado followed
trees are not only Frustrated and de-
nuded of bark, but large trees nearly
three feet in diameter were plucked
up by the roots and carried forward
In town forest trees foot in diameter,
standing in lawns, were plucked up
bv the roots and carried away. Stones
from five to six feet in their shortest
diameters were lifted out of the ground
and carried to the top of hill. A
stone estimated to weigh 1000 pounds
"a a field belonging to j. G. Rose
~-Averal Of his family by the
Is house. The distance
1whence it came had
Aimed. In the great
5Gth Carolina tornado of
rs, a stone over two feet
weighing from $4,000 to