Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-08-04

oFeIlufhcu nchVy cart drawn by four
horses. and swept it along with them
into the Weser. Tho torrent rushed
with such impetuosity into the small
town that IL blocked the gates at the op-
posite end by raising an ice dam before
them and inundated the streets at diff
ferent elevations.
There are many curious and unex-
planned facts II halls oftener at Mont
/ pelier. Philadelphia and Rome during
the tropical heat OF the summer months,
and not at all IN Che lowlands OF Brazil
or Guiana. In the higher mountainous
regions OF the equatorial zone. had isnot-
unusuai In Cnmonia nail is unknown.
| but in Caracas, which is i,200ieot high
er. hail-stOrIn takes place every five
ears. Humboldt speaks of haii-storm
on the Chimborazo at y height of z, 400
feet, and hail has been observed in the
Abyssinian mountains and highlands of
East Indies. In the temperate regions,
on the contrary, hail is more frequent
in the lowlands than in mountainous
countries. In Cressier. near the Luke
OF Neutchatcl, the damage to the vine
yards is often serious, whilo at Signi-
encs, which is l,2O0 feet higher on the
slope OF Chaument, hail-stOrms are rare.
In the high valley of Trayers il rains at
the time when hail-storms burst over
the mountain slopes Situated lower
down. Sometimes insignificant cir
Cumstauees determine the appearance
OF hail Near the village of 6asaiboro,
in Naples. there was formerly a high
hill To the northwest covered with
woods, and hail storms were unknown.
But since the hill has been removed to
make way for the plow and the forests
cleared away, hail storms occur each
year. There are some curious pho
nomena connected with hail storms.
The one of yesterday Illustrated some
OF these. There were pauses between
I the hail stones in which the rainfall
was severe. Kaenitz observed this
phenomena. lie saws that at the be-
ginning of the seycreSt storm he ever
witnessed there fell some large drops
OF rain; these soon ceased. and after q
short interval there fell hail stones
shaped like beans, OF one or two-tenths
OF an inch in diameter; This ceased, and
( then followed rain, and alter another
pause fresh hail Of two or three-tenths
OF an inch in diameter; again another
ptuso. and new fail OF hail OF these
successive falls OF bail stones the Hrst
. possessed only slight coating OF ice
I over the snow nucleus; the second class
were partially surrounded with thick
I layer of ice, and the last hail stones
were generally rounded masses, one
third of an inch in diameter. In all
cases the kernel was not transparent,
while the surrounding ice was so in o
very high degree,
Another peeuliariiy among hail
/ storms arises from the fact that the
central portion of the region passed
| over by the storm is almost entirely
( free from the fall of hail stones, which
are almost invariably found in two or
more belts parallel to the track OF the
/ storm center and some distance there
I from. Thus in the storm of July l3
( 1888, which passed from France in q
north-easterly direction into Holland.
I the storm track was about FIVE hundred
miles in length, aHa-was trayorsed in
/ less than nine honrs. Over the central
/ track, TO a breadth of six miles on
either side, no hail fell, but heavy rain
I On either side of this region, 20 dis
( tance Of five or ten miles, the country
was visited by hail storms that were
I most devastating, since upward OF S.
100000 worth OF property was de-
! stroyed
There have been many means sug-
/ gested TO prevent hsil storms, but none
! have as vet been crowned with success.
[ So the field is still open to entorprising
/ inventors and disGoyerers la some.
I countries bells have been r0ng, drums
beaten, cannons lirad. and even rockets
discharged, but sll have proved as in
efficient as eonsecrated herbs, magic
I formulas, old-women remedies, or de-
vices calculated TO quiet the fears OF the
superstitiOus. Ii was once thOught
that system of lightning rods would
convey the electricity from tho clouds
and render the formation of hail inn
possible, but AN experiment tried in
I Canton lie Vand, in Switzerland. puts
to fight this theory, Many conductors
were here erected and terrible storm
occurred from the 22d to the 23d OF
June, 1926. upon the protected vine
Yards, and every grape was destroyed,
while the unprotected ones escaped scot
free.
Accompanying hail storms thunder
and lightning arc frequent Yet it is
not common for lightning to strike
either persons or bulldogs during these
storms. An exchange furnishes some
reasons for the color of lightning which
are pertinent;
The color OF lightning is altogether
due to the nature Of the substance
which is made incandescent IN its track.
The blue, red purple and other tints,
which are ordinarily much more brill
iantly marked in warm climates and
inter- tropical countries than they ever
are in England, are due to the same
circumstances as the color which is de-
signedly communicated TO the light of