Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-06-29
THE TORNADO SEASON.

Under this head the Chicago Tri-
bune says of the tornadoes of 1882 :
The year 1882 bids fair to be
known hereafter as the tornado year.
There were several wind storms in
1881, but only 1877 persons were
killed by them, while already during
the first six months of 1882 there
have been 315 killed, many hundreds
seriously injured, and millions OF
dollars worth of property destroyed.
Though the principal part of this
loss belongs to what may be called
the tornado region-namely: that
section of country northeast from
the northern part Of Texas, in
Guiding the Indian Territory, Kan
sas, Missouri, Northern Arkansas
and Iowa-still all parts of the
South and Southwest have suffered
severely, and one severe wind
storm swept through por~
ton of Pennsylvania. These
terrible visitahons commenced
in March, there being two in that
month-one i'll Georgia, involving d
loss of six lives, and one in Dakota,
which sacrificed twenty six. In April
heavy winds were very prevalent all
over the Southern States destroying
large amount of property and kills
ing no less than lis persons. In
May there was comparative lul,
though there was a severe tornado
III the vicinity of McAllister, Texas,
which resulted i'll the death of Is
persons, and there were numerous
less destructive blows III Kansas and
Texas, which helped to swell the
death roll for the month to forty~
four This seemed to be the signal
for unloosing The fury of the winds
in the West, and the. present month
has almost Witnessed constant sue
cession of terrible tornadoes through
out Iowa and some parts of Kansas,
the principal ones being most Sc
verely felt at Grinnell, independence,
and Emmettsburg, and other parts of
Central Iowa. The list OF
dead already reaches 127, and
many more have received in
jurie5 from which they cannot
recover, while many hundreds have
been bruised and manned, and the
damage occasioned by the loss Of
houses, barns, churches, schools,
crops, stock, and farming implements
can hardly be estimated. In the
Grinnell disaster the onslaught was
unprecedentedly furious, three tor
nadoes raging at one time, one com,
mencing in the southwest part OF
Boone County and ending near
Ogden; the second commencing near
the Missouri frontier and ending
near Burlington; and the third be-
ginning near Grinnell and sweeping
over a course of 200 miles before its
awful Journey was terminated, leay-
ing behind 1t q swath half a mile III
width of utter destruction and de
VISITATION As if not content with
these, Nature has manifested her
anger in unusually severe wind, hail,
and thunder storms, floods and tidal
waves, which have helped to increase
the enormous loss of property
throughout the West.
The description Of one of these
tornadoes answers for ali Of them,
for there is no difference between
them except in the aggregate Of de
struction they cause. In each case
there is the same swiftly-whirling
funnel shaped cloud giving warning
Of its approach, not only by its dis
tinct form and the connection 1t
causes in the atmosphere, but also
by the terrible roaring sound which
precedes its assault. The preliminary
phenomena are always the same, Al
the data concerning their occurrence
are now well known, and the expert
ences of the past twenty years indi-
cate TO an absolute certainty that the
region west of the Mississippi River
from the northern line Of Iowa anC
Nebraska down to Arkansas, The
Indian Territory; and Texas, mus
always be exposed to them, especially
III the months Of May and June. L
is hopeless to attempt to stop then
by any measures known to science
but they are now SO well known Ii
their origin, direction, progress, and
results that the Signal Service Blu
reau ought to be able to gave timely
warning OF their approach so tina
persons may be able to protect them
selves, if not their property. 1t has
been proved that the cellar of ;
house is the only place of safety
AS it may not be feasible for every
man to casemate himself by a cav
on his grounds TO which he and hi
family could repair, it seems, as on
Iowa paper has already suggested
that strong and substantial shelte
might be designed in the cellar 81
that the danger of falling timber
might be averted, and thus harbo
of refuge would always be at hand
At Grinnell, as at Camache, twent
years ago, the tornado gave ampl
warning of it's approach and lef
sufficient time to seek refuge i'll eel
lars, and those who did so escape'
in almost every instance.