Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-16
Col. Watts On Cyclones.

'Speaking about cyclones" remarked
Col. Dick Watts, "reminds me Of the
time I was running a moonshine, distil-
tery in the mountains of southern Ken
lucky. That was some twenty-five or
thirty years ago and I am not afraid to
refer to it, rs the statute of limitation
bars any proceeding that any of my
enemies mi light desire to bring against
me were they acquainted with mv,past
life. l and several others were opening
a little copper still, not much bigger'n
a wash-boifer, III the vicinity of Ba!d
Knob, a mountain peak in Lincoln
County. Our still had a capacity of
about four and one-half gallons a day,
and we run her to her full capacity, but
after deducting leakage and drinkage,
we hardly ver barreled six quarts q
day. One week we run short of mate
rial and were compelled to shut down.
To pass away the time we concluded to
get UP a shooting match for beef.
You've heard tell of beef shooting
matchesP Well, if you haven't I'll tell
you all about 'em. All the people liv-
ing within a circuit of twenty miles or
so chip in and buy a good fat beef. 1t
is slaughtered and divided up into four
quarters, making four prizes to be shot
for. The hide and tallow constitutes
another prize, and the lead shot into the
target goes to the man making the sixth
best score. Well, we got up match
and when the shooting took place there
must have been something in the atmos-
phere that made my nerves sort Of
shaky, for I couldn't hit nothing. The
best I could do was to win the lead, and
some of it was buried in the tree we had
shot at fully three inches deep. The
whole gang had gone away and left me
picking out the bullets, and I had sue
ceeded in gouging 'em all out except
three or four, when suddenly I heard a
noise like the blowing off of a mud-valve
on q steamboat. I looked over toward
the west and was Mortified to see a tire.
mendous cloud sweeping right directly
for me at the rate of about q thousand
miles a minute. Directly under the
cloud was something that looked like
of it trailed along on the ground, sweep.
ing trees and everything before it,
Trees, houses, fences and whole corn.
fields, for miles and miles, had been
lifted up and carried along before that
terrible whatever-it-was, and when ]
first got onto the thing it must have
been towing fully four or five hundred
acres of all sorts of stuff. never saw
such a sight in my life, and Idon't want
to again. She was steering straight fol
me, and 1 was just about to commit my
soul to the Almighty and ask forgivnes'
for having ever started a moonshint
still, when the blame thing veered t.
one side and shifted over toward Bale
Knob. You better believe felt relieved
for the way that cyclone Chat
what scientific men afterward called it
struck that knob wouldn't have lief
enough of me, had it swept down on m,
to make a wiener wurst of. The Who'll
top of that mountain was torn off a
clear as though it had been hewed Of
with an AK, and left it as bald as
baby's head. After that it was calle'
Bald Knob. But that cyclone put
stop to my moonshining, for it ha'
dumped half of Bald Knob and four o
five acres of farms and their improve
ments that it was towing right on to
of our still, burying it about $40 fee
deep. came to Louisville after tina
and went into legitimate business. Thi
is the first time that I have ever a
much as mentioned anything about tha
cyclone louisville Commercial.