Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-07-26
CAUGHT UP IN A CYCLONE.

CAUGHT UP IN A CYCLONE.
1t was on Saturday, the day of the
week on which there was no school, the
9Th of August, l think, but am not quite
sure, though know it could not have
been very far from that date. For good
reasons, as you will presently see, Twas
not in condition to make an entry in
my diary on that evening, nor, indeed,
for week afterward.
At any rate, it was Saturday, when
there was no school, and Harvey Rob-
inson and myself were fishing in the H.
linOis River. We had not been fishing
for some weeks, and we went prepared
to have good time. We were in y
row-boat which belonged to Harvey's
brother, and we had started out about
three o'clock in the afternoon. Besides
our fishing-rods and a pound of beef for
bait, each of us had taken n biscuit and
apocketful of pears to eat by the way.
1t was a very warm afternoon; we were
aware of that before setting out. But
we thought there would be breeze on
the river, and we said we could take
battle i'm the shade of the elms if the sun
was too hot.
Unlocking our boat we padded down
TO a bend. some half mile below, and
there, in the deep water. threw out our
hooks. But il was warmer than we had
thought, and no breeze came. At last
it really seemed as if the sun would
bake us. There was belt of rather
dark, misty clouds away up in the
northwest, but they did not keep the
sun from reaching rs.
81 wish some of those clouds would
rise little higher and cover the old
hay-maker up' Harvey said, and he
dipped up handful of water to wet his
head.
just then, however, a fish bit ut Har-
vey's hook; then another took my bait,
and l hauled big fellow in. Then the
fish seemed to all wake up at once We
caught five in less than three minutes,
and the sport grew SO exciting that we
forgot how fearfully hot it was. But
suddenly we became conscious of some
thing unusual; strange sensation
which came from the air, and of an I'M
natural stiffness. The air seemed dead
and oppressively heavy; it fairly bore MS
down, and the effect was such that it
seemed as if my head would burst. At
any rate, my head felt very strangely.
This is queer weather." Harvey
said, drawing up his line and looking
around; and when he spoke. noticed.
and SO did he, that his voice sounded
strangely.
Lets pull back to the landing
place." l said, for l thought that posi-
bly, an earthquake, or something of that
Lind, was at hand.
Eyes, let's do that" replied Harvey,
and we both took to the oars. We had
pulled no more than dozen strokes,
when strange nOise-likc nothing l
can describe-a sort of murmur, caused
US both TO look round up the river. And
there, all up in the north and west, was
the strangest, widest sight ever saw.
The clouds were not very black, but
they seemed to be twirling round and
round, streaming up with frighrful
swiftness toward the zenith! 1t was
just awful! But where We were not a
breath of air was stirring.
''It's tornado! There's a cyclone
coming"' Harvey exclaimed. 1--WE
must get ashore"
Almost before the words were spoken,
caught sight of something out through
the trees. above the landing place, that
fairly made my hair rise.
1t was black as ink, three or four hum
dred feet high, and looked like an i'm
mense balloon painted black, with the
lower end just touching on the ground!
"For mercy's sake, what was that?'
Harvey cried out.
We both dropped our oars and grasped
the side of the boat-for we saw that
whatever it was, it would be on us in
another minute!
The strange, murmuring sound had
increased to horrible roaring, and
above it we heard loud crashes like
thunder-claps! 1t struck the oil-nut
trees by the boat-landing. and every
leaf and small limb seemed to fly up off
them, as if sucked into the vast, black
globe. Not leaves and branches alone;
the great whirling, roaring sphere gath
cred up everything in its course!
In that moment of its sweeping down
upon us, l saw fcnce-rails, cart-wheels.
calves. boards, green corn. pigs, tons of
hay and lots of sheep, all whirled round
and round together, a hundred feet up
in the air! And on each side of it a
shower of all these things, living and
dead, was rained down like hail.
When the lower end of this horrible
maelstrom touched the river, the water
rose up in white stream into the black.
dusty mass with a shrill, Kissing noise,
like the tearing of thousand pieces of
cloth!
All this in moment; then it struck
us-that whizzing. roaring whirlwind of
dirt. grass. corn. fence-posts, dust and
water! and up we went into the dark.
The boat, with us in it. was whirled out
OF the water into the swirling air like
leaf!
remember feeling swift succession
of heavy thumps and blows, as chung
TO the gunwale; then was dimlv con-
scious of being whirled over and over
in the air; and then, for time, knew
nothing more about it.
The next I did know-though I
hardly knew that for while-it was
raining softly on me; I heard drops
pattering on leaves.
Then terrible sense of pain and
dizziness came upon me. could hear
my heart futter; my whole body felt
prickly. as ones arm will when by
chance he hits the end of an elbow. 7
teit chilled. too; and it seemed a. Il
l.. a