The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1883-12-06
THE TORNADO NysrERY

st. Louis Globe Democrat: The par
ticulsrs Of the recent toFnadoes at Spring
held, 10 this state. and Buffalo, in News
York, furnish additional and striking
testimony IN support OF the theory that
these mysterious storms are electric
In their origin and operation
IL both cases the stoFDI was pre-
ces ced by violent commotion on the
sun; and IN both cases there were fea-
lures OF destruction not 10 be reasona-
bly, accounted for except upon the n.y.
| pothesis Of electric force. For instance,
at Springfield. Q Catholic church of firm
and thick brick walls was crushed TO
shapsless atoms, while frail cottage of
the lightest pine lumber standing with
in forty feet Of It escaped without so
much - the removal OF . Single from
the roof; and a. another point in the
track Of the storm, . wooden mill of
more than ordinary strength and solids
" was utterly demolished. while ada
cent frame dwellings with no larger
timbers 10 them than 3x6 were left I'M
Injured. Similar peculiarities char
acteTiZed the storm at Buffalo--and SIM
liar freaks have been noted 10 the case
Of every such storm of which we have
any detailed account
Tbeae things can not be dismissed. as
mere accidents- There are no accidents
In the operation of natural laws; and
pStural laws govern storms the same as
they do the orderly succession of day
and night, lf We only knew their secret
and could define and apply them. The
tornado has method in IL. so To say, or it
would not happen always in the same
general way and be always accompaD-
led by the Same pecu liar incidents.
There have been scores of such storms
in recent years, and they have without
exception made their appearance and
spent their fury according to certain alb
sOlute rules, which Il will not do to class
a. condolences only. For instance. q
tornado invariably comes from one given
direction, its path IL always we'll de-
fined, and its effects can never be mis-
taken for those OF any other kind Of
storm. There is always the same
funnel-shaped cloud, the same in
cessant lightning, the same spiral
fashion Of seizure OF demolition. Even
IN minute details . sort of logic of re-
semblAnce runs through all of them. and
the same strange and fantastic things
are always told Of them.
The theory that the wind is the con-
trolling agency in these storms is a
plausible one, and strikes the average
observer as the maniiestly correct one /;
but IL will not bear close investigation,
and ct the best 1t leaves a great deal I'M
explained and seemingly inexplicable.
1t would be folly to Say, for example,
that wind IN any form, however swift
and concentrated, could strip every
feather from . flock of fowls, and leave
them standing naked and blackened /;
and yet that occurred at Springfield, and
the like has been repeatedly seen in 9TH
or cases. It lie not reasonable to believe
that wind alone could shAtter heavy tim
bers TO splintsrs, or rend twenty-inch
hickory tree and reduce IL TO q heap OF
sticks and pulp; and yet both of those
things also happened a Springfield. and
have been known in numerous other in
stances. Il must require something
more than wind to produce such results
as these. There are wInd-storms proper
that attain a terrible momentum and
work destruction Of quick and nnspar-
ing kind. but their processes differ rad
Ically from those Of the tornado, and are
easily understood and measured by IA
millar scientific rules.
II We conclude that the wind Il 81 m
ply an adjunct IN the composition OF the
tornado, and that the real governing
force IL electricity. We do not solve the
problem, Of course, but we get hold OF
an adequate key TO it, and find way 10
account for many things in the charac.
ter OF such storms which must other
wise remain unexplaInable. There are
abundant facts TO Justify conclusion
I of this kind, apart from the necessity Of
having a theory that will meet the whole
case The idea that there is direct and
systematic connection between the sun
: and the storms is not n new one, nor an
> extravagant one. It has an assured
basis both in science and in the records
of personal observation. 1t is easily
dcmonstrable that the years OF the most
frequent and remarkable tornadoes, hur
Eicanes and cyclones coincide perfectly
with the ascertained ranges and cycles
of solar activity. When the sun Is free
from cOmmotiOn, the earth is practical
, ~ exempt from storms Ofa serious ma
: ture, and from tornAdOes particularly
: this is proved beyond question by sta
tistics reaching back for hundreds o.
. years. On the other hand, it is equally
= undeniahle that there is never a season
of violent perturbation on the sun with
out corresponding storm period on the
= earth.
The investigations of the last few
J. years have shown that the same reason
ing By which il IL demonstrated that the
! earthquake Is of electric agency
point now generally conceded by scIen
tIsts-is applicable to the tornado.
, has also been "a clearly established as
such q thing can be by experiment anC
:. observation that tornadOes and extraOr
binary solar activity are so closely re
lated in point OF occurrence that it il
: idle TO dispute the strong probability
It least, If not the certainty, that the for
= mer are caused by the latter, and thu
|, infused with q distinct electric quality
4 and meaning. 1t would not be strictly
!. accurate to say that we have been fur
! nished with convincing proof that
4 tornado il impossible except under Ger
tain conditions OF solar influence, for W
have not; but IL lie quite true to say that
tornado has never yet been known ex
: cept when those conditions existed
and IL u just as true To say that 4 vic
lent commotion on the sun Is Tniforml
Z succeeded by . violent storm of som
: kind on the earth. These proposition
VIC may seTely accept as determine
facts. They do not, as we have suggest
cd. unravel the mystery and make 1t a
simple and pAlpable; but they do sur
ply clue which the scientists ought
= treat with respectful attention, an
y which . great many people think
sure to lead in time TO a thorough com
prehension OF the laws that guide Ii
! tornado and bring about those peculil
: characssristica Of It's nature that q
now among the thIngs that We d
and are in The midst OF but do NJ
undessGaad.