Morning journal and courier., 1883-06-26
COMMUNICATIONS.
Our Recent Tornadoes.

Our Recent TornadOes.
 \ To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 ! The writer dates this communication as of
 the day he first prepared it for the press. \ He has withheld it for reasons best known to himself, which it is needless to state here. He presents the facts alluded to herein not ! as scientific explanations of the phenomena, but as relative to the great frequency and de- | structiye effects of tornadoes in the last few I months He deems them due to some cause ! best explainable by those deeply versed in ! the laws governing electricity, not as mere theory, but as 8 profound science. He dis ! claims any desire to create alarm or misap- prehension on the part of telegraphic or tel ephonic gentlemen. Let them remember ! that the first dispatch flashed across the At | lantic cable, between England and America, ! bore messege of praise to Almighty Goo, and not of high sounding gratulations to millionaired men, for their grand achieve ! ments, and they may find their future suc-
 cesses far exceeding their past.
 On the 22d day of April last heavy cy-
 clone had been blowing over the villages of Wesson and Beauregard, in Mississippi, along the line of the New Orleans, St. Louis and Chicago railroad, running due north and south, when suddenly, tornado of great
 force and destructiveness was developed and ! these two places, situated only mile apart, l were simultaneously in ruins. The loss of life was deplorable and the destruction of property great. What were the facts2 These two towns, popuiarly so called, with one or two other points in the near vicinity, were
 situated directly on the great railway thor oughfare named. Lines of telegraph poles, heavily strung with wires, extended along this railroad track, extensively double -railed. and electrical conditions were manifestly fn vorable for such twist in the storm as then and there ensued. All accounts agree that it was the work of but moment, and that electricity played conspicuous part in the phenomenal aspects of the storm.
 At the same time, or on the same day, three or four other tornadoes of similar character and development occurred, in as many different States, including cyclone of tremendous sweep from the Pacific coast to
 the southern portion of Missouri, carrying destruction and ruin before them. So large an area of atmospheric and electrical distur-
 
 this or any other country. Scientific men, especially those of deep and serious thought, should now be gathering facts, not to build theories upon, but to come to earnest convic tions as to their duty in this crisis of storms that is upon us The men who laid the first Atlantic cable did not hesitate to consult the book of Job for the proper phraseology in which to express the voice of the two leading
 Christian nations of the earth, hardly less than a quarter of 8 century ago. And shall we, because our children much wiser
 than their fathers, darken counsel by words
 without knowledge, when the Lord speaks to
 us out of his whirlwinds, as he did to Job,
 and demands way for the lightning of
 thunder"-not our way, but his way? Not
 yet, my good agnostic friends, so long as we know the weakness and ort-sightedness of man, and the august power and wisdom of the unerring One who rules above-who
 ssPIants his footsteps in the Eea,
 And rides upon the storm"
 The writer hopes very soon to give as con- densed an account as has yet been made (and he trusts more suggestive one) of the cent Racine (Wis.) tornado, touching the character and causes of these destructive storms. That they can be remedied he sim cerely believes, and that their terror may be taken away from mems hearts and minds is his firm conviction. It wants courage and right methods to do it, but Divine Providence and wisdom will surely bring it to pass in the end.
 God sends us his whirlwinds up from the south, not to punish and scourge, but to dis perse pestilence and shower down blessings upon his people. This his sacred word pro. claims, and this will, in the end, be proven true.
 Almost every telegraphic dispatch brings us word that his lightnings and whir1winds are playing about our dwellings, and yet we heed not his voice. Colossal wealth perishes ok hi sEQta1v aSif1na crr1H1hfaE after another, yet God defiant mon scout at his living word and rush on to destruction. What is most needed? It IS that scientific men of the higher type shall give their best thoughts to this subject and fearlessly assert their convictions. They may possibly ind that the true cause lies in the great increase during the last year of telegraphic and tele- phonic wires throughout the United States thus materially changing the electrical condi- tions of the atmosphere and centerlng the effect of these storms along these highways thus formed at points of large populations and wealth.
 A single newspaper has stated that during | the past year there has been not less than | two millions of miles of telephone wires erected in the United States This IS un- l doubtedly an exaggeration, but 1t may ap- proximate that figure. If It were true 1t | wires distance of not less than four times l the journey to the moon and back, and what l eIectrical changes this would produce in our | atmosphere no scientific man can possibly 1 foresee. Of course the writer does not im- aoine that either the telegraphic or telephon- ic wires can be dispensed with; but by con forming to the true conditions of science the 1 evils now attendant upon them may be mate | rially avoided.
 It will be found that all the devices to l which human ingenuity has resortsd for ac- l complaining the electrical disturbances re- ferred to are attributable to the temple of | Mammon, not to that of genuine science. Cheap fences along the lines of our railroads made of hostile and unneighborly wires and covered with barbed death points, in imlta- ton of satanic prongs of vengeance, are the hideous objects of the wayside. Where 1 there have been two millions of miles of l telephone wires erected within the past year, l there have undoubtedly been ten times the | quantity of wire used in the construction of | these fences They now outhank our railway l tracks; hedge in our farm houses divide up ! hostile neighborhoods traverse wide prai 1 ries; sweep mountain, valley and hill; and | undoubtedly cause many electrical disturb | ances Still the voice of the storm. demon is | heard through our telegraphic dispatches, | and Wall street rings with sort of demon fac laughter. which has become painful | enough at heart. These lengths Of wire