The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-26
CYCLONES and rHErE po1NGs.
How They Form and TraveI-The Best Way
to Protect Yourself Against Them.

1t Will wrap lOSell AROUND Il Tram SOlllS my
miles an hour-it will swallow carload of side
blades, or it will snatch a mountain bald
headed.
1t respecteth neither man nor the handiwork
of man. and regardeth neither race, color nor
previous condition of servitude.
1t has been known to leave untouched the
household of the inidel and wipe whole colony
Of pious colored brethren from the face Of the
earth.
1t eometh where it pleaseth, and man must
stand from under
Therefore, it behooves man to get him to his
storm-pit when the low rumble Of the ap
preaching whirlwind first greets his paralyzed
ears
Nothing was made in vain. Not even cy-
clone
If a mans liver gets out of order he throws up
bile. With nature as with man,
Diseases desperate grown,
By desperate appliance are relieved or not at all
When the condition of the atmosphere be-
comes abnormal when nature gets sick abed
there is big effort to restore the equilibrium.
There may be storm or there may be a cyclone
if the work in hand makes it necessary.
First, it may be mentioned that i'll the South
cyclones invariably come from the west, and
| travel in an eastern direction. Scientists say
the general direction of movement OF the tor
nado is invariably from point in the southwest
quadrant to point in the northwest quadrant
y cyclone never travels from east to west 1t
rushes through the air left warm where the sun
has passed A cyclone never occurs on cold
day, never starts at night and usually occurs in
the afternoon.
The sun shines all. day and in the afternoon
gets bead on some western plain like place.
IL shines warmly. The air becomes rarifed.
The breath fails to supply the needed amount
Of oxygen and one feels exhausted. There is a
stiffness that is oppressive, broken, perhaps, by
little putls that seem to come from heated
furnace. One feels sickly sensation from the
suns rays All this time the sun is shooting his
heat right down at the spot though he
had been commanded to stand still and had con
centrated his power on one little patch Of his
field of labor The air becomes unnaturally
heated 1t is not in its normal condition. Things
are not as they should be. Natures system is
getting out of order. The rarifed air begins to
rise. 1t continues to heat. 1t rises some more.
The colder air runs in at the sides to fill the
vacuum and instantly the tornado is put in mo
ton.
Did you ever see the peg pulled out of horse
trough and watch the water turn round and
round as it ran outl That is the way the air
turns round in a cyclone as brushes in from all
sides.
The earth is surrounded by air to a height of
fifty or seventy five miles, and that air has
waves on its surface like waves on an ocean,
The column of rartied air that starts the cy
clone draws on all sides for colder air, for the
air that nature needs to establish the equili-
brium, but instead of gentle breeze a brisk
wind, the effort Is so stupendOus that the angry
cyclone is the result, and the rushing column
dashes around looking out for restoring natures
equilibrium but unmindful of the devastation
worked on the face Of the earth.
Therefore man must stand from under.
If one cares to see the principle of a cyclones
starting he do so by setting heated smooth
ing iron where the light shines through a win
dow The small particles that are nthe air
will be seen to float toward the iron and on near
ing it will rush upward in the column of heated
air.
Did you. ever see a whirlwind on a cold or
windy dayl
After the cyclone starts moving across the
country its winds whirl round and round in this
country in a direction opposite to that of the
hands of watch.
The signal observers give some interesting de-
scrlptions of cyclones. work on cyclones Just
issued from the government press says the sud
den appearance of ominous clouds first in the
southwest and then almost Immediately in the
northwest or northeast or perhaps reversed
in the order of their appearance, generally
attracts the attention of the most casual
! observer. In almost all cases these
premonitory clouds are unlike any ordinary
formation. If they are light, their appearance
| resembles smoke issuing from a burning build
ing or straw-stack rolling upward in fantastic
shapes to great heights Sometimes they are
like fine mist, or quite white like fog or steam
| Some persons describe these light clouds as at
| times apparently irridescent, or glowing as if a
| pale, whitish light issued from their irregular
surfaces If the premonitory clouds are dark
and present a deep greenish hue, this fairly fore
! BODIES very great evil. So, also, if they appear
! jet black, from the center to circumference, or
if this deep jet color appears only at the center
gradually diminishing in intensity as the outer
| edges of the clouds or bank of clouds are APP
| preached Sometimes these dark clouds in
| stead of appearing in solid, heavy masses, roll
| up lightly but still intensely black like the
| smoke from an engine or locomotive burning
soft coal They have been described as of
| purple or blush tinge, OF at times
! possessed of a strange ivdness, frequently
dark green and again of an inky blackness that
| fairly startles you with its intensity This mass
of furously boiling Clouds roaring like thunder
and if atnight flashing with wild lightning, strikes
! terror to the heart of the beholder. As the
| clouds approach from opposite directions they
are suddenly thrown into the greatest confusion
breaking up as it were into small portions which
dash pell nell over each other and in every di-
| rection, now darting toward the earth, now
rushing upward to considerable height, or at
| moderate elevations, rolling over each other
| in whirl like pack of dogs in fight
! Generally following closely upon the existence
of this condition, the funnel shaped tornado
cloud appears against the western sky, moving
boldly to the front from without this confused
mass of flying clouds.
Old soldiers say if YOU see a cannon-ball in
| the air, and it appears to be standing still you
would better hide. If it appears to be moving
there is danger for you. So with the cyclone.
If it is moving from one side to another, you are
| safe; if it seems to be standing still and only
| growing larger, it is coming directly at you.
The advice of scientists in building houses i'll
cyclone districts is to build them just as though
! cyclones never had existence The velocity Of
! the Whlrnng WIND Is all the way from hundred
| to a thousand miles an hour, and before the
resistless power the stoutest brick structures
crumble like clods of dirt and frame houses are
shattered like they were straw.
The Chief Signal Officer says, for the in
formation of one who see the storm approach
ing:
"A sharp glance to the westward will tell you
| whether you are about the southern edge of the
probable path of the tornado cloud or more to
the north, If in the center, or half way between
the center and the southern edge, your chances
to the south, bearing slightly east In no event
should you ever directly to the east or north
east Suppose the tornado-cloud TO be distant
from you eighty rods lone fourth of a milel, and
its progressive velocity sixty miles per hour, it
would advance one mile in sixty seconds, or
!