The Arizona sentinel., 1885-12-26

middle Of July, all our UOrnaQOeS come from the southwest; they come into the great basin that supplies the vast col umns of heated air which rise from the bosom of the Great Lakes. This affiux to the Lakes produces very large area of low barometric pressure.
 The tornadoes which arise at other sea- sons move off to the Atlantic seaboard iE the southeast for like reason.
 have spoken of the air which goes from the tornado. say that the tor nado is nothing more or less than a solid column of compressed air, with three powerful motions-namely: A terrible whirl, or revolution on its own axis; which, in the main, is perpendicu- lar to the plane of its flight; an upward, screw-like motion and the motion of flight or translation. These motions are named in the order of their velocities. It is hard to estimate the velocity of this whirl; it can only be matter of con- lecture. It must be many thousands a minute. The upward, spiral motion is not near so rapid, but vastly greater than the translatory motion, which va- ries with the contour of the country
  tion of the land governs this motion en- tirely; retards or accelerates it, while the tornado hugs the ground; and often times switches it off completely into the upper air. In this manner the rate of progression can vary from ten to one hundred miles an hour. This motion is thus cratic in its character. know of one instance where the tornado re- traced its course for mile or more and then shot off at right-angle to its orig inal direction.
 Now, few words as to the character of the funnel-shaped cloud: This is only the manifestation of the crater of the solid destructive agent below. I have said that the tornado is a solid column of compressed air whirling with fright ful velocity. Some idea may be obtained of its solidity when it is remembered or understood that several cubic miles of air under ordinary pressure are forced into a cylinder the size of Washington S monument. It is as solid as stone. Air, by compression, gives off its acquired and latent heat. The heat, situated in the column of the tornado, produces two NlolllCl CllCCbos bo tllC lllOlSlulC wrung from the atmospheric column into steam, and throws of vast quantities of heat; this, in conjunction with the elec- trical phenomena developed by friction, has led many to suppose that the tornado was caused by electricity: whereas cleo tricity is only the effect. When the pres sure is removed, and the air in the col umn is allowed to expand, what hap pens? Each molecule of air is hungry for its normal quantity of latent heat, and on being released from pressure at once attacks its uncompressed neigh Dor, steals away and locks within itself part of its neighbours heat. Refrigeration and condensation at once take place, and the funnel-shaped cloud is developed as the core in the crater of the tornado, and violent rain and hail-storms are bred. In one sense the funnel-shaped cloud does not pre- sage the storm. The tornado is in active operation before the funnel-shaped cloud is manifest. This cloud is harmless, and is only the evidence of the unseen, wonderworking, destructive meteor be- low it.
 AuC Ddll OL lIIC IS very narrow, and no work of man above ground has been found able to with stand the force of that whirling meteorio club within its narrow limits.
 The great bulk of the damage along its track is caused by the thrush of air to the terrible vortex; and, strange as it may appear, most of this damage is caused by explosion. It is Natures effort to restore and preserve the atmospheric equilibrium. With this rushing col umn there goes vaccum, moving with commensurate velocity; toward this vacuum all the air in the neighbor- hood moves. If it be confined in a house the house explodes. The safety of buildings near the track of the tor nado is to have all the windows and doors-away from the approaching stOrm-open.
 There are many phenomena that can only be explained by this rush of air to the moving vacuum, and which are otherwise inexplicable. There is no fact better attested than the one of chickens and other fowls being plucked clean of feathers during the passage of a tornado. The reason is perfectly simple and obvious. The quill of each feather contains air. This air in its movement to the vacuum carries the feather with it. While some of the freaks and works of tornadoes are of the most fantastic nature, have seen and heard of none that can not be explained on the theory of the solidity of the moving column and the action of the law of gravity, with the added element of elec-