The Red Cloud chief., 1885-11-06
A CYCLONE VICTDL
Colonel Kinks Story Of His Thrill
ing Experience.

OOASNOA 0S~J $1,000
ing Experience.
For several days following bsawful
cyclone at Washington G. IL. Ohio. ii
was the all-absorbibg topic Of c'snyersa-
ton in our town.
Great crowds Of cxcursioejsk went
down to view the wrecked city. Ind re.
turning told of the terrible eHxrsb Of the
devastating storm.
These accounts listened TO with
great attention. but as most Of them
were inclined to spread it On slittle. il
was pretty hard to separate truth from
fiction. So when Colonel %iom Kirk.
whom We knew was a citizen q Wash.
ington G. H.. strolled into on. office, we
felt certain that We were absuA to hear
n true account of the great bow.
The ooys all gathered aroond him.
gave him the seat of honor u the rail-
ing. presented him with . SCAR. and
settled themselves down to lotcn.
well. boys" said the C.doncl. after
" ~" pICilistlhidAy VvutSs w Will ~
hear about the cyclone. l siipposc. ch?"
We told him that, entertaining "a we
did a firm belief in his I'm snpcachable
veracity, such vas our IN snimou, de-
sire.
We'll" confined the Co1oncl. ..lct
me tel you first that | hssvn come up
here to stay. I've got enca6h of Wash
ington c. II. You know vhcn | went
down there to live. peoples erc all told
ME it was situated in m open country
and liable to heavy stOrms;S but | never
listened to their talk. Tvish ! had
my. never knew sush a town for
stofmsxaSd they were Eighty queer
ones. too. fSe e all so of storms.
from typhoons s'a4 torpA1os to. ahcm!
domestic storms. butQ e1ovcr saw any
act like those.
Why. if we would happen to leave
our clothes out on the line after dark,
along would Come Il miniature cyclone
and sweep my best shirts of. leaving
some WORKOUT things | should have
been glad 10 get rid Of. And strange TO
say W. wouldn't hear any noise. either.
Ii would slide around and do its work
SO quietly that when l would ask nv
neighbor about the storm next morn
ing. he'd declare there hadn't been 4
cloud in the sky the entire night.
Then. again some morning | would
wake up TO find that my melon patch
had been visited by a cyclone. and the
rinds were strcwn all Over my neigh
bor's yard. would call his attention
t. the fact and he would clasp his hands
and say Wonderfully Wonderful" that he
wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't
seen it with his w eyes; but that
cyclCneS were queer storms. and that
he had heard of Just such occurrences
Then my wood pile commenced to
disappear: As many rs ten sticks
would blow away some nights. One
day | tried the experiment of weighing
some down with about a pound of
g~unpowder inserted in a knOt-hole, but
that night they disappeared just the
same.
The ncNt morning ! got up early.
Just in time To see 4 cyclone strike nv
ne ghbor's kitchen. Honestly. cyclones
are the most curious storms in creation!
1t never harmed the ROOF of the
kitchen. but swoopel down through
the door and boosted the heavy cook
stove right through the window in sec
tons.
IL never saw such = wonderful
thing i'm my life. Then. after wreck
ing the stove. the cyclone quietly
moved on and disappeared without in
flicting further damage. You ma not
believe this. but it is the truth never
thelesS.
Well. l could have stood these
baby cyclones. and in time. perhaps.
have got used 10 them. but when the
old parent cyclone came monkeying
around the other night. | concluded il
about time TO pull up stakes and
leave.
That night + was sitting upon the
steps in front of my house en- owing nv
ng's smoke. | SAW the storm
gathering. The sombcr-hued clouds
had mas>ed themselves in awful ma .esiy
above the hor zon. and come rolling
along Ike horrible monsters hungry for
their helpless prev. while mingled with
the lightning'S binding glare came the
mighty roar of Jove's artillery. causing
the >touteSt heart among us to tremblc
and TO COVER"
Right here. the bows COT IN and
famed the Colonel vigorously. bring
inc him back from his soaring tight
OF c~loquence to cold. cruel ear h again.
In 4 short time he recovered and con-
tiuued:
We'll. you fellows may think it
wasn't a storm. but it was. Why the
sky was As black rs the record If the
opposing cand date.
- remained outside until cook-Stoves
ani such things began 10 fiv around
l,nI oi lively like, and ihen | concluded
j; WAS about time TO 60 in and take nv
wife and children down cellar.
"iiu; before l could get inside the
along came the heaviest part of
cyclone. lifted me upon its bosom.
and crsi could say a word in rcmon
s,rance. | was gliding along over the
like a meteor. Below me |
the houses being destroyed.
the people flying for their lives. ami l
shout gave myself up for lost. l had
been struck by the center OF the cy-
clone, and was being borne out into the
country at lightning-expre S ira n speed. I
but being on the top of it. l { Nper enced
10 more Inconvenience that would
have felt in a Pullman sleeper. But
after awhile l begin to think what
would happen when l stopped: IN
less / WAS but poorly prepared for the
rip that Was forced upon me. In the