Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-08-15
ToRNADoEs AND CYCLONES.
Interesting Accounts of Personal Expe-
riences,

riences.
The attempt to account for tornadOes
and cyclones In the MORNING NEWS of
Aug. IL, brings to mind some OF my expe-
riences and observations on them, water
spouts, thunder storms ana dvining rods,
the last being rejected by half-scienee as
unworthy of notice because 1t has been
used by charletans TO discover hid
den treasures. Fifty years ago we
knew 80 little of terrestrial cleo
trlcity that Prof. Morse objected
to certain suggestions on the
ground that it would require double set
OF wires to convey and reply to q message
by his telegraph. l have never been sat-
isted with our received theories on scien-
tito subjects, and being doubter
generally Of every hypothesis, include all
yet advanced as to the nature OF light
neat electricity and magnetism as not
proved. or course | have my own, and
would naturally be expected to take up
arms in defence of them against scot
ling world, but taking a hint from the
mailman, who said he and the rest OF
mankind were Mt issue on a question of
fact, he declaring the world 10 be mad,
and they being the majority, had decided
that he was. shall only relate two or
three Of my experiences, leaving the read
er to draw his own conclusions there
from.
First, in upper Georgia. was drop
ping corn on "a hillside when one Of tie
little 'whiIlwinds," so common in the
summer, sprung up, and came towards
me. Being the highest object in the field,
] saw 1t begin in patch of woods near
by, as II breath Of air had set few
leaves in motion. But there was no wind
perceptible. and | saw that leaves APP
peared to be- moving from all points
towards centre, along the ground, and
then 10 rise with "A rotary motion in cone
shape. Moving very slowly at first, sound
and motion increased so rapidly that had
l not accidentally seen the first creeping
motion of the leaves l would have
thought the whole the result of a sud
den gust OF wind. Seeing 1t com
ing towards me, went towards IL and
observed that it seemed TO change its
course to meet me, In about thirty or
forty yards it grew so rapidly IN height
and circumference as to surprise
me when it suruck me.
saw that the leaves, pine straw and
trash, all drew to central pOiut. and
when became that point, ! heard the
swapping and felt the pricEing SEN
sation attending slight electric
shocks when the trash struck
me. Those particles that had any
perceptible length seemed to come on
end, and for an instant felt as Il | had
received gentle shock from an electric
battery.
Thirty years after, when the war left
US on the sand hills, near Augusta, the
same thing occurred when | was in my
garden on the top of q hill. A Kissing
sound In tho hollow about 200 yards dis
tant drew our attention to a small column
ofdust and leaves, only a few feet In height.
IL approached rapidly, increasing in
height and size, and when it struck us
threw down my companion, aud turned
me round several times, twisting a
tin bucket from my hand, and, crossing
the garden, scattered a panel or two of
the clapb0ard fence in an eliptical form,
and then leapng the railroad in the de-
preston between the hills, passed on,
throwing down fence, log stable, killing
two mules, and leaping the Savannah
river, was last heard of near the noun
tains. This may have been part of the
great tornado which on that day swept over
Kentucky to end i'll a prOdigious fall of
rain beyond Rock Island, on the Missis-
sippi, in Illinois.
Again: | have seen several water
spOuts form and once saw the very begin
ming of one. 1t was Just before the war
of secession, when anchored in my boat
between Bay Point and Hilton Head, Port
Royal harb0r. The water WAS as smooth
as 1t could be, the ocean swell scarce suf-
ficient to move the light iron life boat
l fshed in. Suddenly we became
aware OF splitting and swapping
IN the water near us and saw
what we took TO be a shOal Of skip-jack,
but it passed near enough TO show us that
there were no fish present. 1t passed on,
leaping and falling back as tar as we
could see it, growing higher and higher
as it went. Low as we were in the water,
IL must have disappeared within two
miles, but IL had not gone out OF sight
long before the little mist-like fiocula, be-
fore visible to the east, began 10 move
towards one point, and soon water spout
was formed seward.
These are three of the experiences on
which | form this opinion with regard 10
winds. storms, tornadoes, cyclones, thun-
derstOrms and water spOuts, viz: The
surface of the earth being OF one electrical
state, an outer ring Of the ether Is of the
contrary, and the intermediate couch of
atmosphere is neutral. When the inten-
sihcatiOn of one state induces an equal
intensificatiOn in the other, and an equali-
zation is gradually effected through the
intervening air, the motion induced Re-
comes gentle or violent in the form Of
a breeze, a storm, a tornado or
cyclone, or when Intervention OF
clouds charges them with electricity
till the quantity becomes too great
lOrretentiOn. A thunderbOlt results-and
n flash down and up restores the equili-
brium. A full development Of these ideas
leads 10 the slngularly told suggestion That
the day will come when 1t will be proved
that such is the nature OF things-thnt,
without eyes TO see, there would be no
light! And that what we call electricity
in its heating, lighting and chemical
properties, is the agent employed 10y the
great fret cause IN the creation of the
universe. But only the agent-nOt the
creator. He Is past finding ont.
II. W. II.
RICKERsoN,a ALLEGnn CRIME