Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-05-28

unlike any ordinary formation. III they
are light their appearance resembles
smoke issuing flom n 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 irldescent or glow.
ing, as if pale whitish light issued
from their irregular surfaces. If tho
premonitory clouds are dark and pre-
sent deep greenish hue, this fairly
forbodes very great evil. So, also, If
they appear jet black from the center
to circumference, or if this deep set
color appears only at the center, grad
ually diminishing in intensity as the
outer edges of the cloud or bank of
clouds are approached. Sometimes
these dark clouds, instead of appear
ing in solid and heavy masses, roll up
lightly but still intensely black, like
the smoke from an engine or locomo-
tive burning soft coal They have
been described as Of Il purple of
BLUSH tingc, or at times possessed Of
Il strange liyidncss, or frequently dark
green, and again of an inky blackness
that fairly startles one with its in
sonsity.
Another and invariablc sign of the
tornado's approach is Il heavy roaring,
which augmcnts intensity as the tor
nadO cloud advances. This roaring is
compared to the passage OF heavily
loaded freight train moving over
bridge or through deep pass or tun-
mel, or AS heard on damp mornings
when the sound is very clear and loud.
At times the roaring has been so vic.
lent that persons have compared ii to
the simultaneous "ruSh of ton thou
sand trains of cars Again, the roar.
ing is likcncd TO the low rumbling of
distant thunder. The varying in
tensity Of the roar, as here roprescn-
ted, is apparently due to the lack of
uniformity in the positions of the yari-
ous observers with respect to the ad
vancing tornado cloud. Those situa.
ted nearest the cloud, other things be-
ing equal, experience the lOudcst roar,
whl,c to those at greater distance the
noise is proportOnally weaker. In
any event however, the noise is suili-
cicntly peculiar and distinct to create
alarm, and as n means of warning
should not be overlooked under any
prctcNt
The tornado cloud is, generally
speaking, at its first formation funnel.
shaped THAT is to say, it tapers from
the top downward, not always in the
same degree with every appearance of
the cloud, but the lower ond of it (the
part nearest the Carth) is invariably
the smallest, and this, too, whatever
may be the inclination of tho central
axis of the cloud to the vertical or
plumb line. AZ seen n different posi-
tiOnS and stages of development by
various observers, located differently,
the tornado cloud has been call
ed "baIloon-shaped, basket. shaped"
egg shaped y "lraiing on the ground
like the tail of an enormous kite" "Of
bulbouS form;' Like an elephants
trunk etc. In the majority of in
stances, however, observers describe
the cloud as appearing like an up.
right funnel. When the small end of
the cloud Just reaches to the earth, the
violence of its whirl causes n peculiar
ly.formcd cloud of dust and finely
divided debris, around which play
small gatherings of condensed vapOr.
To appearances now, the tornado cloud
has two heads, one on the surface of
the earth and the other IN the sky tho
bodies of each Joining in midair and
tapcrng both ways with the smallest
diameter at their junction. In other
words, the cloud now assumes the
shape of an hour-glasS and the lower
portion displays extraordinary de-
structivc violence. This last and most
fatal form of the tornado cloud is
fortunately not constant feature of
the storm The tornado cloud is con-
stantly changing from the hour-glass
form TO that Of the upright funnel, or
some other intermediate shape pre-
viOuSly referred to. The various gra-
dationS of form, not any of which,
however, affect the stcreOlyped rela-
ton between the size of top and bot
tom, number some twenty-five or
thirty, so far as reliable information
has been secured upon this point.
These variations of form depend upon
the peculiar movements of the whirl-
ing currents of air within and about
the tornado cloud the direction of the
currents being outlined to the eye by
the singular disposition of tho rapidly |
condensing masses of vapor.