The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1886-07-29
WHY WE HAVE CYCLONES.
They Must Increase Every Year Until We
Plant Trees.

whole theory of cyclones was clabo-
rated jn couple Of lines. In an arti-
Gle for the history of Chicago (vol. |.
p. 5S8), the writer gave the following
suggestion: "But Chicago has been
singularly free from the devastating
cyclones that have cut swaths of ruin
in all the cOntcrminOus country, and
the reasonable solution of the fact
appears to be that the light atmosphere
of the lake absorbs the approaching
cyclone and disscminatcs The force
Of cyclone, as the force of dynamite,
requires repression and compression
TO educate it," In this necessarily
brief alluSion the two great factors of
cyclones, simOOns, nOrthCrS or other
other cereal convulsions, are stated
negatively. But in these marvellous
natural convulsionS all the postulatcs
nave to be expressed in that manner.
In fact, to speak Of the "force" of q
cyclone is almost to use q miSnomcr;
for its force is not that Of propulsion,
but of exhaustion.
Take the winter Of Texas, the "nor-
thcr", as an example. The hot South
ern sun for days and days beats upon
the trcelcss plateau of "El Llano Esta-
cado," or the Stakcd plains, and as an
inevitable consequence the air becomes
exceedingly rarciied and expended.
This expansion continues until the
Supcrhcatcd portion is met by mass
of cool atmosphere, and then the nat :
ural effect of cooling and condensation
Of the heated air ensucs. This creates
4 vacuum, which hiatus is filled by a
current Of the cooling motor; exactly
on the same principle as that Of the
hrnnvn in
work on physical geography. Should
there be u very large area of super
heated air, then tho continuous con-
dcnsation and rushing in of the cold
air makes the "nOrthcr.' The same
causes produce the same results in
both the cyclone on land and the tor
pcdo at sea, and both arc prclaCed by
Il rapidly falling thermometer and
barometer. And the destruction of
the forests of our Northern States is
the occasion of tic cyclone, and moth
ing else. The trees are natures means
Of disseminating moisture in the upper
stratum, which, bv the cooler tenn
pcraturc of night, is returned TO the
thirsty earth in the form of dew, and
the removal of the trees causes the
uninterrupted rarctaction Of the air
and the consequent cyclone. Nebraska
used to be uncnviably distinguished
by the violence and frequency Of it's
WindstOrms. How many of these
unpleasant visitations has that State
had since the comprehensive tree
planting that has been carried on there :
1t would seem that that case alone
was sufficient proof for the successful
demonstration of this axiom, without
any purely scientific reasons being
adduccd. But, if any reader has not
been to Nebraska, or has had no op-
p0rtunity to consult the statistics rcla-
tive to that State, the cyclone theory
advanced is easily proved by visiting
any large furnace. Go there and get
the flrcmcn to open the door Of the
furnace and listen for the result; the
deatening roar thtt cnSucs is the cold
air rushing to take the place OF the
rarcticd and supcrhcatcd air, and is a
cyclone on a ANAL scale, and if we cal,
imagine one furnace being situated
Immediately behind that where the
experiment is made, and other behind
that, and so on 0d iMfnitUn1, then we
have an exact representation of the
cyclone traVcrsing the Various areas OF
the supcrhcatcd atmosphere, until il
arrives at II region where the tcmpcra
ture is normal, when it subsidies. The
rotary motion OF both the cyclone and
the WhlrlWind is another proof of the
verify OF this argument The outer
cuSc, or circumference, Of both is the
1lrst to be cooled, and the centre of the
rapidly chilled mass Of air ascending
lmparts TO the whole body its reyOlu-
tons. The motion of the earth on its
axle has been alleged to have some
influence on the rotary motion, but
this has not yet been satisfuctorilv
demonstrated by our scientific men to
be accepted.
Antagonists of our theory have ad-
duccd the SIMEON as simeon as q
contravcntiOn of its being u scientific
fact, but, however. comforting the
apparent contradiction may be TO the
"Robbcr Lumber Barons", it is, i'm
fact, no substantial allegation adverse
to the theory at all. The fact that the
simeon is an intensely hot sandstone,
while the northcr is q very cold wind,
negatives nothing, for pyrology has
not yet demonstrated how hot air can
be made; and it is only nccdful that
one section Of atmosphere should be
hotter than the air in its vicinity for
the heated portion to ascend and its
location to be supplied by the cooler.
And these sim0Ons always occur on
the deserts, where there is absolutely
no forestry.
Hence, as it is impossible to trans
plant the lake which has proved the
safety valve for ChicagO-to the cv-
rrlonc-infested regions, the only means
for their abr0Gation and ultimate pre-
vcntion is to inauguratc an extensive
system of trcc-planting and prcscrva-
tlon, and then and not until then
will the terrible devastation of the
cyclone become thing Of the past. 1t
is the acme of stupidity TO imagine
that any part of the fundamental laws
OF nature can be set at nought without
inc dircst results following, and lust
now any nation can infer that the
wholc coniiguration of a country can
DC changed without corresponding
changc accruing to the atmospheric
condition of that country is hard TO
conceive. conc; Trees were placed on the
earth for some other reason th m fo
supply a Lumbar market, and their
indiscriminatc destruction has concInl