The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-07-01
Bill I'VE ON Cyclones.

We were riding along on the bounding
train, and some one spoke Of the free and
democratic way that people in this country
got acquainted with each other while trav-
cling. Then we got TO talking about rail-
way sociability and railway etiquette, when
young man from East Jasper, who had
wildly jumped and grabbed his valise every
time the train hesitated, said that ii was
queer what railway travel would DO in the
way of'throwing people together. He said
that in Nebraska once he and large, cor
pulent gentleman, both total strangers,
were thrown together while trying TO Jump
washout, and an intimacy sprung up be-
tween them that had ripened into open hos
tility.
From that we got 10 talking about natural
phenomena and storms. / spoke of the
cyclone with some feeling and a little Bit
terness, perhaps, briefly telling my own ex-
perience, and making the storm as loud and
wet and violent as possible.
Then gentleman from Kansas named
George l.. Murdoch, an old cattleman, was
telling of cyclone that came across his
range two years ago last September. The
sky was clear, to begin with, and then all
at once, as Mr.. Murdoch states, little
cloud, no larger than a mans hand, might
have been seen. 1t moved toward the
pockets for few moments, and then Mr..
Murdoch discovered that it was of a pale
green color, about sixteen hands high, with
dark blue name and tail. About n mile
from where he stood, the cyclone, with
great force, swooped down, and, with
muffied roar, swept a quarter section of
land out from under heavy mortgage
without injuring the mortgage in the least.
lie says that people came for miles the fol-
lowing day TO see the mortgage, still on file
at the office of the register of deed and just
rs good as ever.
Then gentleman named Bean, of West
ern Minnesota, man who went there at an
early day, and homesteaded it when his
nearest neighbor was fifty miles away, spoke
of n cyclone that visited his county before
the telegraph or railroad had penetrated
that part of the State.
Mr.. Bean said il was very clear up 10 the
moment that he noticed cloud in the
northwest no larger than mans hand. 1t
sauntered down in n southwesterly direc-
ton Ii ie cyclone that had all summer to
do Its chores in. Then II gave two quick
snorts and roar, wiped out of existence
all the farm buildings he had, sucked the
well dry, soured all the milk in the milk
house, and spread desolation all over that
quarter section. But Mr.. BEAN said that
the most remarkable thing he remembered
was this He had dug about pint of
ang worms that morning, intending to go
over TO the lake toward evening and catch
a few perch. But when the cyclone came
it picked up those angle worms and drove
them head first through his new grindstone
without injuring the worms or impairing
the grindstone. He would have had the
grindstone pho ographed, he said, if the
angle worms could have been kept still long
enough. He said that they were driven
just far enough through to hang on the
other side like a lambrequin.
The cyclone is certainly wonderful phe-
nomenon, It's movements are so erratic, and
in direct violation of all known rules.
Mr.. Louis Z. Barker of Northern Iowa
was also on the car, and he described n cy
clone that he saw in the '70s along in
September at the close of hot but clear
day. The first intimation that Mr.. Barker
had of an approaching storm was a small
cloud no larger than mans hand which he
discovered moving slowly toward the south
west with a gryatory movement. 1t then
appeared to,be a funnel-shaped cloud which
passed along near the surface Of the ground
with its apex now and then lightly touching
a barn or a we'll and pulling it out by the
roots 1t would then bound lightly into the
air and spit on its hands. What he noticed
most carefully on the following day was the
wonderful evidence of its powerful suction.
1t sucked mich COW absolutely dry,
pulled all the water out of his cistern, and
then went around to the waste water pipe
that led from the bathroom and drew a
two-year- old child, who was taking a bath
at the time, clear down through the two
inch waste pipe, distance of one hundred
and fifty feet. He had two inches of the
pipe with him and lock of hair from the
childs head.
1t is such circumstances as these, coming
to us from the mouths of eye witnesses,
that lead Us to exclaim: How prolific is
nature. and how wonderful are all her
works-including poor, weak man! Man,
who comes into the world clothed In a little
brief authority, perhaps, and nothing else
to speak of. He rises up in the morning.
prevaricates, and dies Where are our best
liars to-day? Look for them where you
will, and you will find that they are pass
ing away. Go into the cemetery and there
you will find them mingling with the dust,
but striving still to perpetuate their bust
ness 10y marking their tombs with a gentle
prevarication, chiseled in enduring stone
CHAMPION LIAR.
DIED