Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-05-23
TWO CYCLONE STORIES.
How the sight OF n FuBneI-Shaped
Cloud Affects n Man,

The other day at the Press Club
rooms a group of reporters were rela-
ting personal experiences, says the
Milwaukee Sentinel. THE most
thrilling sight 1 ever saw" said one,
twas the bowling cyclone at Racine
about four years ago. l never want TO
see another, for the sight scared away
ten years of my life. l saw big,
copper-colored, funnel-shaped cloud
approaching, and, anticipating that
there would be lively storm, went TO
the top story of the Y. NJ. {. A.
building to see it break over the city.
The immense funnel came nearer and
nearer, lower and lower, majestically
approaching the Bohemian quarter
of the city. Then, to my horror,
buildings were tossed in the air like
dice thrown from box, mingling in
indescribable confusion with sections
of fences, broken and uprooted trees,
all in a cloud of dust. can't describe
the terror that took possession OF me
when 1 saw the big houses flying
through the air, and to this day l do
not know how got down the several
flights of stairs and out of the build
ing. When l recovered my compo-
sure / was ten blocks away in the
L don't think L ever ran the distance
in such a short period of time as that
day trying to run away from that cy-
clone.''
"That reminds me, " said one of the
listeners, "of little episode that put a
few gray hairs in my head. 1t was in
Dakota and occurred only last year. l
| was working on st. Paul paper and
had been sent on a special mission into
the adjoining Territory. a friend of
mine had taken a claim in Dickey
County, and 1 took advantage of the
opportunity afforded to pay him a
visit. We were having social chat
when observed an anxious look came
over his face. He stepped TO the
window, and with blanched face
shouted to me and the members of his
family:
"'Rush for the CELLAR
w hats the matter?' 1 asked.
"'I'm afraid there will be a cy-
clone,' he answered, and l would
rather be in the cellar than in the
garrett
81 would like to see a cyclone
said, and took my place by the window,
| while the others rushed for the cellar
expecting me to follow. l confess
| ulu hOG dullClEdlc ILdI my llltliu-s
fears were well-founded, for l saw
nothing alarming in the cloud thai
was travelling toward the place. Their,
was a barn little ways beyond, anC
the cloud seemed TO be making be,
line for 1t. There was an oppressIv,
stiffness for a minute or two, then /;
few gusts of wind, and, before L haC
time to think, that barn went sailing
up towards the sky, and was carried
bodily over the roof of the house like
a mere toy. The house itself seemed
to be lifted up several feet upon on,
end and then settled down agaII
gently, as though some giants hant
had tilted it and set IT back uninjuIed
Was L scaredp My hair stood on end
and when l saw that barn sailing il
the air 1 wished l had taken m
friends advice and crept into tn
cellar. The barn was scattered for
distance of several miles. We couldn'
find enough sound boards to build
respectable hen-coop. That same cy
clone played a curious freak on thre
men engaged in baking potatoes in
little shanty near by. 1t sucked u
the roof and sides of the little struC
ture, with the men, leaving the foo
intact, carried them a quarter of
mile in a jiffy, and set them dow
tight III the middle of a potato field.