Fair play., 1888-06-02
MOUNTAIN CYCLONES.
Rotary Storms That Sweep Westorl
Plains aud Glo Strange Things.

Rotary Storms Tnat sweep "eSso'T
Plain. and Do Strange Things.
"A curious phenomenon. said
Prof. F. f. Clark TO reporter. 'is
sometime, observed on wide plains,
where the atmosphere is hot and dry.
II is the forming Of miniature cyclones.
or rotary storms. which. when occur
ring on y o: and scale. as they do in
the Western States, are known as tor
nadocs.
'.When the Urion Pacific railroad
was being constructed. the workmen
had frcguen, opportunities OF witness
ing the formation AMI progress Of
such whirlwinds. which, on account Of
the peculiar action they had on dry
soil. we're called sand augers. They
were especially frequent in Lodge Pole
Creek valley. through which the rail-
way. leaving the Pate river. runs
nnrtherIv to near the base "f the Rl aci
Hills. This valley is quite narrow.
averaging about mile in width. and
is bounded on either side by range
Of low. uneven hills.
The first indication of the ap-
proach Of one of these sand augers'
would be the formation. here and
there in the valley. Of little whirligigs
Of dusty winds. picking up bits of
straw. paper anl other inconsiderate
trif1cs. sometimes waltzing into camp
ami flirting with the canvas tents. or
scattering the embrrs and ashes of
outdoor cooking places.
These baby cyclones would in
crease in number quite rapidly. and
then bc whisked away by strong cur
rents Of air. coming from n" one knew
where. bnt all drawing across the val
lev toward III, casrera range Of hills.
over which would then DO seen all
vancin. funnel-shaped cloud. like
that seen over waterspouts forming at
sea
From the under surface of this
low-lying cloud a swaying tongue of
lead-colored vapor would prolonS il
self toward the earth. from which. to
IICCt "putt IlSC C!vuu oltl
sand. The earth column would rise
CHER and higher. with whirling
motion. becoming more compact all
the while, until the bluc-black vapor
and the brown mass from below would
unite above. aud the completed.
swiftly-whirln. column commence
mOvin" slowly down from above on It's
way across the valley.
while its forward progress was
unusually slow. its rotary motion
about its vertical axi, would be very
rapid. and so dense would be the
mass Of sand gathered up by it that
when the column touched the earth il
would scoop on, shallow channel like
the dry bed of small stream. Hence
its name of sand auscr.
''Tbe diameter If The angers seldom
exceed fifteen or twenty feet ut the
ground. hat their bulk increased with
their height unit! they were merged
into III, broad surface of the thick,
murky vapor from the clou above,
h''hh AICIuSiItiD
PLAYED. When this occurred large
hailsloncs would be formed. which
would be thrown. by centrifugal force.
apparently out from the revolving
storm. They would BE- found 10 b..
almost invariably. in the shape of fiat
disks. sometimes three inches in diam
eter and an inch thick. and made up
of LAYERS Of Zee aud sand.
One sucl, sand anger passed nea,
an engineers camn where | was at
work and carried off y mt or two. Ii
then grnzed the cdg, of a corral near
by. cutting away one angle of an
Adobe wall. and sweeping by the
house itself. left every pane of glass in
the one window rs neatly ground as il
done ny a sand blast machine
Posing on. the tents the .auscr'
was carrying off became entanslcd in
the telegraph wires running through
the valley. and after dragsin: down
two poles the cyclone collapsed. leav-
ing Beneath. when it broke up.
mound made up of sand. bits of adobe.
some old boots. sprinkling of empty
tins. part Of bale of hay and dog
cared pack of cards. The latter were
carefully gathered up by their owner.
a genius calicl Slim Jim. who always
deplorcd the fact that the recovered
pack was imperfect. there being but
four aces left in it by the sand anger.
Gan E'rup..;s.., Lru,,;,,.