The Arizona sentinel., 1888-06-09
MOUNTAIN CYCLONES.
Rotary Storms That Sweep Western
Plains and Do Strange Things.

Rotary Storms That Sweep westers
Plains and Do Strange Things.
"A curious phenomenon, said
Prof. F. E Clark to reporter. ais
sometimes observed on wide plains,
where the atmosphere is hot and dry.
1t is the forming of miniature cyclones,
or rotary storms, which, when occur
ring on e; and scale, as thsy do in
the Western States, are known as tor
nadoes.
when the Union Pacific railroad
was being constructed, the workmen
had frequent opportunities of witness
ing the formation and progress Of
such whirlwinds, which, on account OF
the peculiar action they had on dry
soil. were called sand augers-' They
were especially frequent in Lodge Pole
Creek valley. through which the rail-
way, leaving the Pate river. runs
northerly to near the base of the 81 ack
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 tho 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 and other inconsiderate
trifles, sometimes waltzing into camp
and flirting with the canvas tents. or
scattering the embers and ashes of
outdoor cooking places.
These baby cyclones would in
crease in number quite rapidly. and
then be whisked away by strong cur
rents of air, coming from no one knew
where, but all drawing across the val
ley toward the eastern range of hills.
over which would then DO seen ad-
vancing a funnel-shaped cloud, like
that seen over waterspouts forming at
sea-
From the under surface of this
low-lying cloud swaying tongue of
lead-colored vapor would prolong it,
self toward the earth, from which, to
meet it. would rise a cloud ofdirt and
sand. The earth column would rise
higher and higher, with a whirling
motion, becoming more compact all
the while. until the blue-black vapor
and the brown mass from below would
unite above, and the completed,
swiftly-whirling column commence
moving slowly down from above on its
way across the valley.
while its forward progress was
unusually Slow its rotary motion
about its vertical axis would be very
rapid. and so dense would be the
mass of sand gathered up by it that
when the column touched the earth it
would scoop out shallow channel like
the dry bed of small stream. Hence
its name of sand auger.
THE diameter of the augers seldom
exceed fifteen or twenty feet at the
ground. but their bulk increased with
their height until they were merged
into The broad surface of the thick,
murky vapor from the cloud above,
from which electric flashes frequently
PLAYED. When this occurred large
hailstones would be formed, which
would be thrown, by centrifugal force,
out from the revolving
storm. They would be found 10 be,
almost invariably, in the shape of fiat
disks. sometimes three inches in diam
eter and an inch thick, and made up
of layers of ice and sand.
One such sand auger' passed neal
an engineers camp where l was at
work and carried off a tent or two. 1t
then grazed the edge 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 as neatly ground as if
lone by sand-blast machine.
Passing on. the tents the 'auger'
vas carrying off became entangled in
he telegraph wires running through
he valley, and after dragging down
.wo poles the cyclone collapsed, leay-
ng beneath, when it broke I'D,
mound made up of sand, bits of adobe,
ome old boots, 2 sprinkling of empty
ms. part of bale of hay and dog
Jared pack of cards. The latter were
gathered up by their owner,
| genius called Slim Jim. who always
leplored the fact that the recovered
back was imperfect there being but
our aces left in it by the sand auger"
San Francisco Examiner.