Wichita eagle., 1889-11-19
A BUFFALO STAMPEDE.
A Tragedy of the Early Days on the North
Lonp of the Platte.

Lonp of the Platte.
CYCLONES and hurricanes continue to dew
estate; prairie fires and cloud bursts desc
bare and destroy; the rivers rise from their
beds and carry death on the muddy waters
but the tragedy of the buffalo stampede is
never to be enacted again 1t was mighty
terror OF the plains more to be feared than a
war party of Apaches-more to be dreaded
than the pillows of fame licking up the long,
dry grass.
1t is high noon on the great plains Of CEN
trail Nebraska.
An emigrant party, composed Of dozen
wagons and many families, has halted on
the Loup fork OF the Platte river to cook
dinner and rest their animals 1t is midsum-
mer and the creek has almost disappeared.
Here and there a few barrels of water are
left in deep hole, and again the bed of the
creek is dry for hundred rods.
The SUNS Of July and August beat down on
the great plains with terrible effect. Creeks
run dry, rivers sink into insigniicance, the
grass is killed to its roots, and great cracks
open In the baked earth to give convenient
shelter to insects and reptiles. Then woe to
the man or beast who is far from water.
Thirst win craze him in few hours
There is wafer there for the emigrants,
such as it is, but the quantity is reduced one
half before the thirsty horses have had their
fill. The men look up and down the bed of
the creek, but as far rs the eye can see in
either direction there Is no more water. Last
May this Loup Fork would have foated q
ship in its channel, but the mountain SHOWS
have melted and no rain has fallen for weeks
AS the campfres are lighted and the dinner
made ready, let us fly due north dozen
miles. A hundred miles away is the Mo
brara river, rising in the mountains far to
the west, flowing in the same eccentric man.
ner, and ITS bed also just as dry at this season
of the year. Five OF six days ago herd of
buffaloes numbering thousands drank their
fill at the hiobrara as they crossed it, work
ing to the south in fear Of the Indian buffalo
hunters who were abroad on the Dakota line,
and in hopes 10 find richer pasturage along
the forks of the Platte Here and there as
they have progressed, water has been found
in small quantities, but Tor thirty hours past
not an animal has had drop. The grass Is
scorched and dead, the ground hot to their
feet, and the almost solid mass, covering acre
after acre, are almost quiet at this monday
hour. Here and there one losses his head in
anger as thirst torinents him, and others give
utterance to their suf7erings by long drawn
signs and means.
Every animal has a listless look, and you
would say that it would require something
beyond the ordinary 10 cause a single one of
them TO break into rnn. The sun glares
down like q ball of fire The stirring of so
many feet has filled the air with fine dust,
to add still another torment to the situation
The OK or the horse would long ago have
fallen to the earth to die
Seel Near the center Of the herd great
bull suddenly throws up his head AMI scents
Che air. He is magnificent specimen-ope
Of the kings of the herd. Does his keen scent
bring the presence of water over the dozen
miles of scorched plaina Is there something
to make him afraida He wheels round and
round-he utters hoarse bellows which ex-
cite the animals around him, and in two min
utes half the herd is in a state Of agitation
Of a sudden, with massive head held low
as if TO attack-with eyes blazing-with clots
of foam flying from the corners of his mouth
with tierceness of demesnor which clears
path for him, he heads to the west and
charges through the herd lie is followed
by ten-thirty-a hundred-a thousand-bv
every animal which can move and now he
gins stampede. A mighty living mass rolls
over the plain-a body more to be dreaded
than tidal wave sweeping in from the sea
Movement incites TO a new energy-a rivalry
10 reach the fropt--a sort of madness which
knows no fear or obstruction.
The emicrants are at their dinner, and
their horses are feeding about them, when
an alarm is sounded One of the horses
raises his bead, looks ixedly to the east, and
utters shrill neigh of anxiety. The men
look up. The sky is clear, and there are no
signs of Indians about. They make light of
the warning and sit down, but moment
later half dozen horses are pulling at their
lariats, there is a trembling of the earth, and
q man whose face is paler than death leaps
up TO shout:
a buffalo stampede! Take to the wagons."
There Is room for all. and time for ell, bet
as the men look TO the east and see that great
living wave, two or three miles long and a
mile broad, bearing down upon the camp,
they shout in disnay and cry out in despair
Nearer-nearer-comin straight or-nad-
dened by their thirst and terrified by their
swn conduct, aud there is s. chorus of shrieks
and shouts-the reports of two or three rifles
aseries Of crashes which blond into one. and
tho camp has been blotted out As the great
wave hurls itself into the bed of the Loup and
beyond, there is no sign of the camp-no sight
Oh Inc NsieOllS-ncIDlll- 10 tel OF the thirty
human beings alive ana well and full OF hone
only two minutes before. All have been
wiped out-blo:ted of the face of the Garth
Detroit Free Press.
The Weather Evens Up.
There is one thing that people who watch
Che progress Of the weather generally agree
upon. and that is that there is no known law
relative 20 forecasts or to explain the vicissi-
tudes Of the weather. There is one thing,
however. that is agreed upon. snd that is
general equilibrium Of the hot and cold
weather, VIZ; If we miss cold or warm
weather at the time We expect il we will get
it at some other time. Any four years of
weather watched by the barometer or Their
mometer VIII show the weather equahZed.
was acquainted with q friend now deceased,
who took notes from his thermometer every
day Tor forty-nine years, and when he went
to draw profile Of his observations he dis
covered the result named.-Interview in St
Louis Globe Democrat
Eifiel Tower Resistance
From calculations made concerning the re
sstspcs which the Eiffsl tower can offer. il is
ascertaiped that il is abs TO sustain & normal
wind pressure Of SSl pounds to the square
yard, or q total pressure of more than GEO.
600 pounds So that, If at any time hurri-
came of such unheard Of force should come 10