Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-29
THE CAUSE OF TORNADOEs.
Prof. Virgins Says the Electric Wires
Produce Waterspouts and Cyclones.

Frouuce WaterspOuts ana Cycioness
Prof. Virgins thinks he has solved the prob
lem to the cause of the recent tornadoes and
waterspouts which have wrought such destruc-
ton in the United States. "A sheaf Of tele-
graph and telephone wires stretching over the
roof of building will certainly protect it from
any thunderbolt." said the professor in an in
terview with a New York Sun correspondent in
Ottawa, "but the network Of wires in cities
suddenly exhausts the electricity from thun-
derbolts and, as a result, causes tornadoes and
vaterspouts over and in the vicinity Of cities
This stated on April 8, 1889, and in justice to
myself must quote that letter, which is as
follows:
"a disastrous drought has prevailed in On
tario since the spring of 1887. and while prob
ably continuing during the summer of 1889 the
question propose to ask and answer is: What
Is the cause? Two conditions are necessary to
produce rain-6rst, moisture in the atmos-
phere, and, second, condenser to precipitate
1t. Evaporation, which supplies humidity to
the atmosphere. being constant there can be
no defect as TO the first condition. What are
the condensers? There are two planetary con-
functions which cause a sudden fall of temper
atures, and, second, electricity. The former
acts in periods of weeks or months the latter
two or three times a week. Electricity there
fore. is our chief agent in producing rain. 1t
is well known that the Ontario farmer is de-
pendent largely upon electric storms for a
storm? l answer that it is electricity isolated
In cloud which moves over the earth's sur
face. Electricity is a cold substance, and SO
long as 1t is unable to dispense by conduction
SO long will Its GOODNESS continue to act a
condenser and precipitate the moisture as rain.
The dry ground beneath being anon-conductor
a single electric cloud, if not dispersed by con-
ductors artifcially stretched across its path,
may travel from Toronto to Belleville, or from
Kingston to Ottawa, and water a vast tract OF
country beneath its grateful path. Place a
network of wires before it and the cloud will
break with the first clap of thunder. Such
cloud (unless of a great area and electric
power) could not pass Toronto, for its electric
force would be dispersed by a sea Of telephone
and telegraph wires, not only over Canada, but
to New Orleans and San Francisco, and where
ever a connection happened to be at that mo-
ment These telegraph and telephone wires.
like modern Mercurys. are stealing the thun-
derbolts of Jupiter and in few years, if the
strong arm OF the law does not interfere, the
Canadian farmer will look upon his premises
as worthless fields that once budded and
bloomed as the rose
But it will not be the husbandman only.
who will suffer. When an electric cloud is
suddenly burst by running upon conductors,
its collapse produces a cyclone, and these
almost invariably occur over or in the vicinity
OF cities and spread desolation and death in
their trail. Ohio Pennsylvania and the Mis-
slssippi states were strangers to these messen-
gers Of death until the iron web was woven
over their territory, and now they are the
home OF drought and cyclones and the same
wire which brought the destroyer out of the
brain OF Jupiter tells US of his carnival Of
death in demolishing buildings and scattering
debris and human beings through the air.
Let the people OF Canada now take warning,
for if these networks of metal are spread over
our northwest in the shape of telegraph wires
telephone wires and wire fencing, our future
granary Of the world will become another bat
tie ground of the elements. As to Ontario, its
main dependence for rain in the future will be
on electric storms from the northern points of
the compass, where they can still form above
the great northern forests. Certainly no
thunder storm can originate within the wire
belt, and it was for this reason that
of the year north Q' Ssre fa he e Tas4as
while those bordering on Lake Ontario were
burned up with drought. The prevailing
winds in Ontario are from southwest to west
This is the great eastbound current. running at
first up the Mississippi valley to the great
lakes, there joining the current which is max
ing its way down the St. Lawrence valley and
over the maritime provinces. Formerly this
supplied almost continued rain to this province
being loaded with moisture and charged with
electricity, which it carried along as its con-
denser. The great metal sea now exhausts it
of its electric energy, that it refuses to part
with the aqueous burden until it strikes the
cold currents which move down the eastern
shores Of North America. Hence the floods
and the continued rains IN Quebec and the
maritime provinces. Ottawa and Toronto and
their vicinities are particularly liable to cy-
clones, and this danger is yearly increasing by
the increase in the wire network. The fatal
wire fencing is also being rapidly extended
over our northwest especially Manitoba, and in
a few years cyclones will be as common near
our great Rocky mountain range as they are
now in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi,
while from their snowy fingers to the waters of
Winnipeg brown drought will scorch the plains
where once swarmed the lazy Indians and the
bounding buffalo"