The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-05-14
ANGRY ELEMENNTS'
Several Twisters Seen From the Cty-One
tiuck Northeast OF Derby.

Yesterday afternoon the elements were
in a truly wild commotion. Dense dark
clouds covered the heavens from horizon
TO horizon and the way they boiled and
whirled and tumbled was really terrifying.
Some of them fioated east at a rapid gait
while some floated west and some OF them
dipped down while some OF them assembled
higher, all moving before strong currents
of wind. Every now and then two clouds
would meet and roll into one and perhaps
separate again and move rapidly in differ
enu directions. At $50 the clouds were
tossing in the most angry looking manner
few miles south of town and immediate
ly they formed regular tornado assum-
ing the shape of a balloon.
1t descended and assembled in turns, but
did not seem, to spectators standing on
top of the EAGLE building, to tonch the
ground The balloon or funnel disappeared
once but reformed again and took an
easterly direction. While it did not seem
to touch the ground to those who saw it
from the city, yet it did and undoubtedly
did considerable damage to property.
Fred Baldwin, who Was down at Pat
Healey's farm, saw it tearing up things
and barely escaped it himself by driving
rapidly away from the course 1T WAS pur-
suing. Mr.. Baldwin did not wait to in
vestigate what damage it had done in that
section but thinks it was serious.
j. A, Jewett, one of Steele & Walkers
travelling men, and n. j. Brewer
of the Fifth Avenue hotel at
Augusta were driving from Douglas to
ha, hnA avnitin0
perience with the twister. When they
had reached point about two miles east
and about two miles north of Derby they
heard terrific rolling noise something
after the fashion of rolling thunder. They
looked around and say a big white cloud
boiling and heaving and tumbling, and in
moment it took the shape of balloon
and commenced its deadly work. They
made a terrible attempt to reach a hedge
fence for shelter, but the noise frightened
the horses so badly that they could not be
driven to their objective point, but in
stead they dashed furiously In the opposite
direction and could not be checked
until they had run a distance of two
miles. 1t was well for the boys that the
horses were unmanageable, for the hedge
"AOSC odCACCI OACy cOuSh was oDi NSh y
the twister and absolutely torn up by the
roots and scattered all over the surround
ing country. The cyclone, after going a
distance of mile or SO, struck house
and reduced it into splinters and then
tackled the orchard near by. Both men
say it rolled and whirled in that orchard
apparently fifteen minutes, twisted the
trees into smithereens and then actually
turned around and travelled backwards on
its path distance of half mile, when 1t
turned southeast and soon afterwards
disappeared. This cyclone seemed to have
what the boys call a tongue, that abso-
lutely licked up every thing that was in
its path. The recent rains formed lake
in low part of the prairie, few acres in
extent, and it so completely sucked the
water from this lake that glass full was
not left in it.
Both Mr.. Jewett and Mr.. Brewer will
never forget their experience, and neither
one of them expected to ever reach Wich-
tia alive when they first saw the twister,
for it was uncomfortably close to them.
Both came to the EAGLE Office last night
to learn further particulars, and while
there Mr.. Brewer ascertained the fact
that the cyclone struck Augusta,
and in all probability struck his hotel.
He was greatly alarmed over
the news and eagerly sought the telegraph
office to receive information from his wife
Immediately after the cyclone south of
the city had disappeared another cyclone
formed north of the city and travelled east
ward. This was probably the twister that
struck Augusta.
The EAGLE sent to Derby last night for
information but they gave no details.