Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-01-01

| On me afternoon or the I'd day OF NOVem-
| Der, IS, there occurred such phenomenon
as L have seen only once in my life, and
scarcely expect to see again. The ocean was
dead calm and black as ink; the sootv clouds,
with sheets of MINDLESS vapOr trailing right
| down to the earth and water kept stationary
in sort of sinister twilight; and the air was
| full of an extraordinary stiffness, in which
| the conclusion OF the slightest sound-a cock
| Growing, goat bleating, human voice cry
| ing-was heard for miles away.
| l had just been down the mine, where |
| found the men had ceased working, and had
| gathered in knots whispering together For
| all through the dark galleries and passages
| there came, from time to time, a curious
| tremor, like the shock of an earthquake-sul-
! len, sinister, terrible making the heart, for
| some unknown reason, stand still with fear.
| Nor was this sound to be accounted for by
| the dashing of waves aSove that Subaque0us
| darkness, since there was not a breath of
| wind, and the sea lay in sullen, movelesS
| folds, scarcely vibrating.
| what is it, my ladS?" [ had asked, accoSt-
| ing the first group of men, who were cluS-
| tering on the central platform.
| AS | spoke, the tremOr came again, so that
| the walls seemed tumbling over, the hard
| ground rocking under me, with a vibration
| which seemed to send nameleSS terror into
| my very blood.
My uncle, who was there with the Others
| shook his head OminOuSly.
1--WE daWn't rightly knaw." he said: but
we ha' hard 'un again and again, sounding
like that. Seems threatening like, and | ha'
| hidden the gang knock off wark for to-day"
| l knew that it was useless to demonstrate,
for the men were evidently full of supersti-
touS dread, which, if the truth must be told,
could not help sharing. They threw down
| their pickaXeS and shovels, and followed me
up the shaft
We found Johnson there, who seemed as
tonished at our appearance, and, when l told
him what had taken place, looked savage.
You're spelling the men, Trelawney," he
said. Guess such nervous fancieS are only
tit for an old woman. Why, the seas like
mlIl-pOnd, and there amt breath of wind"
IF you think it's only fancy" | replied,
"come down with me and try. I'll give you
a hye-pOund note if you stop down there
haf an hour"
He shrunk back and shook his head angri-
~. While the men, clustering round u.s. greet
&c my speech with a laugh.
81 shall report this he cried, viciously.
"a pack of cOwardSr',
And he walked off, amid an angry murmur
from the men, who deteSted him cordially.
AS the afternoon passed, and the dull lead
Ell twilight increased, we saw, looking sea-
ward, the phenomenon to which, have al
luded; tlUO suns, one round and purple, the
other pink and ghostly, floating in the va
porS to the west. Both were quite rayless,
and they hung as it were some fifty yards
from each other. Both seemed so near to us
that one would have thought it possible to
reach them with bullet from a gun.
[ cannot express in words the strangely
depressing and vaguely alarming effect of
this phenomenon on myself and all who wit
messed it. Nor was the effect lesSened when
the DINNER of the two suns suddenly disap-
peared and the other changed in moment
from purple to Jet black. A jet black ball
IN the midst Of waste of leaden gray.
''Lawd save sv' cried Martin TreruddOck,
an old fisherman, and one of our life-boat's
crew. 'LaWd save us! 1t looks like judg-
ment, mates-like the Last Day!'
This, indeed, was the thought which was
passing through all our minds. We stood
looking in suspense till the black sun diSap
peared, and total darkness came; and then,
with no little fOrebOding, we scattered to our
homes.
But in the night, as we lay sleeping in our
beds, we learned that what we had witness
ed betOkened, not any supernatural disturb
ance, but the gathering of such tempest as
has seldom been seen, before or since, on
those shores. 1t came with fearful lightning
and clOse-fOlowing thunder, followed by
drops of black and hideous hail; and then,
with a crash and a scream and cry, the wind
rushed from the sea. l lay in my bed in the
cottage, thinking every moment that the
house would come down, shaking as it did to
its foundations, or the roof be blown away;
and every minute the blastS-grew more terri
tic, not coming in broken gusts as, during or
binary storms but in conclusions Of solid air,
which struck the walls with blows as of a
battering RAM and made every stone in the
structure CHATTER like loose tooth.
Presently, L saw my uncle, partially dress
ed and holding a light, enter my chamber.
''Hugh, my lad, be you asleep?"
LAS if any one could sleep on such night!
I thought Yesterdays portent meant some
thing. The storm has cOme!'
Mother be frighted badly" he returned.
s'Or~ "a rara vino lad dawn i the zitoI,n",
Lawd save us; bark to thatr' he added, as a
flash OF fiery lightning filled the room, and
wind and thunder mingled together in awful
reverberatIOn.
There was no resting in bed, so | slipped
on my clothes and went down with my uncle
to the kitchen, where | found my aunt full of
superStitiOuS terror. She had got out the old
Bible and, having opened at random, was
reading in a low voice from one of the
Psalms l did my best to allay her fears but
succeeded very badly.
For the greater part of the night we re-
manned sitting up. The thunder and light
ming lasted well on till morning, and when
they ceased, it became possible for the first
time to realize the frightful violence of the
gale. 1t was, as l afterward learned, well
defined cyclone.
With the first peep of daylight, l seized my
hat and moved to the door.
''Whar best gawing, lad?" cried my aunt.
down to the shore. It's high spring
tide, and | want to see if the life-bOat's
snug"
Ma na," she cried, "stawp yarr'
But only smiled at her fears, and hasten
ed away. No sooner'had | left the cottage
than the wind caught NE, and almost dashed
me from my feet; but l stopped my head,
and plunged right on in the teeth of the gale
The day was now breaking, with lurid sullen
rays, behind my back. Short as the distance
was to the seashore, l thought should never
| reach it, so terrible was the fury of the blast!
More than once | had actually to lie down
on the ground and let it trample over me!
And with the blast came hail and heavy rain,
binding me, shifting my cheek like whip
| cord, and drawing blood, so that could
scarcely see yard before my face.
At last | gained the cliff, and here I had
| much ado to prevent myself from being lifted
up bodily and blown away. But l threw
| myself on my face and looked seaward.
Nothing was visible, only driving miSts and
vapOrS: but right below there was blind