The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-04-16

entirely off its human victims. If its vic
TINS are fowls, the feathers are often
stripped off completely.
Tornadoes sometimes exercise curious
expansive action. If the walls of a house
are not carried away, and especially if the
whirl passes centrally over it, they are
likely to fall-not inwards or toward one
side, but outward in all directions.
! At other times the effect is more like
that of suction. Boxes are opened and
their contents tossed out. Files of papers
are neatly uncovered and the papers
promptly distributed all over the country,
! but especially toward the northeast.
! A story of a bonnet will illustrate this
feature OF the action of tornadoes. In
| Tennessee lived an old couple in a log
cabin with large fireplace. The old lady
was preparing to go to town when 2 mild
tornado passed over the cabin and inter
rupJed her preparations. No damage of a
serious character was done and she soon
resumed her preparations to go to town.
! She finally reached the stage in which
she was to assume her bonnet. This was
| IN her estimation a particularly fine one,
lar surprising that of her neighbors, and
she kept it in bandbox, except when it
was taken out to do duty at church or in
town. She now went to the bandbox and
discovered to her great surprise that the
box was open and the bonnet gone. There
was no sign of it anywhere. Her husband
denied having meddled with it and there
was no one else about.
In state of great perplexity she sat
down to collect her wits, when she hap
pened to see a brilliantly colored ribbon
dangling from the great due over the fire
place. Instant investigation followed and
she soon drew out her much-loved bonnet,
none the worse except for SCOT and ashes.
The mild tornado had carried the air u D
through the fiue with. just sufficient force
to open the light bandbox and take its
treasure along to the chimney, where it
was caught by some projection and held
until found.
DUST COLUMNS.
What are called tornadoes seem to be
at least five different sorts of phenomena.
but with no sharp line of distinction be-
tween them.
The first is slight phenomenon, really
dust column; but, occurring at place
where dust columns are not familiar it is
called by another name. Such was prob
ably the character of the 'stornado'' pho
tographed at Garnett, Kan, in 1884.
They are much like some waterspouts.
TwIsTERs.
The second is the real tornado or
Htwister.' 1t is characterized by fun
mel hanging down from the clouds. 1t has
been photographed several times and
sEetched many times, but the pictures of
it are by no means reliable. The condi-
tons under which the photographs and
pictures are made are not favorable for
good work; besides, the temptation to
exaggerate and to piece out imperfect
pictures seems to have proved irresistible.
These are the true tornadoes, and most
OF the facts given here relate so them.
DERECHoEs.
The third form appears rather as hori-
Zontal than as vertical whirls.
They appear to be what DIR. Hinrichs
has called derechoes (from derecho,
straight) and advance in the form of q
horizontal roll of dust. The front ex-
tends in length as they advance, SO that
the territory they pass over is fam shaped,
instead of the strap-shaped area of the
tornadoes proper. This form NAV do
some damage by overturning trees or
breaking off their limbs, and by unroof-
ing barns, scattering hocks, distributing
hay cocks or wheat shocks over the
neighboring country; but they are not
nearly SO destructive as the second form.
The derechoes pass by insensible grada-
tions into thunderstorms, and severe
types of these are sometimes called lorna
does or "cyclones.
IND-RUsHEs.
The fifth form is what may be called a
Eind-rush-that is a little narrow gale.
Sometimes several wind-rushes travel
parallel to each other at a distance of a
few furlongs apart. This seems to have
been the true character of the violent
wind-storm that crossed the city of Wash
ington on November %, 1891, and demoI-
ished an unfinished building, killing one
man.
WHEN TO EXPECT ToRNADoEs.
The tornado occurs at the hottest time
of the day and in the hottest season of the
year.
They are especially likely to occur
when the temperature is unseasonably
warm and the air very moist.i They are