The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-08-02

was the boy who called my attention to
the pointed cloud, and he said it was a
tornado beginning
81 pretended not to be afraid, and said
that If it was 'twister' it would not De
likely to hit us. But he was as pale as a
.ssDon't you see that it is directly
southwest of Us?
Of that?'
50 They always travel northeast he
said, and we are right in the track of it! ;
Then We'll run away from it, l
guess says l, pulling the throttle wide
open. But the boy. he said nothing-only
watched the clouds in the distance.
By this time the pointed cloud had
got very much bigger, the lower end of
it nearly touching the ground. 1t grew
rapidly larger and larger and seemed to
be approaching at great rate of speed,
while the rest of the view toward the
west and southwest became blurred to
the eye, SO that nothing could be made
out very clearly. l saw that it was a
tornado that was coming, and no mis-
take for the strange cloud, which had
tinctly outlined in its inky blackness
against the general blur. l began to
feel pretty badly frightened myself. Now
and then, when / could take my eye of
the cloud. / looked at the boy but he
only sat silent in the cab, staring at the
great peg. top with starting eyeballs and
white lips. Finally said:
do you think we are going to escape
it?''
1--WE are right in it's track he said,
without looking at me.
lyon see, we were running in n air
line over the prairie, directly mort beast,
and pursuing the very path in which the
tornado was coming. Any other course,
with the steam had on, would have car
rie6 us out of the way.
1.-THE boy shovelled more coal on. He
had already done so three or Jour times
since the strange cloud was sighted. But
it was no use. The engine was doing its
best, and she wasn't capable of more
than about thirty-eight miles an hour.
sslt's gaining on u.s., l said. How
fast does such a thing as that trayel?'
About hundred miles an hour, re-
piled the boy, white as sheet.
CHASE FOR LIFE.
eff that had been true l would not be
here to tell the story. have since learned
that eighty miles an hour is supposed to
be tie Lest a tornado can do. My belief
is thai this one was going at about sixty
miles. Any way it WASH t more than six
or seven miles distant by this time, and
gaining on US rapidly. If my reckoning
was correct it would catch us in little
more than twenty minutes. The way l
calculated it was that the great peg top
was moving at the rate of three miles to
our two.
ut was the most frightful spectacle to
look at that can possibly be imagined. To
me it seemed to be monstrous giant,
pursuing US with an evil intention to de-
stroy. Now and then its blackness would
be transformed into dark green, and it
was constantly lighted up by flashes, as
II 1t were an immense balloon Illuminated
from within. 1t appeared to whirl round
with Uncomfortable rapidly, and from it
came sound across the prairie as of bel
lowing, with a voice SO awful that the
rumbling of the locomotive was lost in it.
OF the destruction it was accomplishing
could get no notion from my point of
view. Fortunately, there were few set
Elements in that part of the country, but
as we passed two or three small hamlets
at full speed could see the people rum
ming about trying to find some place OF
safety.
1.-THE boy staggered to my side-the
rocking OF the engine made it difficult to
keep ones feet-and clutched my arm. /
stopped my head. and he yelled In my ear
the words:
60 MAKE THE BEND
81 knew what he meant on the instant.
Less than ten miles ahead of US was a
bridge over river, after crossing which
the road turned abruptly southwark. 1t
was freak railway anyhow, and its zig
gags were intended to pass through as
many supposed centers Of future popula-
ton as possible. The only long stretch
OF it in straight line was just where we
got caught by the tornado, If we could
get to the bend ahead of the monster we
might run out of its track.
''As you may well imagine, / had no
opportunity to consider the plan calmly
and in detail, but it struck me like a
flash. 1t was race for life sure enough
Ii that engine never did her forty miles
an hour before ! think she must have
done that and more, too, then. With
the great funnel cloud rushing on behind
us and steadily approaching, we tore over
| the rails at frantic rate of speed. / was
fairly crazed by the excitement, so that il
almost overcame my sense of fear. l re-
member distinctly that l pulled the
whistle cord and let the locomotive
scream with all her might, though il
could hardly be heard in the roaring o.
the pursuing tornado.
Six miles passed, as well as l coulC
estimate, and the monster was only about
four miles behind. Three miles more anc
| III mao leSSeneQ Ul6 Instance Dy mile a
least but we were near the river. A min.
ute later and we were running across ths
bridge. No time then to heed the warn.
ing that trains must run slowly owe,
this stream, in obedience to the sigr
post.
'sOver the bridge, we few around tn,
curve and dashed away southwark, jus
in time to see the mighty balloon pass BY
with whirl and roar, as if all the de
mons in the internal regions were lie
loose. We could not make out anythin.
very distinctly, the sky being darkenet
and the air filed with dust, but we knew
that we were safe. a few inmates late
the clouds rolled away and everythin,
was as quiet and peaceful as before tn
storm. We ran back to the bridge. but i
wasn't there. 1t was clean gone. an,
such remains of it as were left were scat
tered all over the country. The road wa
so badly torn up, the track for consider
able distances being twisted and broker
to pieces, that the expense of repairing
nearly bankrupted the company. Elevel
people lost their lives by that tornado
which afforded me an experience which
would not repeat for all the money in tn
world. I"