Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-01-30


hour on the desert means. when il is
said that full of 3.30 inches during the
course of twenty-four hours In the YER
dant region OF Los Angeles caused
numerous washouts on the railroad aud
suspended all railroad communication
with tue city for soue hours.
Ia August, 1891, Palmetto. New,
had an unusual and remarkable expert
ence in storms. Palmetto is a little old
mining camp about two days journey
south of Columbus of which The Sun has
told number of stories. On the Tth OF
the month huge cloud gathered ON the
mountains east of the camp aud event
u0lly after the fashion of these SUM
mpr thunder clouds, saggrd down till
the crests of the mountains were inclusrd.
This done, the cloud, instead of dissi-
pating itself there. as such clouds usu-
ally do. rolled rapidly down the sides of
the range into the valley, with much
water iu it's trail. 10 Is suid to have been
a fearful spectacle, though IN no way 10
be- compared with what was seen on the
18th.
On that day two distinct clouds gath
cred. the one to the east and the other
to the north of the camp. Neither was
u whirling cloud. though both masses
of vapbr were In a great tumut After
hanging over the mountains separately
for a time the zigzug lightning inces-
suntly piercing their black folds aud the
thunder booming the while, they started
down into The valley, quickly drew to-
gcthcr. and with roaring whirr thnt
drowned even the booming of the thun-
der started swiftly across the valley
"a genuine tornado. The whole valley
was dnrkenpd 10y the vast masses of
yupor that were thrown out In oll direc-
tiuus from the crest Of che Whirllng
nucleus. while u flood poured from these
clouds that in ten minutes covered tho
entire surface ht the valley covered
sixty square miles of earth from two to
three inches deep Terrified 10y the
darkness aud stupehcd by the awful
roar. the people stood still or sank down
tn the ground to await the death that
seemed inevitable. But their terror aud
suspense passed away MS quickly as the
storm had come The tornado wore
itself out by lts frightful energy Ia less
than half an hour. IL missed the camp
entirely. and when 70 was going The
people went ont aud found that IL had
scooppd out n ditch 500 feet long that
was In some places Z feet deep. but mo-
where more than % feet wide. The
mass of water TINT tcN rushed a giant
wuvc out through Dry Greek Canon into
Fish Lake valley, destroying nine miles
of the stage road and creating rise OF
water u the marsh there such az had
never nhhn kllNNN lN'ANlNH NllhNNHA AAll''
valley had been inhabited for more than
twenty years Considering the amount
of water that fell in the ten minutes. the
storm was the most remarkable known
to the desert region.
I'm contrast with storms noted 80 far
are those observed by the signal service
officer stationed In Death Valley TO the
suggestion of Dr. G. Hart Merriam the
biologist sharp of the agricultural dc.
pnrtment, who had the valley explored
scientifically I'm 1891. Tho observer was
thcre for 157 days During that time
rain fell twenty-five times, but on the
thirteenth of these occasions there was
such a slight sprinkle that no measure
mrut could be made. The olncr hlhe
occasions were thunder storms, accord
ing 10 the report the largest lall meas
nred being "a of nm inch. on Aug 10,
and the next "a. on july - The rams
were iu every case local. I'm comment
ing ON The total rainfall for the hYe
months IL. 4 iuchesl. Mr.. Mark W. liar-
rinrton, the chief of the agricultural de-
partmeurs weather bureau, says rms
for the dry season Is by no means very
dry. but the excessively low humidity
and brisk winds eVaporae the I"'h
Of This light humidity of the air there
y.veroI interesting observations were
! made While rain was iulling at one
| time the air near the earth had % TT
| cont. of the moisture OF sulurauoh, WINE
at another time It had ~; ten minutes
after third rain there was but ~ per
cent, and during the heaviest ram ol all
the Der cent was only ~ These CON
ditions Of affairs will he better npWe-
ciatod when Ii Is remembered thaL a
| comfortable and henlihtul per cent. u
40 or more The fact llAt during INC
| heaviest rain Of all the surface alr held
but IS per cent of the moisture OF setu-
ration shows, according 10 Mr.. harfng-
ton. that the deadly stratum oil AHu ar
| Ina this valley Is usually 10 very INN one;
| In must have been tliu, or else u Would
have absorbed the raindr. BEFORE they
could pass through H. NeVerlheieas u
must be deep enough TO cover the nat
| ioiping canons, for party on men VINO
| once started from the old Dofl'A WORKS
There 90 20 over to those IN the AlnAr-
| rosa Valley failed 10 reach the springs
| twelve miles mp the canon, ana would
| have died Of thirst had not the Dead
| Valley superintendent understood the
| condition of affairs and sent q relief cN'
pelition after them with watcr
! However. Death Valley, or rather inc
mountains round about have frequent
| cloud bursts and floods, They have
| never been recorded save IN one case
| noted I'm The Suns series Of articles OH
| ,be desert region but the effects OF these
| storms are plnuly seen On every canon
/ n h even said by the desert men th9l
/ Tho bottom Of the valley, which, accord
| INC 10 MIR. Morriam's topOgrapher' y
| ISO feet below sea leNel, mas ~ ftccul
years been ho9ded uhul II wa" IN, i ,,ei,o,