Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-25
JONES' CYCLONE HOUSE.
A Surprising Tale of the KansaA
Prafrfes.


From Harper's Weekly.
jackson Peters leaned back in his chair
and slowly blew q cloud OF smoke toward
the ceiling. Jones'" he said, II want %
ask your opinion In regard to the probabiii-
ty of a story which was told me the ether
day"
well, Jackson was the guarded reply
Of the cautious Jones.
TT struck me-" continued Peters that q
man who had told as many-that 10 TO say,
a man who has told as much OF what may
call awe-inspiring truth as you have. ought
to be a good Judge Of the probability Of .
story. 1t was a cyclone story which was
going TO ask you about"
Most cyclone stories are palpable Hes,
Jackson"
mo doubt The point is this: He said
he had seen straws driven through inch
boards by the force OF the wind"
1T never happened. Jackson. That 10 .
stock lie told of every cyclone that blown.
Your friend imposed upon your youth. my
boy. He would never have dared to tell
such a manifest and self-heralding lie to
Robinson or Smith. / must admit, though,
that the force OF the wind in a genuine cy-
clone is considerable. When lived In Kan
sas, in the EOS, had a quantity Of poultry.
Of the season except one black Spanish
rooster He chung to a grass root with lis
bill, and allowed his tail to crack and whip
In the wind like a yacht pennant. He rode
out the gale. though most Of his feathers
were blown of. Subsequently found some
OF them imbedded over half an inch In my
grindstone."
YES" returned Peters, II presume my
friend was trying to impose upon my ado
lescence."
II think so, jackson. / had considerable
experience with cyclones that summer IN
Kansas. But / learned to handle myself,
30 that did not mind them much i -oon
saw the fallacy Of depending on cyclone cell
tai difhculty with all such things In that
you try to hold yourself firmly in one place.
IL is as II a ship in a gale should tie up
TO post Csupposing mid-ocean posts for the
time being instead Of driving before the
tempest. The first cyclone that summer L
OF course, went down cellar, like other
folks. My house was soon blown away.
but crouched In the cellar and felt safe.
The next thing knew the cellar went too,
rolling over and over like a silk hat vaS
soon spilled out. With infinite labor I
crawled back in the teeth Of the wind, IN
tending to take refuge in the hole the cellar
came out Of. To my CONSERVATION i found
that had blown away also. then followed
the example OF the rooster, chung TO a root.
ana allowed my legs TO futter and snap In
the gale like a weather signal flag.
When the wind subsidized. toward nisht
and objects began TO come down-a hay
stack here. a man there. a wagon some
where else-l set myself at work On a plan
to prevent any such awkward occurrence In
the future. Applying the principle Of nom
resistance. i constructed a spherical house
about twelve feet in diameter. Ii Was an
exact ball. covered with light boiler plates
and with iron shutters for the doors and
windows. IL was not the most convenient
house inside. but by fitting Il I'd like a ..htp
that Is. utilizing every inch Of space no
matter where It was for some purpose-sf
did very well. / had a bunk ON one SIDE
for sleeping purposes. with straps 20 hold
myself in.
THE first cyclone came up one afternoon
while was hoeing my watermelons. Tuck
ing my faithful rooster under my arm. I
retired to my house and closed the shutterx
got into the bunk, taking the rooster with
me. and strapped myself IN. We got on In
about ten minutes. rolling easily at first,
but bounding along with greater rapidity
after We had gone short distance. The
motion was peculiar. but not so violent as
that OF a sth avenue stage 1t was pleas
anter when we were moving at right an
giles to the plane Of my bunk than when
parallel to II, as in the latter case We were
standing on our heads a good part OF the
Cime. The rooster did not mind II so much
as feared he would. and occasionally I
could hear him growing Justify under the
clothes.
II fell into a light sleep after a while.
When I awoke the motion seemed much
steadier, though there was an occasional
terrific bump. I peeped through q small
crack and saw the reason. The wind had
greatly increased. and we were being car
ried through the air near the ground. only
striking on the high places. Afterward we
settled down TO fast roll on q long level
prairie. We passed several ordinary houses
which, being sQuare-cornered. could NOT
make 50 good time. could see that the
face of nature was being furrowed up. ana
the landscape blown about right and left.
held my rooster up. and let him peep cut
He crowed and tapped his wings heroicaIiy
as we easily passed a large Episcopal
church, which was pitching heavily end
making poor time. owing 10 the fact that
the steeple was blowing into the ground
every few rods. We crossed the Arkansas
river with one bound, and shortly after
rolled into a little gully-or draw. az they
call IL In Kansas-and lodged there The
wind soon quieted down. Leaving my roos.
ter on the dressing case. i went out, and
ascertained from a man who had just come
up from a deep well that we were IN the
Indian Territory. Fortunately a cyclone
came along from the other direction two
days later and blew us back home. When
released my rooster he went back and be-
gan scratching in the garden a. II nothing
had happened"
How did you stop at your farm In
Jackson" replied Jones, your mania for
inquiry has struck you too late. You should
have become inouisitorfal yesterday when
your friend told YOU OF observing hay IN the
act OF perforating heavy lumber You show
lack OF the ability TO Judge OF historical
values when. after swallowing that story
like three-year's child. you begin 70 &C.
mand sordid details OF a plain tale from the
prairies like mine"