Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1895-04-06
A MAMMOTH STORM
Ravages Of the Wind Reported
From All Points.
WORST STORM FOR YEARS
Explanation of the Origin and Caus O.
t!le Disturbance OF Last
Monday.

Garfield, April 2.-The cause and ori
gin Of the duststorms similar to the on
which passed over here yesterday even
ing have long been a mystery. TIL
Wind will sometimes blow steadily 70
days without any considerable amoun
Of dust being raised bl it, while, o.
other OCCASIONS when the conditions
are appart ntiy the same, the air vii
be full Of dust, causing the sun to Civ
out sickly color. sometimes even Civ
ing an appearance to the earth as II
times Of eclipse. The dust usually file:
high, the lover strata of air being abOu
as free from dust as ordinarily. Las
night was an exception, the dust beint
next to the earth flying in quantiti.:
that made II almost impossible to face
the wind which forced ii along, 1h'
whole landscape presenting Il ghastj,
hue until the darkness Of night settle,
down.
The extent Of these storms is far be
yond that commonly supposed. I'll,
dust is taken from the great plains O.
the Columbia. in the vicinity of Walis
Wal1a and when the storm continues
for several hours-as it frequently does
1T Is swept northeast across the fields
forests and mines Of Washington am
Idaho; crosses the international bound
airy and shades the meadows of ths
northwest territories; frightens the IN
habitant of Manitoba with its similar
lily III appearance to that Of a cyclon"
still pushes on above the trappers of IT,
Nelson and Severn rivers; casts il
faint shadow on the sailors on Hudson
bay, 1,500 miles from its starting point
and still continues its course onward
to---no one knows where.
Examine the trees anywhere alon,
this line of march. Their bark is grtts ;
full Of small particles of sand. Mi
men and choppers will tell you that
their bark dulls tools much more RAP
idly than in regions outside Of thi:
track The sand of the Columbia dulis
the ak Of the wOodchOpper on Hudson
bay
Yesterday their nature was a mys-
terry; today every telephone operator in
the Palouse country can tell you. They
are electrical storms. When thunder
storm is passing over a country all the
telephone bells are kept ringing just q
the saunders of the telegraph are KEEP
clicking. The disturbance is only loca:
the bells of instruments afar off, ever
on the same line, being unaffected. Last
night the bells in ali the offices in tn
territory reached by the storm Wer'
kept jingling. Other duststorns hav'
passed over US without this phenomena
but they We're high up-too high to AT
feet the instruments. A few years ag
there was storm similar to this one
but the telephone lines were but few
and the storm did not strike until lat
hour.
The duststorm is the Palouse version
OF cyclone. Its path is wider; il
course is many times longer; 1t blow
straight instead Of with a rotary mo
tion; it moves nothing possessing muci
stability; but both owe their existenC
to that subtle force of ature which maj
has harnessed, but the mystery Of whic'
he can not fathom.
MEDICAL LAKE
Medical Lake, April 2.-The hardesi
windstorm that has been known for J.
or II years visited this place last night
terminating in a ranstorm.
ROsALIA.
Rosalia, April "A fierce wind an1
duststorn1 passed over Rosalia last
night at o'clock. The wind blew a
hurricane and filled the air with dust
as far as the eye could see. It imme-
diately became dark, and lamps had to
be lighted, and some few people VIII"
have experienced cyclones before re-
paired to their cellars, but no serious
damage was done. The fire bell. how
ever, was turned over and it rolled into
G.. p. ToltOn's yard. Several clubhouse!
were blown down. The streets are a.
clean s IL they had been swept with .
large broom.
MOSCOW.
Moscow, April 2-This city was visit
ed last evening, shortly after o'clock
by the most severe Windstorm that i
has experienced for years. The storm
came up very suddenly and ragged witt
great violence for over an hour. Il
add to the dismay and confusion, al
alarm Of fire called the department +
the Farmers bank building. In tn.
heart OF the business portion. Luckil,
it proved to be only fue burning out
Had 1t proved anything more serious
the departemnt would have been ahl
to do little against it. AS it was, tht
sparks were carried hundreds of feet by
the storm. 1t Is feared that considerable
damage was done in the country out
side. The storm was accompanied By
rain.
LATAH
Latah, April 2.-The winistorm that
passed over here last evening did con
siderable damage to buildings. Several
barns were unroofed and smaller build
ings We're overturned.
ROCKFORD.
Rockford, April 2-One Of the fiercest
windstorms ever known here struck US
last evening about o'clock, bringing
with 1t dense cloud Of dust. The roar
Of the wind could be distinctly heard
for nearly 20 minutes before 1t reached
US and caused considerabl Bile alarm.
which was followed by nearly panic
of fright when the immense, black cloud
of dust began to spread over the town,
but luckily no damage was done aside
from a few demolished woodsheds and
a large number Of trees uprooted.
COLFAX HAD DUST.
Colfax, April 2.-Former inhabitants
Of Kansas and the Dakotas were slight
ly reminded Of their old homes last
night. At o'clock the wind died down
to almost perfect calm and the air
seemed heavy and hot. few minutes
later the sky began to grow dark and
threatening, and about O'Clock a
strong wind made thick and yellow by
Aviper raa1 estate rolled over the hills
and enveIoped the town in almost total
darkness. The wind blew harder than
has been known for months, and the
dust was so thick and heavy that per-
son could not see more than block
through it, After about an hour, a
sprinkling rain set in, and the wind and
dust settled down again. But little dam
age seems to have been done by the
storm. A large door Of vacant agri-
cultural machinery warehouse on Main