The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-18
DESCRIBING A KANSAS STORM.

IL we Will pause AOI d luOlucHI duu
forget the English parliament; also NJ.
Andree's North Pole balloon snap, the
Cuban war and the horrors Of which
AIr. Holmes has found the police and
detectives guilty; if we pause and look
around us we will see many interest
ing things at our own doorstep and
under our back porch.
Particularly is this mentioned be-
cause, during the last week, a storm
passed over southern Kansas and drift
ed into Oklahoma. This storm came
early enough to catch a lot Of ambi-
tious and well-meaning editors out Of
bed. Unfortunately they saw the
storm. The next morning the younger
editors printed descriptions Of it. The
old editors walked calmly down to
their offices, plunged their teeth into
a piece of plug tobacco, jabbed their
pens into the dusty inkstands and
wrote with great carelessness and in
difference the following history of the
occurrence:
"There was storm last night"
At the same hour the young editor
came down town. He walked with
the quick nervous step of a man pass
ing a graveyard where his mother-in
law lies buried; his eyes glared straight
in front Of him, and stuck out like bolt
heads on q boiler; his mouth twitched;
his hair was dissheveled. AS mat
ter Of fact he is deep in thought-about
two feet He is thinking of that storm
and there is fierce, burning desire in
his breast to describe it.
He rushes into his office, falls over
a cuspidOr and kicks the devil because
he did it, sits down nervOusly, rams
his pen into the ink, stretches out his
feet, spits, abuses the devil, spits again,
writes word and spitS agin. Then
he rubs the word out and rushes out
and looks the foreman in the face Wild
ly, rushes back, throws himself into his
chair and begins again. He writes
probably three lines and then gets up
spasmOdically and grabs every book in
sight and losses them around him on
the desk. These books are the die
tionary, an atlas or two, an old geo.
graphy, and a cook book, and an agri-
cultural report. He is at work in
earnest now scratching the awful
furies Of the storm into the awful
agonies Of pen-picture Of a Kansas
thunderstorm. He is sweating blood
and nicotine when the time arrives for
the description of the bursting of the
storm. He throws open the cook book
for synonym for fury" and, reading
there that he should add couple of
egg and STIR grabs the cook book and
fires it at a picture of Horace Greeley,
and then plunges into the dictionary.
at the same time cowardly attacking
the English language for its poverty OF
expression.
At this time if the devil is still around
this editor will get up and ask him If
he has washed the foreman yet, and if
the rollers have closed up the third
page, and If yesterdays ink has been
distributed. Receiving no answer from
the dazed devil he will go on with the
proud Of the whole article, but the part
that surprises him is the wonderful
work at the climax of the storm. He
reads the whole thing to them. The
foreman says it is fine and the devil
says nothing. and the young editor
takes his reticence TO mean that the
grandeur OF the article has stunned the
boy.
The article comes out, after a course
OF proofs and revision and is given TO
the world. with the ibis climax:
All this time the storm in the east had
been marshaiing its host. setting them in
battle array. piling reinforcements I'D
and up unit the heavens seemed too small.
too low, too harrow 20 contain the resist
less piles OF clouds and dense darkness.
And then. with all arraye6 In one con-
uauous display as far as eye could reach.
heimeisd in terror. shielded with ave
and Clothed in sGblirnsiy. once could al
most hear the word OF command. the
shTleks os hate. the de1ances. the hurt
Ing 1eers ard gibes. as the mass fel upon
ana oeEourd the less angry. The more
fragile and weaker STERN which had been
w2S-ng uainterrupie6iy for half al hour
The awful Shrek. the horrible thunder.
the piercing ourts OF lightning fash. al
OF horror and dread and despair. VIII be
remembered by those who perforce wit
nessed IL. 50 long a. he may last. and