The Red Cloud chief., 1896-07-10

known OF n case where one OF them
struck Il town that had a forest of ever
Il Few acres In extent to the southwest
Tornadoes always travel from
southwest to northeast. ! am inclined
10 think that a forest Of moderate ex.
tent to the southwest Of a town liz q
most efficient protection against
storms OF this kind, because the trees
uraw on the electricity that gives to
the cyclone Its energy. II this is true
II follows that every town in the dan
ger belt ought to plant trees for a tor
hado barrier, II it has not already this
deiense. Such a plan is much sim
pier and less costly than the dvna-
mite system which | have already sug-
gested. h towns ought not to re-
main u~ndefended while waiting for
trees to grow, and so | would propose
mat n temporary makeshift might be
serviceable, consisting of a barrier of
tall poles with a net work of wires ex-
tending between them.
Some time ago ] made a list Of 1921
~tornadoes that were recorded in the
united states between 1873 and 1888.
ihey caused an average loss of one life
ana Sl4,S42 per cyclone New York
state had 100 Of them, including one of
the hrst order. costing n total of ST.
10000. There were III in Pcnnsyl-
'ania, which destroyed SI,O9S 600
worth OF property. One of the very
worst occurred at Wallingford, Conn.,.
august ., 1878, when "a people were
Killed, 40 wounded and % buildings
were wiped out. Stone monuments
were blown off their bases. The We
locity of whirl required To accomplish
this was estimated at go miles an
hour. From these facts il would an
pear that the east is moi at all safe
from calamities OF this kind. The
electrical display at Wallingford is de-
scribed as having been most terrific.
Accepting this electrical theory. il
may naturally be asked how the lorna
do gathers Its tremendous store of cleo
trical energy. This Is a very difficult
question. We know that there is cleo
tricity In the atmosphere. Whence
ONE this electricity? Perhaps il is
generated by sunlight. Another the
DRY Is that the heat energy of the sun
is transformed under certain condi-
tons into electrical energy. NY notion
Is mat the particles of moisture which
go to make up the clouds are some of
them charged with positive electricity.
ans others with negative electricity.
under ordinary circumstances. Con.
ditions of which We know little or
nothing. cause them to rush together.
and there follows a display of light
ming accompanied by the noise we call
thunder.
"A tornado Ia n thunderstorm multi
plied In violence. Respecting 'cy-
Clones We are sadly lacking in data
When n phenomena of this sort nc
ours, everybody runs away; no one
thinks Of watching II. | am no GER
tain that the funnel-shaped cloud is
not n mythical idea.
The approach OF n tornado Is never
without warning. 1t is accompanied
by a roar that has been likened to the
believing OF a million mad bulls.
The width OF the path OF destruction is
rarely over 800 feet. The best thing
to do In case of the near approach of
such a storm, is TO run 20 the north,
There is no safety, however, EXCEPT
underground.
mo building of stone or any other
material Is proof against the violence
OF a tornado. This fact was illus
trated at Grinnell, Iowa, in 1882. when
n storm OF this kind took sixty lives
and destroyed $1,000 worth of prom
eIty. One of the buildings reduced IN
complete ruin was Il solid edifce Of
stone and brick used for a public
school. The tornado tore IL 10 pieces
as easily as If IL had been so much
lath and plaster. That was the rec
ord tornado IN TO 1890. when a 'cv-
clone struck Louisville. K-.. ana
wiped out se~venty-siS lives and 81 ESQ
0OO worth Of property"