Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1896-08-13

hHo"H Oh case where one or tnem
struck a town that had forest of even
Few acres in extent to the southwest.
Tornadoes always travel from
southwest to northeast. l am inclined
70 think that forest of moderate eX-
tent to the southwest of a town Is
most efficient protection against
storms of this kind. because the trees
draw off the electricity that gives to
the cyclone It's energy. If this is true,
II follows that every town in the dan
ger belt ought to plant trees for tor
nado barrier, If it has not already this
defense. Such plan Is much sim
pier and less costly than the dyna-
mite system which have already sug-
gested. The towns ought not to re-
main undefended while waiting for
trees to grow. and so | would propose
mat a temporary makeshift might be
serviceabie, consisting Of a barrier of
tall poles with net work of wires ex-
tending between them
Some time ago made list of 1921
tornadoes that were recorded in the
United States between 1878 and 1888.
They caused an average loss of one life
and $14,S42 per cyclone New York
state had 100 of them, including one of
the first order. costing a total of ST.
27o,O00. There We're Ill in Pennsyl-
vania, which destroyed $l,09S 900
worth of property. One of the very
worst occurred at Wallingford. Conn,
August 9, 1878. when "a people were
killed, 20 wounded and 80 buildings
were wiped out. Stone monuments
were blown off their bases. The We
locity Of whirl required to accomplish
| this was estimated at 260 miles an
| hour. From these facts it would ap-
pear that the east is not at all safe
! from calamties of this kind. The
electrical display at Wallingford is de-
! scribed as having been most terrific
Accepting this electrical theory, it
! may naturally be asked how the lorna
| do gathers its tremendous store OF cleo
| trical energy. This is a very difficult
| tricity in the atmosphere. Whence
| comes this electricity? Perhaps it is
| generated by sunlight. Another the
DRY is that the heat energy Of the sun
is transformed under certain condi-
tons into electrical energy. My notion
is that the particles of moisture which
go to make up the clouds are some OF
them charged with positive electricity,
and others with negative electricity
under ordinary circumstances. Con-
ditiOns of which we know little or
| nothing. cause them to rush together,
and there follows display of light
ming accompanied by the noise We call
thunder
"A tornado is a thunderstorm multi
plied in violence. Respecting 'cy-
Clones, we are sadly lacking in data.
When a phenomena OF this sort &C.
ours. everybody runs away; no one
thinks of watching it. ! am not GER
tain that the funnel-shaped cloud is
not mythical idea.
THE approach OF tornado is never
without warning. 1t is accompanied
by roar that has been likened to the
believing of a million mad bulls.
The width of the path of destruction is
rarely over 300 feet. The best thing
to do in case OF the near approach OF
such storm, is to run to the north.
There is no safety, however, except
underground.
mo building OF stone or any other
material is proof against the violence
Of q tornado. This fact was illus
tlated at Grinnell, Iowa, in 1882, when
a storm Of this kind took sixty lives
and destroyed $50 900 worth of prop
erty. One of the buildings reduced to
complete ruin was a solid edifice OF
stone and brick used for a public
school. The tornado tore it to pieces
as easily as if it had been SO much
lath and plaster. That was the rec
ord tornado up to 1890, when a 'cy-
clone struck Louisville, KY. and
wiped out seventy-six lives and 50, CSC. =.
$50 worth of property"