The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-21
Farewell to Tomatoes

| If we are to believe N. Turpin. and as an
| inventor no one has greater reputation,
we need in future dread little danger from
| cyclones. tornadoes, hurricanes or similar
| atmospheric disturbances. For years NJ.
Turpin has made this matter special
| study with the object OF devising some
! safeguard against these destroyers. and
now at last ne claims 10 have attained this
| desirable end.
| To Americans his discovery will prove
Of special importance. as will be seen from
| his own words on the subject:
| This subject has occupied my attten-
! ton for long time" he says, land when
ever L read in the American papers about
| the frightful disasters wrought by cyclones
my desire to discover an antidotte or safe
| guard was redoubled- Well, l discovered
| one day the principle Of what may style
| the 'paratornado,' I at once submitted ii
| 10 NJ. Faye. who is versed IN such matters.
and he said that Ii was highly ingenious.
So 1 went ahead. and in due time I con-
structed the necessary apparatus. Right
| here let me say that my chief claim was
| 10 provide America with some reliable
| weapon against these frightful scourges.
| IN Europe we occasionally have hurricanes
| and waterspouts. but they are of trifing
J moment when compared with the cyclones
| and the tornadoes of America. An Amer
| lean town in the path Of tornado is
doomed. lave heard OF a tornado which
killed 100 persons, wounded 2.500. and which
az the same time, overthrow thousands OF
| houses.
Now, this inevitable escourge comes at
| the same annual epochs and usually at the
| time Of the equinoxes. During certain
years. and notably between 1888 and 1859.
| there have been as many as forty-four
| tornadoes. Yet. though their regular re-
appearance has been clearly established,
no practical steps have been taken to
avoid them. True. watchers have been ap-
poined in dangerous seasons 10 signal
the approach of cyclones, and when they
gave warning the people went with their
cattle into subterranean grottoes and thus
escaped the fury of the tempest. Their
dwellings. however, were wholly destroyed.
Now any one using my system of defence
can combat and overcome these enemies.
l claim, too that any town using this sys-
tenn can effectually protect itself against
all future cyclones.
ITO understand my system We must bear
in mind that a cyclone is formidable
wind of surprising sWiftness which is borne
in the Gulf of Mexico and which goes in
southwest to the northeast. The route of
cyclones has never changed. 1t is not,
however, the cyclone itself which kills peo-
pie, tears up trees and destroys houses
These disasters are really caused by what
may be called the ep.phenomena which are
produced in the heart of this blast of
wind. Such are the waterspouts or torna-
does-that is to say. funnel-shaped masses
nf he civ of
which has an unheard of swiftness of 800
metres a second. They are the real dan
ger.
Well, let US assume that town or city
wishes TO protect itself against these cy-
clones or tornadoes. What ii must do is to
build on the side from which cyclones ap-
proach-remember they always move in the
same direction-a certain number of small
metal towers. about forty metres in height
and having on top cylinders filled with
some extremely explosive material such as
melinite. Each of these cylinders must
have six arms at the ends of which are
to be fitted disks similar to those used on
railroads. These arms are controlled by
bell springs, the desistance of which Is
superior TO all other pressure except the
terrible shock produced by tornadoes.
when a tornado comes 1t pushes the
arms violently. and they, being displaced,
bring into motion little chain, the tract
i've power of which. located in the interior
of he cylinder. skaters a fragment or prim-
ing of illuminate. after the fashion of
piece of artillery. The explosive lights
and bursts, producing an enormous devel-
opment Of gas, which destroys and dis
pels everything around il. including the
tornado. The waterspout is destroyed and
dispersed, at least for the moment II may
form again further off, but al any rate the
tnrr v-tTl no cayed