The Republican journal., 1898-08-04
A Storm Centre.

sailors Have to Find Out Where 1t is
and Avoid 1t.
1t. John NJ. Ellcott, U. S. n, con-
tributes to the August st. Nicholas an
article on ''The Cradle of Cyclones" 1t
Ellicott says:
When caught in a cyclone, a seaman
must determine as quickly as possible the
" hereabouts of the center of the Storm
and the direction in which it is moving
The first is easy TO find out, for if it is
! remembered that the wind is blowing
around vast circle in direction opposite
to the movement of the hands of a watch
one can face the wind and know that his
right arm, extended, is pointing nearly
toward the storms center. Thus, when
the wind comes from the east, the cen
t er is to the south.
Now to discover which way that center
is moving we must wait for the direction
of the wind to change. If the direction
from which the wind comes changes
gradually toward the right, the wind is
said to ''haul.' If it changes to the left
the wind is said to 'back'' If, then.
| our gale backs, and we continue to face
it, our right hand, always pointing towards
! the center has swung around to the left,
showing that the center is moving from
right to lett If the gale hauls, its center
is passing from left to right If the
wind neither hauls nor backs, but per-
sistently blows from the same direction
with Increasing violence, the center is ap-
preaching in a straight line.
When in a cyclone, it is a seaman S en-
deavor to avoid its center; for, like the
swirlng water around the hole in the tub,
the motion is more rapid, the hurricane
more violent, as we approach that center.
Sometimes, like the hole in the water
over the place where it runs ont of the
| tue, there is dead calm center, for the
air all around it is rushing upward; but
woe betide the foolish or unfortunate
captain who gets lis vessel there! Into
that confined circular area the waves have
been dashed and driven like countless
wild cattle into a corral Like cattle,
those confined waves madly turn hither
and thither, leap upward and pile upon
one another; for around them sweep, in
endless circles, the regular, onrushing
seas of the storm. A ship in the midst OF
these confused seas knows not which
Way to turn TO meet them. They leap
about her with demoniac frenzy, falling
! in mountain heaps upon her decks, per-
maps, she is swamped and sinks.
The discovery of the direction of mo-
ton of cyclones center may be a matter
| of hours or even of days. for the storm
may be of such vast area and travelling
so slowly, that the wind blows from the
same direction for long time. Once
discovered, it is a seaman S endeavor to
cross the storm S path, if cross he must,
behind the center instead of in front of it.
In the southern hemisphere cyclones re-
volve right handedly, and move toward
the south pole, so what is here told must
be reserved to fit storms in that part of
the world.
If a ship has left port in good weather,
the captain will be warned of a storm by
his barometer. You know how in that
instrument column of mercury is
balanced by the pressure of the outside
air. When, therefore, the barometer
falls steadily hour after hour, a sea-
| captain knows that his ship is approach
ing spot where the uprushing atmos
phere of cyclones center is making the
air around it thin and light. Then he
must watch and wait for the wind to tell
him which way the storm is going.