Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-10-27
CANNON FOR CYCLONE
HOW A KANSAS TOWN ESCAPED
 DESTRUCTION.
The Deadly Tornado swerved from It's Course by an Artillery Attack-An Old Sea Captains Novel Idea Bafied
 Elements. a

Old Sea Captains Novel Idea Baffied Elements. a Hennessey, Ok, correspondence of the Philadelphia Times: The cyclone, which earlier in the week swept through Wisconsin and Nebraska, wrecking towns and killing hundreds, reached Hennessey Thursday morning just before 10 o'clock, and that the town is still standing and compara- lively uninjured is due solely to the inventive genius of one of the citizens of this place, Capt John R. Hoades, a retired sea captain, who, though hith- erto generally regarded as visionary crank, is now hailed as the sa1 or of the hundreds of lives that but for his unique scheme would unquestionably have been lost.
 Mir Hoades' scheme consisted in posting large 15-inch smooth bore Parrot cannon, purchased by popular subscription from the condemned stock at the New Orleans arsenal, on the four sides of the town, each gun un-
 
 during the cyclone season. The ecan- non were designed to be fired into the face of an approaching hurricane, in the hope of breaking its force.
 When the news reached here that a tornado was sweeping southward over the prairies east of the Rockies, it was feared that when it reached the Cinna- mon river it would swerve from it's track and follow the course of the stream, as was done by the hurricane that killed seven people here in the autumn of 1897, a sharp bend in the stream then throwing the storm over the peninsula upon which Hennessey is situated
 The cannon to the west, where the town is partly protected by the Wichi- ta mountains, was accordingly with drawn and placed on the northern border as an additional protection. Un- fortunately, however, on the approach of the funnel shaped cloud the western gun was fired a couple of seconds too soon, swinging the storm taward the east, so that the shot from the other gun did not take full effect. The com- 1 bined effort so changed the tornado's l course. however, that only the ex- treme eastern edge of the town was touched, but here the one house fully in its path was completely demolished l and the cannon which guarded that end of the peninsula was blown from its carriage, carried fully 500 feet and hurled in sand bank. The attend ant at the gun, the inhabitants of the solitary dwelling demolished were warned in time to escape with their lives.
 In speaking of the marvellous success of his plan for fighting tornadoes, Capt. Hoades, the originator of the scheme, said:
 T can hardly claim to have invented the plan, for have twice seen water spouts broken by the same method while following my former avocation on the sea. Indeed, it was this that first suggested the scheme to me-"
 After the cyclone of 1897 I suggest ed that Hennessey. which is directly in the path of the south bound torna- does. adopt this apparently strange plan of protection. It is oniy fair to state that at first I was the laughing stock of the town. and t was only by persistent argument that I finally in- crested Mir. Thomas, of the Chicasan coal company, in uy plan Backed by so influential a citizen, we finally gathered together enough money by popular subscription to purchase four out of date guns that saw service around New Orleans during the civil war, and mounted them in the places selected. The most singular feature oi the whole matter is that the one dwell ing destroyed by today's storm was occupied by the most persistent doubt CT in the town.
 An effort will now be shortly made, Capt Hoades concluded, ito similarly equip all cities in the tornado belt, the late experience of Wisconsin and Ne braska towns having clearing proved that the hurricane cellars hitherto re- lied on are nothing but death traps ir which their occupants are crushed be- meath fallen walls or burned in the fires which so frequently follow the storms.''
 A town meeting will be held tonight to do honor to the aged preserver oi the town, and the mayor of Hennessey has declared his intention of resignirg his post in favor of Capt Hoades, a suggestion that finds much favor among those who owe their lives tc the captain foresight.