Arizona republican., 1899-08-17


against the sunlight, wanzes across
the sky. Her train of falling mists
and rain seems a fnbric of gold and
silver threads trimmed with the hues
of the rainbow, its folds sparkling
with gems; and as it sweeps the desert
we SEEM to hear the swish and rustic
of silken skirts.
! Then the scene changes. Storm
clouds ride the air as hostile. fleets on
the sea. As The cruisers of the all
maneUver around each other, the light
ming flashing from their black huils
with the accompanying roar. they are
an zdell but harmless representation
of a sea fight, the most awful and de
Structive the sun or Stars ever looked
down upon. As they rush together
clinch and board. there IS no OutpoUr-
ing Of human blood On the decks and
no shrieking flight CT souls to the I'M
known, but clOudburst on the thirsty
desert. and that affords the gulches an
hilarious spree; with bacchanal rev.
elry they tumble their yellow torrents
into the creek bed.
Late in the afternoon of July II a
E.oTm cloud came into COLLISION with a
sand storm (sand STORM miserable
misnomerD. As 1 watched the con-
tact with lively interest, I perceived
that The ground swell of dust and va
por was not displaced a particle As
the ground force came under that of
the air the clustering wind in pd-
vance was tilted up and rolled back
like 2 scroll onto the dense rain bear
ing formation behind. 1t was a spec
taCTs of huge sow inserting her snOU't
under a pugnacious shoat and h'isting
the latter into a wriggIing, squealing
somerSault The ground force
rammed and showed aside the air
force as easily as the Oregon could a
little Spanish gunboat. And SO it Oc-
CURED to me, as often before, that the
oand storm is the embodiment of a
seismic emulation under the crest of
the earth in conjunction with mag
EetEc swell on the surface Immediately
above, both creating i magnifioer. line
Of battle that often sweeps across the
entire expanse OF Sonora and OF south
ern New Mexico and Arizona. Moth
ing less can hold in suspension such
volumes Of metallic dust and Of vapor;
emit such sulphUrous fumes; and up
here cause a slight rocking of frame
houses, and the violent sway - the
top of giant eagua-0s
But after the ground force passed
on, that Of the air simply unrolled it
self and settled down to a new list,
motion and direction. As j. moved on
again 1T seemed a conscious thing: it
seemed 10 be snorting. bowling mad
It snote the dikes with its thunder
bolts and SET rat nests on fire; j. kicked
at human habitations; walloped and
widowed the trees, and hoofed up the
dust like a mad bull But it met its
Waterloo. As it ran up againS,. Black
mountain, that peak laid hold on 1T as
a hungry bull calf onto the dugs of a
cow That S'-0rm cloud seemed to kick,
tug, and shuttle aside. as a cow from
such an anchor; and its gyrations
scanned those of a tortured cow Swe,--
ting with tail. horns and Jaw the rump
Cis its impudent, butting and Aide
vOuTing calf. It Rad to give down
every drop of its fluid; it parted with
all Of as electric energy; every minute
II visib1y petered out; AMI at last, like
= b3cchanal and the tail end of a jag,
it staggered off TO lay down and sleep.
Back mountain lathered with cool
ing, refreshing rsfn, looked across at
the sun and smiled
New for the fna. cloud spectacle OF
this colosseum: Two great storms
come up from the south and abreast
each other and on parallel lines they
move up The passes OF the Verde and
New river. Arriving at a certain
point northeast and northwest they
Vlsibly change front toward each 9th
er; IN borrid, flashing. brist,ing for
nation Of division and brigade they
approach each other 20, We goGsl at
play or in military Or naval drill; no
where else on earth do We descend SO
close TO morals as in this colosseumD.
After the vapOTy div sions have
charged bayOnet into each other over
Aaldale, they often present the sinsu-
lar spectacle of pillar CT cloud a
mile Or more in diameter and extend
ing mile into the air The convo-
lutlons o9 the vaDC-y mass wrfthe like
the muscles of wrestling athletes. As
II reVolves like tie '.urret of a battle
ship [ see the flash of its guns. one af-
ter the other, and their roar is simply
awful But every minute the revoIy-
ing, struggling mass is reduced in vol
ume. Pieces Of clouds fly off like
shells bursting in the air or like fur
from the backs Of fighting Wild cats
Then the two armies let 20. their hold
on each other; il seems a drawn bat
tie; they stagger apart in different di-
Tections.
After such scrap as this Cayo
creek gets en- d comprehensive bender.
As its swslls hurl boulders against
each other the battle Of Shiloh seems
to be coming down. With the cough.
reich, geg and shrek of al obese old
man throwing up his supper, it over
whelnls the Arizona canal and knocks
its barriers aside; and it administers
to Glendale and vicinity a HardshelI
Baptist immersion.