Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1902-08-28

cur about twenty-four hours apart,
that being apparently the time neces-
sary for them to accumulate sufficient
moisture to break SO, If storm series
begins in the afternoon, the remainder
Of the series will likely take place in
the afternoon, while If 1t begins at
night the storms are likely to continue
to he at night
1t is considerably easier to foretell
accurately the arrival of thunder.
storm than to explain it after it has
come. Wiser than any man now known
would be he who could follow undep-
standngly the magical metamorphOsis
OF the charming summer landscape,
with It's lake like glass and air as mo-
tionlcss as marble, from the time the
first misty sultriness arises as the
threatening breeZes begin to stir; as the
sky darkens frowningly the winds
break boisterously from their letters,
the cloud streams pour out in cataracts,
and the fires of heaven illuminate the
tempestuous night with their terrible
play. And finally, as the elements
again calm themselves, the sun breaks
out and revivified nature becomes
doubly lovely.
First Sign of Storm.
The first clew to the mystery Of n
storm comes from water. If glass Of
water Is stood on a window sill on a
hot day it gradually evaporates. The
! hot, dry air sucks 1t up. Similarly the
hot, dry air above large body of wa
ter sucks up its water, transforming 1t
into a fine vapor, which imparts mis-
tiness to the atmosphere. The distant
atmosphere now gradually screens it.
self in a veil Of vapor, which becomes
thicker and thicker. This leads to the
next phenomenon in a thunder storm.
| Every one knows that when steam
comes in contact with cold objects It
condenses, finally forming tiny drops
and resuming its original form of wa
ter. In the same way on warm sum
mer afternoon the upper layers of the
atmosphere are cooler than those I'm
mediately above the earth. Hence the
higher vapors rising as they come IN
thiCkening into the form of clouds
which are nothing else than condensed
steam. The particles of water forming
the clouds are so minute and light that
they float in the air. The movements OF
the vapor as 1t rises and the action OF
the cooler upper strata of air upon II
generates currents Of air, the wind
This at first Is just strong enough tC
ripple the surface Of the water and stiI
the foliage Of the trees. In the mean
time another element is at work. by
cry one presuppOses an accumulation
of electricity at a thunder storm. EleC
tricity Is present in the atmosphere al
the time, but, as has been observed, II
is always more powerful when any
strong perpendicular currents of air arr
in action, such as cyclones, tornadOes
volcanic eruptons, waterspouts, thun
+ der storms. Electrical manifestations
are always accompanied by the down
pour of water. This means that the
condensation of vapor is closely con
p nected with electricity. Why is it no
? an instance Of electricity generated by
friction? Rub two pieces of paper Wig
orously against each other and elCc
tricity is generated. Open the safet!
valve of steam engine giving out va
, por and electricity is produced by thu
friction Of the steam and valve. In
thunder storm electricity may thus b.
o. generated by the friction Of individual
5 particles Of water which have beel
e. driven about by the wind.
The two kinds of electricity, positiv