Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-11-30
mile away. in the direction Of the On

mile away, in the direction OF the %
coming tornado.
Matthews did not stop, however, to
think of his fate If he were caught
halfway, or of the impossibility Of
getting the wagon safely down the
precipitous sides of the ravine should
he reach it. He was used to taking
big chances, and this seemed the only
one, big or little. He began to hitch
up the horses with haste.
The animals We're growing more
! and more uneasy, and it seemed tc
take terribly long time to attach
them to the wagon. He jumped UP
on the seat and drove out toward the
road. 1t was growing darker, and the
wind was blowing gale, thick with
dust, but the body OF the tornado was
still long way off. 1t seemed to him
that he had fighting chance of reach
ing the creek; and in any event the
farther he got from the village, the
better.
AS he drove up the road he noticed
the cattle in the fields rushing about
and believing piteously with fright
He dared not go faster than trot
and the slow pace was maddening
He had trouble in holding in the
horses, and once he let them out
little, till heavy jar over big stone
brought his heart humping into his
throat, and made him slow down
again.
But before he had gone quarter
of mile he began to see that he.
could never reach the ravine. The
wind and dust were binding. and the
horses were growing almost uncon
trollable with fright. In the turbulent
west the Sky was all blush black,
and in the midst of it he thought he
could distinguish a hugh, swirline
mass of inky darkness, the verdex OF
the whirlwind, coming down at the
speed of an express train. 1t had grown
almost as dark as evening. The whole
Sky was darkened, except for a strip
of livid pallor low in the east, like a
sinister dawn.
He could never make the creek, but
he might get far enough from the vii
lage to minimize the danger from ex-
plosion. The tornado seemed several
miles away, and there were still few
minutes of grace. Between the dark
ness and the flying dust he could no
longer see the stones and rough spots
in the road. and growing reckless, he
let the panic-strlcken team out
little faster, becoming too much excit-
ed to think of the present risk. He
dipped into hollow, where stream
crossed the road through culvert,
ratified up the succeeding elevation,
and pulled up short as he reached the
top, suddenly appalled,.
The whole sky appeared to be fall
ing in, like an inky-black torrent, and
in the gloom he could make out the
gigantic, balloon-shaped cloud that
swept the earth with a grinding roar,
like the jar of some immense mill.
He jumped down, pulled out his
knife and cut the horses loose. They
fed down the road by which they had
come, and Matthews raced after them,
leaving the loaded wagon standing on
the top of the hill
He had no clear idea of where he
was going till he reached the culvert
at the bottom of the hollow. He dived
into the low opening of the plank tun-
mel, crawled few feet in, and lay
fiat in the mud and water.
For few seconds he covered
there. and quaked with fright. From
the opening at the end he could see
nothing but obscurity, and the air
seemed filled with cloud and dust.
For an instant there seemed a strange
lull, and then with redoubled and
deafening uproar the cyclone struck
and went over. He was actually
dragged toward the end of the culvert
by the suction.
One of the planks overhead was
ripped away and went whirling into
the air. The mud and water spouted
up round him. For one dreadful NOM
ent the earth seemed ground under
some prodigious force, and then the
darkness was split by brilliant flash
and a paralyzing conclusion. The
explosion was less report than
tremendous shock, with rending and
dislocation of the atmosphere greater
than that of the tornado itself. Then
the air seemed suddenly struck calm,
and rain of every sort of wreckage
showered down-shingles, boards,
fragments of trees and pieces of fenc.
ing.
In his scattered wits, Matthews
thought the center of the cyclone had
gone past, and he peeped through the
gap over his head. The swirling
black cloud was no longer in exis.
tence. 1t appeared to have been split
asunder, and to have broken into
number of smaller eddies that swept
the fields with immense velocity, but
with comparatively little force. The
great vortex was broken, split by the
explosion as waterspout is broken
by cannon-shot The tornado was
blown up.
The sky was already growing little
had begun to fall. Matthews watched
the relics of the whirlwind pass over
Fayette, and they did not look capa-
BILE of inflicting any serious damage.
He glanced back toward the hilltop.
Where the wagon had stood there was
nothing but an immense pit in the
earth. 1t would take much labor to
make that road passable again.
The storm, in fact, did nothing more
than uproot few trees in Fayette,
and it subsidized otter passing. No
further damage was reported from it.
Matthews found one of lis horses ~
iEs tead few rods down thhe road.
TIL other was captured unhurt daY
Or two later by farmer a couple OF
miles away. AS for the wagon and
and the well-shooting outfit. not so
much as bolt or splinter was ever
seen
Matthews thought of demanding
compensation from the town, on the