River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-12-08
A Torpedoed
Tornado q q
BY FRANK L. POLLOCK

ONO, ana ne QeclQeQ 10 QrlVe ONeI anu
spend Sunday there. But Paul Mat
thews and his wagon were not wei
come sight in that region. The town
would not allow him to drive within
its limits, and he had to leave his
wagon a mile outside.
This was due to no personal preJu-
dice. 1t was because he was by pro-
fession a "well-shooter," and that red
painted spring wagon, with the red
flag, carried 80 or 40 pints of nitro
glycerin, in small tins packed snugly
in padded frames.
The business of the well-shooter is
well understood in the oil regions, and
his wagon becomes familiar, though
always an alarming, sight When an
oil well ceases to flow, a charge OF
high explosive fired at the bottom OF
the tube will often stimulate it into
activity again. 1t is the business OF
the well-shOoter to supply this slim
illus, and he drives about from place
to place with a CARLOAD of nitro
glycerin, and everybody allows him to
take the whole road when he passes
Matthews had taken up the business
from the natural propensity of youth
to run big risks for the chance Of large
profits He was growing accustomed
to the risks, but the profits were not
what he had expected, and it had be-
come distinctly unpleasant to be ter
rifying object wherever he appeared.
Moreover, he found that the continual
presence and odor of the nitroglycerin
tended to produce violent headaches
and nausea.
He had left his wagon in little
patch of woods to the west of the vii
lage. The horses were staked out by
long ropes, and every day he walked
out to feed and water them. There
was no danger of anyone's meddling
with that outfit. It's red flag was pro-
lection enough.
A little after noon on Saturday he
went out to attend to his team,
through oppressive heat and dust. 1t
had been very hot for a week A
little before noon a breeze had sprung
up, but with no GOODNESS in it, and the
sky had clouded slightly with a cop
perry tint. The wind drove vast clouds
of dust in Matthew'S face as he walked
up the road, and before he reached his
outfit he was convinced that a heavy
thunderstorm was coming up.
This made him hasten to get
through his duties, for he had no de-
sire to remain near his wagon during
such a disturbance. A thunderstorm
is one of the terrors of the oil dYna-
inter, for, apart from the danger of
his wagon being struck, there is al
ways the possibility that a heavy
shock of thunder may explode the
cargo by mere conclusion.
When Matthews came out from
among the trees to take another look
at the weather, however, he was
startled by the appearance of the
western sky. A dense bank of dark
blue cloud was rolling up rapidly,
blowing out in ragged streamers, as
if torn by a powerful gale. Already
it was reaching halfway 10 the zen
it'll, and the sun shone dimly through
a reddish haze. In a few minutes
more this was blotted out, and a
strange and chilly dusk fell upon the
earth. The horses were snorting and
stamping with fright. The storm de-
veloped so rapidly that Matthews at
first had hardly recognized hts nature.
But now the indications were only
too clear. Twice in his life he had
seen tornadoes. They are not so COM
in hn ha
the plains, but veritable "twisters" do
occasionally sweep across that region;
and it appeared afterward, in fact,
that this was a sort of offshoot of the
cyclone that almost wiped out the
town of Pike Springs on the same day.
1t was coming apparently straight to-
ward Fayette, and Paul's first and
natural inclination was to run for
| some shelter
He was not much alarmed for his
own safety until the thought Of his
wagonload of explosives occurred to
him. The shock of the cyclone would
certainly explode it. Should it go off
where it stood, the resulting damage
would be comparatively slight; but it
would almost certainly be lifted from
the ground by the suction. and the
tins of nitrOglycerin dropped and ex-
ploded all over the neighborhood.
They would certainly be carried to-
ward Fayette, and the tornado itself
would be a comparatively minor peril.
Matthews stopped and tried to think
of something to do. A hole in the
ground, a cellar, would be the only
safe depository for the dangerous out
fit; but it struck him that the rayine
of Jackson's Creek might furnish a
substitute.
The creek was small one, but il
! flowed at the bottom of a deep. mar
row ravine which it had cut through
hard clay. If the wagon could be
! placed in that gorge, he thought. it
would be pretty certain to stay there.
and do nothing worse than blow I'm
the creek-bed. But the creek was .
mile away, in the direction of the on
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 were growing more and
more uneasy, and it seemed to take a