Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1904-12-29
A Torpedoed
Tornado . 4
~ FRANZ L. POLLOCK

~ FRANZ L. POLLOCK n
IN Friday Paul Matthews foun
himself within few miles Of hi
home, at Fayette, in southeastern
VI Ohio, and he decided to drive over ant
spend Sunday there. But Paul MAT
thews and his wagon were not Z vel
come sight in that region. The towl
would not allow him to drive wltnll
its limits, and he had to leave hi
wagon q mile outside. ~
This was due to no, personal pre)u
V dice. It was because he was by pro
fession q "well-shooter," and that red
painted spring wagon, with the rec
Tag, carried 30 or 40 pfnts OF nitro
! glycerin, in small tins packed snugl1
I in padded frames.
The business of tho well-shooter II
4 well understood in the oil regions, an(
his wagon becomes familiar, though
always an alarming, sight. When al
oil well ceases to flow, q charge Of
high explosive fired at the bottom o1
tia tube will often stimulate it into
activity again. It is the business OF
the well-shooter to supply this st1m-
; illus, and he drives about from place
to place with q CARLOAD OF nitro
glycerin, and everybody allows him to
take tho 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 q 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 Z little
patch of woods to the west of the VII
l~Gs. The horses we're 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 Its red flag was pro-
se:tion enough.
A little after noon on Saturday h4
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 tie
sky had clouded slightly with cop
perry tint. The wind drove vast clouds
Of dust in Matthews 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 q 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 q heavy
shock of thunder may explode the
cargo by mere concussion.
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
il. torn by powerful gale. Already
it was reaching halfway to the zen
18th, and the sun shone dimly through
q 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
drst had hardly recognized its nature
But now the indications were only
too clear. Twice in his life he had
seen tornadoes. They are not so COM
mon in the middle west as upon the
the plains, but veritable "twisters' do
occasionally sweep across that region;
and 1t appeared afterward. in fact,
that this was sort of offshoot of tho
cyclone that almost wiped out the
town of Pike Springs on the same day.
It 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 of
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
tics of nitroglycerin dropped and ex-
plcded all over the neighborhood.
They would certainly be carried to-
ward Fayette, and the tornado itself
would be 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
ut: but it struck him that the ravfne
: 81 .Jackson's Greek might furnish a
substitute. CO.
The creek was small one. but it
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