The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1904-12-02

growing darker. and the wind was blow
ing gale. thick with dust. but the
body OF the tornado was still long way
on. II seemed to him that be hada
lighting chance Of reaching the creek;
and In any event the farther hs got from
the village the better.
A hs drove up the road he noticed
the cattle in the f,slds rushing about
and believing piteously with fright
He dared not 20 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 uncomfortable with
fright In the turbulent west the sky
was all blush black. and In the midst
Of II he thought he could distinguish q
huge. swiriing mass Of inky darkness,
the vortex Of the whirlwind, coming
down as the speed OF an express train.
It was growing almost a. dark ~ even
Ing. The whole sky was darksnsd, ex-
sept . strip Of livid pallor low In the
east. like 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 ses the stones and rough spots In
the road. and growing reckless. he let
the panic-stricken team out . little fast
er. becoming too much excited to think
Of the present risk. He dipped into .
hollow. whore . stream crossed the road
through . culvert, ratified up the sue
ceeding elevation. and pulled up short
a. he reached the top. suddenly appalled,.
The whole sky appeared to be fall
ing In, like IN inky-black torrent, and
In the gloom he could make ont the g.
gantic balloon-shaped cloud that swept
the earth with q grinding roar. like the
jar Of some immense mill.
He jumped down. pulled out his knife
and cut the horses loose. They neddown
the road by which they had come. and
Matthews raced after them. leaving the
loaded wagon standing on the top ol
the hill.
He had NO clear idea Of where he wa
going till he reached the culvert at the
bottom Of the hollow. He divsd into
the low opening Of the plank tunnel
crawled q few feet In, and lay nat IL
the mud and water.
For . few seconds he covered there
and quaksd with fright From tht
opening at the end he could see nothing
but obscurity. and the air seemed nlled
with cloud and dust. For an instau,
there seemed Q strange lull, and theE
with redoubled and deafening uproal
the cyclone struck and went over. HI
was actually dragged toward the end ol
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 roun(
him. For one dreadful moment tn,
earth seemed ground under some pro
digious force, and then the darkneD va,
split by q brilliant nash and . paralyz
J ing conclusion The explosion wa
less . report than Q tremendous shock
with . rending and dislocation Of the ut
] mosphere greater than that Of the tor
nado itself Then the air seemed sud
denly struck calm, anda rain Of every sor
Of wreckage showered down-shingles
boards, fragments of trees and pieces o
fencing.
} In his scattered wits, Matthew
/ thought the center OF the cyclone hai
gone past, and he peeped through tn
/ gap over his head. The swirling blacl
. cloud was no longer in existence. l
appeared to have been split asundsr. IN,
to have broken into number Of smalls
sddiss that swept the fields with i'm
. mense velocity. but with comparativel
, little force. The great vortex Wa
!: broken. split BY the explosion. - . va
| terspout II broken by q cannon-sho'
|, The tornado was blown up.
; The sky was already growing . littl
lighter in the west, and Q cold rain ha
begun to fall. Matthews watched th
. relics OF the whiriwfnd pass over Fay
: cite, and they did not look capable OF in
ficting any serious damage. II
glanced back toward the hilltop. wher
!. the wagon had stood there was nothin
: but an immense pit In the earth.
!. would take much labor to make that roa
|, passabls again.
The storm, in fact, did nothing NOR
!. than uproot . few trees in Fayetts an
: It subsided after passing. No furths
. damage was reported from II. Matthew
found one Of his horses lying dead fe
rods down the road. The other VI
captured unhurt q day or two later By
|, farmer . couple Of miles away. Al Il
!, . the wagon and the well-shootfng outfl
not 90 much as . bolt or . splinter va
ever seen.
g Matthews thought Of demanding CON
> pensation from the town. on the grour
: Of his services in wrecking the tornad
{ But he abandoned the idea eventuall
= He knew the characteristics Of the couI
try villages. and he was afraid that
It the affair was brought to their motto
he would be asked to pay for the dan
age to the road.-Youth's Companion.
Electricity in Far East.
n Electricity never played 90 importaI
a role a. 1t does At present in the {.
J. east. The japanese generals use boi
telegraph and telephone In issuing the