Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-11-30
A TORPEDOED
TORNADO.
BY FRANK LILLE POLLOCK.

e. 81
61sGGS151S1S1S9
On Friday Paul Matthews found
himself within few miles of his
home. at Fayette, in southeastern
Ohio. and he decided to drive over
and spend Sunday there. But Paul
Matthews and his wagon were not a
welcome sight in that region. The
town would not allow him to drive
within Its limits, and he had to leave
his wagon mile outside.
This was due to no personal preju-
dice. 1t was because he was by pro-
fession "well-shooter," and that red
painted spring wagon, with the red
nag. carried thirty or forty pints Of
nitro-glycerine, 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 a familiar, though
always an alarming, sight. When an
oil-well ceases to flow. charge of
high explosive fired at the bottom of
the tube will often stimulate 1t into
activity again. 1t is the business of
the well-shooter to supply this stimu-
lus, and he drives about from place to
place with cart-load of nitro-glycer-
ine. and everybody allows him to take
the whole road when he passes.
Matthews had taken up the bust
ness from the natural propensity of
youth to run big risks for the chance
Of large profits. He was growing ac-
customed to the risks, but the profits
were not what he had expected, and
1t had become distinctly unpleasant to
be terrifying object wherever he APP
peared. Moreover he found that the
pQel pEeeeaee. AID odor of the
nitro-glycerine tended to produce vio-
lent headaches and nausea.
He had left his wagon in little
patch Of woods to the west of the
village. The horses were staked out
by long ropes, and every day he
walked out to feed and water them.
There was no danger Of any ones
meddling with that outfit. Its red flag
was protection 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 week. A
little before noon breeze had sprung
up, but with no GOODNESS in it, and
the sky had clouded slightly with a
coppery 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 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 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 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 start
led 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 reach
ing halfway to the zenith, and the sun
shone dimly through reddish haze.
In few minutes more this was
blotted out, and strange and chilly
dusk fell upon the earth. The horses
we're snorting and stamping with
fright. The storm developed so rapid
ly that Matthews at first 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
plains, but veritable "twisters" do &C.
casionally sweep across that region;
and 1t appeared afterward, in fact,
the cyclone that almost wiped out the
town of Pike Springs on the same day.
1t was coming apparently straight
toward 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
wagon-load of explosives occurred to
him. The shock of the cyclone would
certainly explode it. Should it go off
where 1t 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 nitro-glycerine dropped and ex-
ploded 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, cellar, would be the only
safe depository for the dangerous out
at; but 1t struck him that the ravine
Of Jackson's Creek might furnish a
substitute.
The creek was small one. but it
flowed at the bottom of deep, mar
raw 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 up
the creek-bed. But the creek was a