Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-17


apparently ended hundred yards from the
ground No doubt there are many such whirl-
WINDS but they can only b. seen when dust
OF otner light matter is in the track to be
Humboldt mentions such tinv whirlwinds AZ
common on the Llanos of 6outh America
otephenson has described the same phenom-
enon IN Behar, though, on one occasion, he
was fortunate enough to notice two large col.
n umns oi Dust, more than twelve feet in diam.
eIIer, with their SUBMITS loft in cloudlaud,
gnalng maJestically across the plain.
iDruce tells us how he saw as many as eleven
p.lars OF sand at "a time, moving parallel TO
hlm about three miles off, and occasionally
tt advancing IN line as ii they would overwhelm
That caravans have been overwhelmed there
is no doubt, and single whirlwind might do
great oamage. In Mexico, Captain Lyons saw
tweh1y, sand -spouts at time many of them
more than three hundred feet high.
extensive fires, such as the burning Of
prairles and volcanic eruptions, sometimes
cause whlrlwinds by the conflicting currents
Of heated air they occasion.
!, When whlrlwind occurs on the sea or on
tne laRes It causes waterspout. When fully
tormaeaa, they appear as tail pillars of cloud
around their axes and exhibiting the pro-
gresslve movement of the whole mass pre-
c1seiy as IN the case of the dust whrlwind.
The sea at the base of the whirling vortices
is thrown into the most violent commotion,
resembling the surface of water in violent
ebulGtion. 1t is a popular fallacy that the
water OF the sea is sucked up in a solid mass
by waterspouts, it being only the spray from
the broken waves which is carried up.
what are called waterspouts on land are
not waterspouts at all. They are merely
heavy falls of rain, of local character, and
are now generally known as "cloud- bursts"
Whiripools are often Harmless enough. In.
stances there are by the dozen of slips and
boats passing. through the troubled waters
!1iI n1narmed; And as we, have seen tricyclists
riding unharmed through sandspout, so
have we many instances of ships going delib-
erately through its ocean prototype
Horsburgh, whose observations on the sub
IJect are the most important we have, put his
ship, through several, after specially prepar-
ing her, of course. On the other hand. cases
are on record where waterspout has simply
twisted off every bit of spar, canvas, rigging
and fixing ship has had, and left her with a
bare deck.
From Horsburgh and the observers that
have followed him we find that when water.
spout begins cone is seen to descend from
la cloud like trumpet with the small end
downward. At the same time the surface of
the sea beneath it ascends little in the form
OF steam or white vapor, and from the centre
OF this rises a small cone which unites with
the descending cone and completes the column
In the middle of the spout is a white trans
parent tube or column, which looks as if made
of ascending water.
A circular motion is given to the surface
OF the sea round the spout, in which the
waves break and run in a whirlpool at q
rate of from two to five knots an hour.
This whirlpool is beneath revolving show
er OF water beaten into fine particles, and
smoking and kissing as it spirally spins; but
strangely enough, in the centre of the whirl.
pool is a vacuum in which no particles ascend:
and in this untroubled space as well as on the
outer edge OF the vortex, rain falls in large
drops In calm weather this central cone Is
vertical, but sometimes it slants away from
the wind.
Sometimes waterspout forms and yanishes
in few seconds; sometimes it will move like
a sandspout over long distances; sometimes.
but not always, it can be broken by firing a
shot into it, or by meeting with some obsta-
cle
A ship under bare poles is said to be unite
safe IN any waterspout, but the least spread
of square canvas may afford such resistance
that the masts may be torn out of her. For
this reason ship is generally put under fore
and att sail when waterspouts are sighted
There have been cases when these thin.
seml-transparent columns have whipped off the
jib-boom OF vessel and sent it flying higher
than the masthead. And sometimes a water
spout has passed along coast, and touching
trees within reach, has stripped them Of
leaves and torn them up by the roots.
And other things besides leaves and iib-
booms are whirled aloft. Showers of fish are
common affairs, and once there was shower
of eels in New York. There have been show.
ers OF herring, OF salmon fry, of crabs. and
even of frogs and snakes.
We owe these peculiar rains to the water
spouts,, which have whirled these creatures
from their native element and whirled from
to the ground again.