The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-22
.EOUINOXES AND STORMS

Va. ana where the stream from I,jclt.
., ~, $ ltlngc cposses this road. ono may
oI tnem ~ big az a bshei measure,
oarrled down by tho unclaimed waters.
INC reln?teness OF the scene OF thu
makes IL seldom, visited. bnt ibnss
who do. visit 1t describe ii Az n most
Wg2nderful illustration of tile power OF
falling water.
The word blizzard ia of comparative.
~ recent origin. so far as this country
Is concerned. IN December 1876. ,hera
was notable cold wave. The wealth
or Bureau wanted a namo for it, Tho
members ransacked their dictionaries,
Tor term, and finally fell back upon
the word blizzard" which. like the
storm, came out of the West. ,rhey
APPLIED 1t 10 that cold wave and the
term has never lost Its popularity. Tho
United States beat around Mt. Wash
tnRton in 1873. For one and halt
hours 1t blow al the rate of 1856 mica
an an hour. Wien a wind is blowing at
the rate of 100 miles an hour tho
pressure II makes is nearly fftv pounds
TO the square foot. a wind blowing m.
Is miles an hour registers only 12t
pounds.
The greatest series OF tornadoes the
world has ever seen occurred on Fob
ruary p 1854. in the territory extend.
kentucky and Illinois to The ,Auantc
There were more than sixty different
tornadoes. and they destroyed over 10.
600 ,e5', b,,ldiogs killed 500 people and
of property by tornadoes from 1890
to 1898 amounted TO over S2sooo,O0o
and there We're some l.5oo lives lost
during that period Tho most-teilins
celved from storms was the ono which
deluged Galveston, Tex, September s.
1900, in which 1000 people lost their
lives, and $50 100000 worth of proper
DESTROYED at
Kan. in Nay. 1903. rendered 5000 peo-
pie homeless. In June or the same
year cloudburst al Clifton, s. o., de
stroyed life and damaged property u
the extent OF s3.5O0,00o and week
afterward a like disaster in Hepner.
ore, cost 500 lives and damaged mil
lions Of dollars worth of property.
1t Is rather surprising to note the
amount of damage reported In the
United states from lightning. The lat
est report of the Weather Bureau on
t he subject shows that there We're
5.527 strokes of lightning which did
damage during that fiscal year and
that the number OF buildings injured or
destroyed thereby was G.25S. valued at
s3.0t6.00o. From tables for other years
this seems 10 be about a fair aver
age. There were 5s3 people killed and
$50 injured hy lightning during the
year. and nearly 5000 head OF liTe
stock killed
Tile Washington Monument at Wash
ington, d. G., has lent itself TO many
scientific Investigations One of these
related to lightning. In 1856, during
| a severe storm, man stationed him
self in the top OF the monument with
| an electrometer, to determine whether
| lightning flashes tended to lessen the
| tension OF electricity in the air. The
| instrument showed that they did
! One of TIE most striking illustra-
tions OF the influence of wires over
| lightning Is tho case of telephone
! line in Virginia. Prior TO 1896 there
y Gin In -.--a ,afta fdr
! distance of twelve miles. Every cleo
trical storm seemed to carry destruc-
|, ton to many of the poles of that
tlins., When lightning would strike at
1.-THE top OF a hill. every pole to the bas3
Eof the next hill was likely to be shiv-
! ersu. Then another company acquired
/ the line. and replaced 1t with new one
carrying today ten wires. At every
ttenth post piece of common galvan-
lied wire was PLANTED in the ground
ton of any kind. 1t projects about
six inches from the TOP of the post.
| In the eleven years that have elapsed
lsince the new line was built, not
/ post has, been struck Prior TO tina,
time not summer passed without
there being score or more shlv-
cred.
The weather is full of freaks. lust
before tho vernal equinox of 1885, at
| Bloomington. Ill, tliree-quarters Of an
inch of SNOW fell from an absolutely
clear sky. In 1885. near Whitehall,
fIli.. hail stones. some said to be as
/ big as goose eggs, fell to a depth OF
from eight 10 twelve inches, In Iowa.
| on one OCCASION. hail stones as big
/ Il mans fist Tell in such volume MS IN
4 cover the ground to the depth OF
| from two TO three feet.
/ With the coming of spring there APP
lspears tho usual number of weather
i and near-wcatiler prophets. one of tho
4 most widely acclaimed of these SAYS
4 that we arc going to have some hot
weather next summer. The Weather,
| Bureau. Jealous OF its prerogatives, re-
1 plies that we are pretty sure to have
4 rather cold spells next winter. But in
i spite or them ALL the weather con-
i tinucs to act Independently, and to
i hide its real secrets from those VINO
would proclaim them to a waiting
| world.
I o-morrow-Clearins Out Anarchy.