Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-03-15

on the Wapsie Bottoms.
i Numerous interesting stories are
=. old concerning the strange freaks
~ the great storm, some of which
|. q y doubtless true are of such a
VIII, II nature as to place them
almos> end the bounds of belief,
and WEI It not that they were
vouched for by persons who were
either participants in or observers of
the things they describe and are
entirely trustworthy, one would be
inclined to relegate what is related
to the realms of fiction.
The hired man on the farm of
Mr.. Bennett happened to be the hero
of one of these queer freaks. He
was in the barnyard milking and
had filled his pail about two-thirds
full, when he was astonished to see
the cows suddenly drop to the
ground, their noses pointed to the
southwest. Almost instantly the
barn was demolished and he was
lifted up and carried through the
air nearly a quarter of a mile, then
gently set down on his feet badly
| frightened, but entirely uninjured.
Whereupon he nonchalantly made
his way back to the house, carrying
' n iC hn nf Il
which not drop, as far as could
be seen, had been spilled on his
aerial flight
The tornado is caused by the
concurrent action of two or more
currents of air coming in contact
with each other and producing
spiral column which assumes a fun
mel shape with the fange uppermost.
lt whirls around with marvellous
force, drawing TO itself or fiinging
from it every movable object with
which it comes in contact. 1t sell
dom moves for any considerable dis
tance on an even course, it generally
whirls through the air with a rotary
motion, now striking the earth, then
rebounding and flying upward, it
speeds on for short distance, then
down to the earth again. In this
manner it pursues its course until
its force is expended.
Soon after the tornado | made an
engagement with Mr. G. w. Stun
baugh as night watchman at his saw
mill. Mr. Stumbaugh had been un-
fortunate with his property: he had
built two mills previous to the one
was to look after both of which
had been destroyed by fire. These
unfortunate losses had seriously
crippled him and had given him
much concern as TO the watchman
for the new mill, especially as he
believed both mills might have been
saved with proper care on the part
of the watchman. When my name
was proposed for the place there
was at first some hesitancy on his
part, as there was also on my own,
on account of my age and lack Of
experience. These objections, how
ever, were finally overcome and so
after receiving instructions con-
corning my duties / went to work
with a decided feeling that I had
undertaken big responsibility
which would demand my utmost
care. My duties began at six o'clock
in the evening when the mills closed
for the day and continued till seven
in the morning. 1 generally began
my work by raking out the fire from
the furnaces, so as to lower the
pressure of steam as soon as pos
sible; then / cleaned up the saw
dust around the different saws for
we had Muly, Lath and Shingle as
we'll as Circular saws; after that
had been attended to the journals
were to be watered to cool them off,
and then carefully oiled.
AT midnight my meal was eaten
without much ceremony and it al
ways tasted good. for l was blessed
with a huge appetite and my moth
er was a good cook and seemed to
find great satisfaction in catering to
my likes, which she perfectly un-
derstood. 1t is a great thing to be
blessed with a good mother. The
hours usually dragged slowly along,
making the night seem much longer
than it was, and always there was
a strong tendency to drop asleep,
especially toward morning. This
tendency caused by the drowsy at
mosphere of the mill gave me no
little concern, but it made me all
the more alert so it was really a
thinly disguised blessing. When
ever | felt 1t creeping over me l
took turn in the yard outside,
where the cold air speedily awak-
| anaJ anH rafracha1 mo n,~ xx,n~~