Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-18

of the air-a region Of diminished
pressure-in which water vapor, pre-
viously gaseous and invisible, Is con-
densed, by the cooling due to expan-
sion, into q column of mist. This col
umn Is often a mere watery film, so
that vessels, mountains and the like
lying beyond the spout can be distinct
ly seen through 1t.
Although the vortex and the result
! ing visible column Of mist grow down.
ward, the air in the spout moves chief
force enough to carry heavy objects
aloft, as is commonly seen in the tor
| nado.
When a waterspout suddenly breaks
owing to a cessation of its vertical mo-
ton its moisture may be discharged
downward in the form Of torrential
rain. This has sometimes happened
| over a ship, and the water was obser-
| ed to be fresh, not salt, proving that
| no considerable part Of 1t was drawn
directly from the ocean.
The forms Of waterspouts are vari-
Gus. Sometimes they are seen singly.
sometimes in groups. AS many as
twenty have been observed at one
time. Their height in extreme cases
may reach nearly a mile.
Some of the most interesting de-
| scriptions and pictures Of waterspouts
are to be found in a memoir publish
| ed in 1898 by the late II. G. Russell.
government astronomer at New South
Wales. In one case cited by this au-
thor fourteen complete spouts and six
others more or less incomplete were
seen within the space Of five hours.
Russell also records a case in which
the shaft Of waterspout formed a
nj OF nhannmannn 10 q
| occasionally been mentioned by other
writer's. The description follows:
August IS, 1894. Richard Tapplin,
master Of the steamship Burrawong,
writes: when fifteen miles south Of
Seal Rocks and going south we saw
before us a waterspout in the middle
of a black and heavy looking rain
cloud; it looked like bright funnel
and the tube descended to the sea,
which it lashed into a fierce whirl-
| pool.
"'The spout was travelling TO the
| northwest and passed us three-quar-
| ters of a mile to westward. I estimat-
ed the speed it was travelling forward
at about twelve to fifteen miles per
| hour. The second one was not so large
but otherwise very similar, and 1t pass
ed away in the same direction. The
third and last one was very beautiful;
1t formed under the southeastern ex-
| tremity of the very dark rain cloud,
and ii travelled in the same direction
as the other two. It's funnel-like shape
was like the first one. but 1t was much
| longer and closer to the ship, so that
| we could see 1t very well. AS 1t came
| bowling along at the rate Of twenty
miles an hour we could see the water
spouting up in a continuous and uni
| form stream right up to the cloud.
"'When the waterspout was about
two miles to the northwest Of our ship
1t suddenly presented very curious
and fantastic shape; 1t became very
long, swaying and coiling about like a
serpent. All at once 1t made a COM
| plete coil, then burst, great quantities
| of water poured out Of the lower part
of the coil, and in few seconds one of
the most beautiful sights I have ever
witnessed during my seafaring career
vanished as completely as II had never
| been in existence"
On the coast Of Guinea In 1874 a
| sixteen gun man-of-war of 800 tons
was similarly mishandled by a water
| spout, losing her foremast and bow
spirit in the encounter.-Scientific
| American.