The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-04-30
A RIDE ON WINGS
OF The CYCLONE
How a Shoe Salesman Saw
Towns Crushed.
STOOD ON A SPEEDING TRAIN

Witness on Rear Platform Travelling
In Heart of Devastating Wind, Sees
1t Creep About Villages and Sweep
Them Away-Houses crumpIed and
Tossed About.
Living, breathing aid travelling in
the heart of one of the greatest hurri-
canes which ever has swept over the
United States, leaving death and de
structiOn in its wake, was the expert
ence of w. z. Commar, a shoe sales. 4
man, who stepped off of the Burling-
ton train after travelling for miles with
a cyclone that wiped whole towns of
the map.
Il never want to witness another
. thing in this world so fraught with
I horror" he said. Il boarded the train
/ at Lincoln, Neb, and travelled in the
I heart of the cyclone for miles and
watched its deathlike hand creep
about the towns we passed and crush
them in a twinkling. / helped to car
~ in the human beings who, bruised,
. crushed and hysterical we stopped to
pick up and take to Omaha for medi-
cal attention.
Il had stepped out on the back plat
form for a breath Of air. 1t was about
o'clock, maybe little before. and l
noticed a peculiar light in the sky. II
you have ever read south sea island
stories you will know that an uncan-
ny, yellow glare seems to precede
hurricane. Well, there was that light
in the sky when / noticed it first But
OIL no ODD
far more terrible to me at the moment.
Il don't know that / can describe it,
except to say that at first thought
some one behind me had whispered
1t was a whisper, but a whisper Of
voices we are not supposed to hear in
this world 1t was sibilant, strange.
ethereal. and it sounded like the pecu-
liar sucking hiss that one hears when
} a train rounds Il curve. But there was
a strange power back of it. l don't
, know why it affected me in the man
ner it did But somehow it was a
forecast-a threat Of frightful things
q to come.
2 Cloud Grew Larger.
"All the time the sound grew. and l
= noticed that the queer cloud in the
sky was growing larger. 1t was black
and cone shaped, with the small end
toward the earth. Then / knew what
was going to happen. l was fascinat-
} ed. A moment before there had been
light, clear and white, with just a gen
tie wind to ruffie the few clouds in the
: sky. Now all was changed.
The gentle whistle had grown 10 9
roar, and strange mutterings filled th'
u air. Then all of a sudden l saw tha
the high cloud was enveloping every
y thing. For n moment my heart stop
. ped, and my breath seemed to b'
u drawn from me as if by a powerful
a bellows. My face was peppered witt
Ie flying gravel. There was terrific
N roar, shuddering of the earth, ant
If the cyclone had crossed our trail no
he fifty feet behind US.
le For a moment l could not catch N.
al breath. My face was singing wit
n the sand and gravel that had bee
II hurled against me. I went inside tn
car.
The wind crossed the track an
swept on in a northeasterly direction
as near as l could tell. By that tim
we were near RalstOn, Neb., which
" within twenty-five or thirty miles q
Omaha Far up the track l could sc
' the lights of the town. For one ms
n ment l wanted to hide from the sigh
he but curiosity dominated me and l r
DIT turned to the platform. There wa
- one man there, a Mr. Coon, and "
~ were soon joined by other passengers
- Not a man of US said a word. Fa
~ cinated, we watched that little groU
nv of houses where human beings we
al waiting unknowingly for the hand
he Providence to strike them. l felt Ill
of crying out Il warning to them, but Il
vacuum following the storm, stole Il
. breath again, and my reason final
- got the better of my impulse.
One Crash For Whole Town.
zone shattering crash, a whirlpool
flying wood, shingles, and with TO
of triumph that was nothing short
demoniacal the storm swept on. Y
looked again. From the chaos
swirling boards and debris there emer
ed now and then a hOusetop. Who
buildings went rolling along the grou1
as if impelled by some force with
them. Box cars on sidings, hurl
through the night, split open wi
sickening crashes and elected thu
merchandise. One of these cars, a c
minus the usual trucks, was hu
through the air to land in an op
field There followed a sickeni
sight, for with an unearthly scree
the sides of the car fell apart and
number Of men, railroad section hant