The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-06-18
STORMS OF KANSAS
BRIGHTEN EASTERN
VISITORS FROM WITS
(Weekly Kansas City Starl

windstorms and other atmospheric
phenomena in Kansas. but probably
none sounds SO unreal as the stories
of electrical storms or disturbances
that pass over the western part OF
the state, killing growing crops of all
kind, and charging the metal work OF
windmills so powerfully that strong
men have been knocked flat while at
| tempting to throw them into gear.
These electrically charged winds
| were especially severe last March.
when the state was visited by an I'M
usual number of duststorms, and in
| at least one case were felt as far east
as Wichita
For a long time reports of them
| were secuted by persons who had no
/ first hand knowledge, and when they
were first reported to the experts of
| the weather bureau, about twenty-five
years ago, they were pronounced ST
| Elmo's fire, which is something seen
at the top of ships masts during a
! snowstorm.
| Startling Effects at Night
| The night time effects of these
storms are startling in the extreme
|
Gus instances have been reported to
Mr.. Flora where herds of ca tile have
| been seen with balls of fire as large
as marbles on the tips of their horns"
and ranchman in Cheyenne county
had the unique experience one night
or driving cattle with this continuous
display from their horns and similar
ba lis of fire, which he described as
large IS the cork of an ink bottle.
at the tip of each ear of the mule he
was riding and also at the end of his
riding whip.
In Meade county, near Plains, a dog
had been chained to a metal clothes
line. The line became so highly
charged during one of these storms
the dog set up n prolonged howl of
misery, and every attempt to release
him was so shocking" to persons try
ing it they finally had TO resort to
thick gloves to loosen the chain.
During the dust storms in March
many motor cars in central and west
ern Kansas were stalled when this
static electricity accumulated in their
engines and stopped ignition. This
could have been avoided had the driv-
ers taken the precaution of the wea-
Their bureau observer at Grainfield a
|
to the rear axle of his car when the
engine refused to work The wire
grounded the charge and the motor
, car rolled off in fine style, but it was
necessary to keep the wire trailing be-
= hind to avoid more engine trouble.
Cooks" Green Vegetation.
After one of these storms has pas
sed green vegetation presents the pc
cullar cooked" appearance it has
after a killing frost. The leaves of
trees and other foliage drop off and in
many instances whole fields of corn
and wheat have been killed. At Good
= land the leaves of the trees were de-
:, strOyed twice in one spring in this
0 way, a sufficient time having elapsed
, between the first and second storm for
a new set Of leaves to grow
$ The early settlers attributed the
electrical discharges to friction of the
wind, which is often high in the west
p, ern part of the state, but it remained
= for Professor w. A Douglas Ruge TO
t find the same sort of storm at Bloom
! fontein, South Africa, and ascertain
- the cause. He devised an insulated
f disk coated with radium, which col
d lected negative electricity. and a five
gallon gasoline can, open at both
ends, with fine screen across one
i end, which collected the fine dusr
: blowing about and became highly
= charged from the positive electricity
: which these particles carried. Spark 9
= more than half an inch long were oh
= tanned from two spheres connected
| with the disk and can. respectively :.
| showing at least 10000 volts Wien
| the apparatus was set up on the open
| welt or African prairie.
L professor Ruge was able to demon
strate that dry, sandy soil is Away
| charged with positive electric!ty
which is carried up into the air b.
fine particles in a dust storm an
communicated TO any object which
| these particles touch as thew ar
blown about. AS windmills of step
are commonly mounted on wooder
derricks in western Kansas they offes
ideal accumulators for these charges
The same applies to wire fences an
to motor cars on rubber tires hu
| just why this static electricity Shout
be so fatal to crops is something tina
scientists have not been able to de
| eide.
No tests like those of Professor
Ruge have ever been made in western
| Kansas, so far as known, but il il
more than likely voltages exceedine
10000 will be obtained there
No Lightning With Them.
| These storms, though are an en-
tirely different proposition. They oc
cur when the air is intensely dry anC
no thunder or lightning is ever noted
| with them.
Barbed wire fences become 50
. II charged that at night every bari
- has been seen to give off a glow like
4S tiny incandesCent electric light bulb
- One well authenticated case is re
ported where a wire thus charged
came loose during high wind and de
scribed an arc over the grass, KILN:
all vegetation it touched
A few years ago prairie fire orig
mated n the farm of ]. w Lougi
a ranchman near Scott City, which
was undoubtedly caused by a loos
ng wire charged from one of thes
d; storms falling upon a bunch of dr.
s; grass.
n faF@