Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1880 — Western Storms. [ARTICLE]

Western Storms.

_u|.k Hranlatjirl Ijerah •Die CYUiuilc wumi field, MlaaoorL He exp rested the opinion (hat all this claw of local tonwdkm, which an ao illsaatrnoi la their renaltz an aot wind storms *talU>m dfartricel iTpaUrf 1 o^wttt wwda nxJn, bet destroyef* all that had I2«Y me tai about I|mwi w building la the path ot the tornado which had a tin roof was swept away. A mill situated over a quarter of a mile awaj from the eeatn of disturberc« had Ra Iroa chimney torn oot and carried a loaf distance, hat *uoot otherwiee Idjand. The cupola at the public eehool onilding at Marshfield, which had a tin roof, was wrecked, bat the building, which war roofed with ■hicgles, was left uninjured, la the foresta the bark waa stripped from all sidee of the trees without respect to the dine tk» of the wind. Thtttaod* of the branches wen aot only dMHed ot leans aad bark, bat wen split up into fine fibres until they looked like brooms. Effects of this sort. Prat Tice contends, coaid not de produced by wind, bat an often the result of electrical action. Under its inflnsace the sap under the bark of trees is instantly vaporized, expanding two thousand fold in volum, and furnishing an explosive force which nothing can resist. The farther proof of this theory is found in the fact that the dead and dry limbs and twigs wen not effected, and, though in immediate contact with green ones, remained intact These storms, moreover, ss Prof. Tice remarks, generally follow railroads or water courses. Their velocity is tremendous. Mr. William Ferol, of the United Slates coast survey, read a paper on this interesting subject at the recent meeting of the Mew York Academy of Sciences, in which he described the motion of these-‘cloud bursts,” and attempted to explain their causes. The primary cause, be assumes, is the difference in density of the atmosphere, arising from fluctuations of temperature, these sudden changes being very com petent to generate or direct electric force of an intense sort. A portion of heated air surrounded by other air ot a colder temperature produces a sort of chimney or funnel, the heated air ascending rapidly and giving a gyratory motion to Its envelope ot colder air. These movements tend constantly to increase in rapidity and violence. Upon the assumption of a difference of only 90 millimeters between the heated air and that which surrounded it, Mr. Petrel says there will be an ascending velocity of 56 meters per second, even when due allowance is made for the friction ot the earth. This is equal to a velocity of about 48 yards per second, or 1.6 miles per miuute, or 06 miles per hour. The initial velocity ot cannon balls is only about 1,400 feet per second, so that the whirl of these cyclones is within a tenth part as great as the force of gunpowder. Mr. retml claims that the recorded facts prove that his estimates ire not extravagant. In the signal service report of a tornado at Mount Carmel, in Illinois, in 1877, there is the account of a church steeple, gilded ball and vane which were carried fifteen miles through the air. They must have been suspended in the air lor twenty or thirty minutes. If a current of air moving at this velocity ind bearing with it a large volume of water strikes the earth at any point we have a “cloud bunt” The current is arrested by the obstacles and discharges its body of water at once. —Theory by Professor Ties.