308 THEODORE WATERS 



worth $3,000,000. The St. Louis tornado, May 27, 1896, 

 caused a loss of $13,000,000. A tornado swept from Cedar 

 Keys to Washington, D. C, September 29, 1896, which caused 

 a loss of $7,000,000. But the most interesting fact concern- 

 ing tornadoes is the record of how one began. The account 

 was sent to the weather bureau by one of its observers. The 

 following is an abstract: 



By A. H. Gale, Voluntary Observer at Bassett, Nebraska. 



Bated, July 28, 1899. 

 ''Mr. A. Brown, 5^ miles northwest of Johnstown, saw 

 the tornado form. He was at work in his barnyard and 

 noticed it coming across his field as a light summer whirlwind 

 such as is noticed on any still hot day. Air at the time was 

 calm. Mr. Brown says he was harnessing a horse, and as the 

 light whirl passed him it gently lifted the straw edges of the 

 roof of his cow shed, but had not enough strength to lift his 

 hat, and passed on. At this point it was devoid of any color, 

 and was mainly noticed by the whirl it made among the grass, 

 straw, and chaff on the ground; he watched its onward move- 

 ment indifferently, and soon saw it gather a color which niade 

 it definable. He then paid close attention to it and noticed 

 it becoming black, angry, and gyrating vigorously, chips, 

 straws, and dirt fell into it, and were absorbed by it and a 

 smoky veil began to envelop the whirling column as it mounted 

 upward. At the same time a funnel began to lower itself 

 from a turbulent low hanging cloud of an area of about forty 

 acres; the column and funnel soon connected and with this 

 union the thing took on a terrifying aspect; up to this time 

 he had no feeling of apprehension. When the whirl passed 

 him he said he was aware of its passage only by its action on 

 the ground. No color. A black cloud above, in commotion, 

 followed the whirl on the ground, which latter was eight or 

 ten feet in diameter. This cloud was alone, separate, and 

 clear from a higher strata of storm clouds above. When 

 passing his point, and as long as within his line of view, he 

 estimated the speed at 10 miles per hour, line of path east by 

 south. I will say here that the entire path from start to end 

 was 18 to 19 miles, and in that distance it made a southing 

 from a due east course of 2i miles, and ranged from 1 to 3 



