1 OKNADOES. 169 



necessary. Some persons may be disposed smile at the novelty and minuteness 

 of this arrangement, or at the idea of employing weather guards at western towns. 

 I will venture to say that these smiles will not appear on the faces of persons who 

 have experienced the irresistible and overwhelming violence of a tornado. I 

 have never detected many smiles among those who were left to tell the tale of dis- 

 tress in any of the many almost annihilated towns of the West. You may smile or 

 wonder at the thought of hardy, brave men who have, without flinching and in 

 support of their country's honor, faced the red-hot belchings of a score of batteries, 

 who now at the sight of a threatening cloud or the experience of a brisk wind 

 make a bold dash for places of safety or throwing themselves upon the ground 

 clutch at the first object within reach. Such is the abject terror which possesses 

 £.11 alike after the experience of a tornado. The character and extent of your 

 smile is but the measure of your blissful ignorance, and it should not be consider- 

 ed a misfortune to be compelled thus to remain without possession of the truth. 



Immediately following (and for some weeks thereafter) the occurrence in 

 Kansas and Missouri of the violent tornadoes of 1879 hundreds of people along 

 the tracks and in the vicinity of the storms, hardly went to bed, but remained 

 dressed and, with their lanterns trimmed and burnmg, watched intently every 

 foreboding appearance of the sky. Every dark cloud or sudden increase of the 

 wind was calculated to affect them with an indescribable terror which could not 

 be allayed until every vestige of the supposed danger had vanished. This is not 

 the pitiful tale alone of Kansas and Missouri sufferers, but wherever the dreaded 

 tornado makes its way, be it in Michigan, in Mississippi, in Georgia, In Massa- 

 chusetts or in Minnesota, the awful roar and power of its march strike all life 

 dumb with fear. A great deal can be accomplished towards allaying this fear by 

 a dissemination of practical knowledge concerning storms and by a general effort 

 among inteUigent people to appreciate such information. All intelligent persons 

 can and should become familiar with the various classes of storms and be quali- 

 fied to detect their formation and approach. The work of investigation is not 

 yet finished. Much remains to be accomplished. We have yet a great desidera- 

 tum probably within our reach, but not without careful preparation in the study 

 of local and general atmospheric conditions. It is, that we shall be able to furn- 

 ish timely and reliable warnings to certain communities, announcing conditions 

 favorable to the formation of tornadoes. We shall then, with the knowledge now 

 in our possession and in yours, be able to understand and act in regard to this 

 wonderful storm in a manner quite satisfactory and little dreamed of a few years 

 ago. 



In a previous article (Tornado Studies for 1882) I have directed attention 

 to the urgent necessity and the undeniable obligation resting upon every person 

 who can, to furnish all the information within his power toward rendering the 

 repeated investigations of tornadoes under the direction of the Chief Signal Offi- 

 cer, of the utmost value. The well organized State Weather Services of Kansas, 

 Nebraska, Missouri and Iowa, under the efficient supervision of their several Di- 

 rectors, are doing most excellent general meteorological work. They should re- 



