398 
Editorial Comment. 
and exposed to the attack of this wind. Grass was not so 
large as usual, and did not shield the soil. Extensive prairie 
and forest fires had recently denuded large tracts of much 
of the protection which vegetation otherwise would have fur¬ 
nished. Circumstances were favorable therefore for the air to 
become filled with flying particles, caught up from the plowed 
fields, from the blackened prairies, from the public roads and 
from all sandy plains. These particles formed dense clouds 
and rendered it as impossible to withstand the blast as it is to 
resist the “ blizzard ” which carries snow in the winter over the 
same region. The soil to the depth of four or five inches in 
some places was torn up and scattered in all directions. 
Drifts of sand were formed, in favorable places, several feet 
deep, packed precisely as snow drifts are under a blizzard. It 
seemed as if there were great sheets of dust and dirt blown 
recklessly in mid air, and when the wind died down for a few 
moments, the dirt, fine and white, almost seemed to lie in 
layers in the atmosphere, clouding the sun and hiding it en¬ 
tirely from sight for an hour or more at a time. It was so 
fine, and penetrated the clothing so that life was burdensome 
to those who must face the storm. Mr. C. W. Fink, of Woois- 
ley, near Huron, Dakota, stated that it was almost impossible 
to live out of doors at some periods of the storm, and that he 
would u much rather take his chances in the big blizzard of 
two years ago.” While on his way to St. Paul over the St. 
Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba raiload, Mr. Fink said the 
train passed through what was apparently a storm of fine dust 
which seemed to be almost white. It looked much like a 
snow storm, and the sun was hid. It was impossible to dis¬ 
tinguish obstacles at a distance of more than a few feet away. 
These phenomena in their intensity did not appear at Minne¬ 
apolis, but they were witnessed in the more open or originally 
prairie tracts, and are given on the authority of others. Dur¬ 
ing a residence of seventeen years at Minneapolis the writer 
has not before witnessed anything that would compare with 
this simoon-like storm. 
The occurrence of this storm has a bearing on theories of 
the origin of the loess. Its area is that over which the loess is 
abundant. It would not take long for any beholder to be con¬ 
vinced that there was enough material being transported in 
the wind to constitute, when deposited in water, or even piled 
