George Clinton Smith

“ The greatest precipitation is frequently in advance of the storm-center, and may be either rain or snow, depending upon the season of the year and the temperature. During the spring and summer months the area of low pressure is usually accompanied by precipitation in the form of local showers, or thunder-storms, of more or less severity, in which case the strongest air-currents move with the local storm-cloud, and are known as simply high winds, sometimes approaching the severity of a hurricane, but seldom extending over any considerable area of territory. ”

“ The bounding or swaying motion of the tornado can be illustrated by the experiment of the "electrical puppets": the cloud above forming the upper plate, and the earth beneath the lower one. All light objects between are drawn up, then thrown down—being first attracted, then repelled. ”

“ It is true, the limits of this great area have become circumscribed by the onward march of civilization, but the sandy waste is still there, and must ever remain. Still farther westward, the Rocky Mountains rear their lofty, snow-crowned heads in one continuous chain, three thousand miles in length. Rich in mineral wealth, the delight of tourists, and the home of a prosperous people, these mountains have a different and equally valuable office to perform in the exercise of an important influence upon the climate of our continent. ”

“ These warm, rarefied currents of air are met by cooler currents passing over the snow-clad peaks of the north; a cyclonic storm is formed, usually small at first, which begins its journey eastward, gradually developing in energy and area as it goes. After leaving the mountain-ranges, there is but little precipitation for the first few hundred miles; as it advances, it usually widens from north to south, but the line of travel of the storm-center can be readily predicted by the Signal-Service observers, and its location at any time fixed by the lowest reported reading of the barometer. ”

“ By this storm, sixty-five persons were killed and two hundred wounded in the State of Illinois alone; and yet the percentage of lives lost was small compared with the immense value of property destroyed.
As the matter now stands, the tornado seems to remain a problem that baffles science—a veritable despot in the economy of nature. The puny arm of man is powerless against it; no structure he can rear will successfully resist it, coming off unscathed in the conflict ”

“ The United States Signal Service has proved to be quite reliable in its observations and predictions of approaching storms, and should receive due credit for its service rendered in protection of life and property. ”

“ While the tornado, on its course, possesses four distinct motions—as previously stated there seems little doubt that the central force, or the one exerting the greatest power, is purely electrical, although the outer surface of the vortex be composed of wind moving at a rate of speed that can scarcely be comprehended. ”

“ Sometimes the distance is traversed in four days and nights, exceeding the speed of a railway express-train; but frequently the progress is slow, and the time required much longer, depending largely upon the atmospheric conditions met with in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. ”