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Show CURIOUS WIND PHENOMENA, th "Sand Anger." of the Plains Tricks uf Bby Cycloo A CuUnp. "A curious phenomenon," said Pro-fesr Pro-fesr F. E. Clarke to a reporter, "is sometimes some-times observed on wide pui:ns where the aimobpiirre ia hut and dry. It is iio forming of miniature cyclones, or rotarv elorui.i, wiiifh. wiien occurring on a grand K'iile tliey do in the wtsteru states, are kiji.-wu as tornaducs. 'When the Union Pacific railway was bein'j: couitructed the workmen had fre-tju.-ut opportunities ot witnessing the fonimtiuu and progress of such whirl-wuhU, whirl-wuhU, .'hii'!i, ou account of the peculiar action they hud on dry soil, were called aiuid aucr.' They were especially frequent fre-quent in ixxlye Pole Creek valley, through which the railway, leaving the Platte river, runs northerly to near the base of the Black lulls. This valley is quite narrow nar-row averaging about a mile in width and Is bounded on either side by a range of low, uneven hills. "The llrst indication of the approach of one of these 'sand augers' would be the formation, here and there in the valley, of little whirliytys of dusty winds, pictitig up btt.s of straw, paper and other unconsidered uncon-sidered trifles, Bometimes waltzing Into camp and tiirtiny with the canvas tents or BcatteriuK the emlers and asheB of outdoor out-door cooking places. "These baby cyclones would Increase in number quite rapidly, and then be whitiked away by strong currents of air, coming from no one knew where, but all drawing across the valley toward the eaatero range of hills over which would then be seen advancing a funnel shaped cloud, like that seeu over waterspouts forming at sea. "From the under surface of this low lying cloud a swaying tongue of lead colored vapor would prolong itself toward the earth, from which, to meet it, would rise a cloud of dirt and sand. This earth column would risi higher and higher, with a whirling motiou, becoming more compact all the while, until the blue black vapor and the brown muss from below would unite above, and the completed, com-pleted, swiftly whirling column commence moving slowly down from above on its way ncross the valley. 'While its forward progress was usually slow, its rotary motion about its vertical ; axis would be very rapid; and bo dense I would be the mass of sand gathered up by I ft that when the column touched the earth j it would scoop out a shallow channel like j the dry bed of a small stream. Hence its name of saud auger. "The diameter of these augers seldom exceeded fifteen or twenty feet at the ground, but their bnlk increased with their height until they were merged into j the broad surface of the thick, murky i vapor from the cloud above, from which ! electric flashes frequently played. When ! this occurred large hailstones would be 1 formed, which would be thrown, by centrifugal cen-trifugal force, apparently out from the revolving re-volving storm. They would be found to be, almost invariably, in the shape of flat disks, sometimes three inches in diameter and an Inch thick, aud made up of layers of ice and sand. "One such 'sand anger' passed near an engineers' camp where I was at work and carried off a tent or two. It then grazed I the edge of a corral near by, cutting away one angle of ao adobe wall, and, sweeping by the house itself, left every pane of glass iu the one window as neatly ground as if done by a sand blast machine. "Passing on, the tents the 'auger' was carrying off became entangled in the telegraph tele-graph wires running through the valley, and fitter dragging down two poles the cyclone collapsed, leaving beneath, when It broke up, a mound made up of sand, bits of adobe, some old boots, a Bprinkling of empty tins, part of a bale of hay and a dog eared poker deck of cards. The latter lat-ter were afterward carefully gathered up by their owner, a genius called Slim Jim, who always deplored the fact that the recovered re-covered pack was imperfect, there being but four aces left in it by the sand auger." I San Francisco Examiner. |