Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 28.djvu/323

The accumulations of great quantities of evidence concerning tornadoes have revealed some interesting facts. It is supposed that certain localities in the Eastern States are entirely free from tornadoes, but an examination of Lieutenant Finley's record from 1794 to 1881 shows that they at times approach dangerously near the most unexpected localities. One occurred in New York city, July 13, 1859, and this fact has been further emphasized by the appearance of another at Westwood, New Jersey, October 4, 1885, only twenty-one miles above the city, and not far from the Hudson River. Of the six hundred tornadoes recorded from 1794 to 1881, sixty-two occurred in Kansas, fifty-three in Illinois, forty-three in Missouri, thirty-five in New York, thirty-three in Georgia, thirty-two in Iowa, twenty-eight in Ohio, twenty-five in Indiana, twenty-two in Minnesota, eighteen in North Carolina, eighteen in Pennsylvania, eighteen in Texas, eighteen in Tennessee, fourteen in South Carolina, fifteen in Michigan, fourteen in Alabama, fourteen in Nebraska, fourteen in Mississippi, ten in Louisiana, ten in Wisconsin, nine in Massachusetts, nine in Dakota, nine in Virginia, eight in Arkansas, eight in Maryland, five in Connecticut, six in Kentucky, five in Florida, five in New Hampshire, six in New Jersey, three in Maine, two in Arizona, two in Vermont, and one each in Colorado, California, Indian Territory, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming Territory. The above figures are defective, owing to the absence of records in the past, but it may be accepted as an undoubted fact, soon to be demonstrated by the more careful system of investigation to be carried on by an army of tornado-reporters, that the proportion of tornadoes in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin is much greater than shown. The real prevalence in these States, as compared with others, is better represented by the record of unusually destructive tornadoes. Of this class Kansas leads with twenty-five, Illinois follows with fifteen, then come Iowa and Missouri with twelve each. The Eastern States disappear from the list with the exception of Pennsylvania three and Connecticut one—the well-known destruction of life and property at Wallingford. Of the six hundred tornadoes, three hundred and four moved from southwest to northeast, and the remainder, with marvelously few exceptions, kept very close to that direction. So comparatively certain is this movement that the tornado-track can be escaped by running southeast, depending, of course, upon the direction from which the storm is seen. Northwest is not so safe a direction to take, because so many move northward, veering very slightly eastward. The length of the track varies from one to one hundred and fifty miles, and the average is thirty miles. The average width of the storm-path is one thousand and eighty-five feet, and the velocity of progression is about thirty miles an hour. The form of the cloud is almost invariably funnel-shaped, varied at times with that of the hour-glass, cone, and inverted funnel, modifications caused by differ-