The first wind storm, approximating a cyclone, that ever occurred in Bates County, according to the recollection of one of the oldest pioneers now living, swept over portions of the county in the month of August, 1837. We speak of it more fully in our history of Shawnee Township.

Other storms have occurred at long intervals, but none of any special importance, or none that have done any particular damage until the year 1882.

The following we take from the Bates County Times of July 1882:

Yesterday evening (July 8, 1882), about half-past 6 o'clock, a dark red cloud was noticed in the northwest. It spread rapidly, and soon the heavens were overshadowed. It had come up so suddenly, and as it was the color of a cloud that forebodes a cyclone, people were much concerned, and they could be seen running to and fro and gathering in groups, watching the approach of the monster. The roaring could be heard for a considerable time before it reached here. Large drops of rain at first began to fall, followed by a blinding wind, driving large hailstones, in immense quantities, with considerable force, breaking a great many window panes and sounding on the tin roof like the houses were being leveled to the ground. Limbs, and in some cases trees themselves were broken short off. The small trees in the court house yard suffered considerably, six or seven being broken off, besides a number of limbs. Fruit was thrashed from the trees and corn damaged to a great extent by the hail. Stock not under shelter suffered a great deal. More rain fell than at any other one time this season. The heaviest part of the storm went to the north of us, and must have done considerable damage to farmers in its path.

The opera house sustained some damage, part of a wall blowing down, and several window casings that were not securely fastened in blew out.

A number of people were standing around the depot waiting for the train when they noticed the storm coming up. Thinking it was a cyclone, a Mr. Jones, who keeps a store out there, proposed that it would be safer for them all to go out in the open prairie and stay there until it was over. But the hail soon made it too warm for them there, so they crawled under the elevator and stayed there during the storm.

Sprague & Hunter, music dealers on the north side of the square, had sent their wagon out in the country with an organ, in the evening, and on their way home the storm overtook them, capsizing the wagon and spilling the young men out. Their outfit sustained such damage that they had to stay over night and they moped in this morning in rather a dilapidated condition.

The express wagon, driven by Mr. Wainscott's little boy, had just stopped in front of the post office and the boy had gone inside for something when the wind blew a plank down, scaring the horses and they ran away. Master Wainscott knowing the importance of having the mail on time at the depot, jumped on a horse, overtook the runaways in the southwest part of town, where they had taken shelter from the driving hail under a culvert, and, taking the mail sack on his horse, carried it out to the depot through the storm. Few older heads would have had the courage and presence of mind to have gone through such an ordeal.

Boxes and barrels were blown around promiscuously and one out house blown over at the depot.

Mr. George Holt informs us that he witnessed the blowing down of M. L. Wolfs new house, four miles north of town. There was a family of seven persons in the house at the time, and the house was torn completely from around them, not one of them receiving an injury. Some parts of the house was blown two hundred yards. The corn on the place was completely destroyed, breaking off near the ground; oats and flax totally ruined.

A large barn of Mrs. McCoy's was torn to pieces by the gale.

Dr. J. B. D. Worley had a large amount of vegetables destroyed, about one thousand cabbage plants ruined, besides forty acres of corn.

We learn that part of Mr. Webb's house was blown away; also what is called the "mound house" turned over.

Mr. J. B. Walton, from northeast of town, tells us that William Horn's house was moved about a foot off of the foundation. The Mound school house was turned completely over, and W. and R. Walton's house turned over and torn to pieces.

As Mr. W. M. Walls, who lives three miles northwest of town, was driving out of town in company with another gentleman, the storm came up and they jumped out and unhitched their team to get under shelter, when the wind turned the buggy over and over, mashing it all to pieces. He says his oats and flax are mashed flat to the ground, and a great deal of his fencing blown down.

Six fine steers belonging to Lewis Page, were killed by lightning near Adrian.

A house belonging to Mr. Hackler, north of town, was thrown off its foundation, also a barn belonging to Mr. Snider.

This was one of the fiercest storms that visited Bates County for years. The amount of property destroyed is great and the damage done to growing crops is incalculable.

Mr. Al. Slayback, living southwest of Johnstown, says that he had been up town for his mail and was returning home, when within a mile and a half of his house he noticed a cloud away to the northwest. Being unlike any he had ever seen, he stopped to notice it more particularly. It had the appearance of a large roll of dust and standing still. While he watched it it took on a funnel shape and started in a southeast direction. He hurried homeward but the storm struck him before he reached there, and is was all he could do to hold on to his horse. The storm damaged his barn considerably; thrashed over one hundred bushels of apples from the trees and demolished his flax and oat crop.

It overturned Mr. McCormic's barn, besides the damage done his crops and fences.

Mr. George W. Borland's barn was torn to pieces and almost covered up several horses which were in it at the time. The horses had to be cut out. They were badly bruised and cut up, but all alive. The injury to his crop was great.

Samuel Smith's house was moved several feet off its foundation, the kitchen being completely demolished; furniture mashed up and ruined.

Mr. J. V. Snodgrass was out in the yard at the time and got struck by a falling plank and knocked known. His kitchen was blown from its foundation and overturned.

It tore the roof from Mr. John T. Peck's barn, overturned his kitchen and tore large apple trees from the ground.

The value of the property destroyed for the above named gentlemen can not be estimated with any correctness. These gentlemen all live near Johnstown, and the damage they sustained was caused by the wind, as there was little or no hail fell there.

Another account of the tornado is given in the Bates County Republican, of July 12, 1882, which speaks more fully of the damage done in the country:

"Tuesday, July 8, 1882, was a hot day, and during the afternoon the atmosphere became sultry, and a dead calm prevailed. Towards evening a bank of dull leaden clouds came slowly creeping up from the western horizon, extending northward, pile on pile, like distant snow capped mountains. About five o'clock, the sun sank behind the clouds and the atmosphere was tinged with a strange light. Sounds could be heard at a great distance, the stroke of an axe, the bark of a dog and the rumble of a wagon, seemed to echo and re-echo in wild waves of sound. Later came a sudden puff of wind, like the concussion caused by the discharge of artillery, then came a lull, followed by another puff, and then a dead calm, which continued half an hour. At a quarter after six o'clock the sky was completely overcast and a strange twilight settled down upon the earth. People became alarmed and stood in the streets and in the yards of their dwellings, anxiously watching the heavy bank of yellowish leaden clouds, moving upon a surface of silvery light, and rolling like the waves of the ocean in a storm. At twenty-five minutes past six there came a sudden gust of wind of considerable violence which continued to increase, and five minutes later a violent gale was sweeping over the country. At first it seemed to be a straight wind traveling with great velocity, but later it took a whirling surging motion, accompanied by a frightful roaring sound. Clouds of dust drifted along and were whirled high in the air, and then came dashes of rain, accompanied by a vivid flash of lightning. The force of the wind was terrible and increased in violence until the trees in the city were bent to the ground and branches twisted off and sent whirling through the air. The storm continued an hour, during which there were three blasts of wind of terrific violence, which made the buildings totter on their foundations, and threatened to demolish the town. At half past seven o'clock the wind suddenly ceased, but rain continued to fall until near midnight.

The damage done to the city was but slight and scarcely worthy of mention, but in the country about five miles north immense damage was done to the growing crops. The storm passed over this county from northwest to southeast, entering at West Point, on the extreme border, and passing out at Johnstown, in the vicinity of Montrose, on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway. The track of the tornado is something awful to behold; houses are in ruins, fences swept away, crops leveled and destroyed, and in many places even the grass was torn from the ground as clean as it could have been clipped with a mowing machine, and rolled up into great masses and banked against whatever obstructions the wind failed to sweep away. The width of the storm was about eight miles, but the damage to property was confined to a width of about two miles. The center of this strip seems to have been the focus of the tornado, and its track may be traced as distinctly as a furrow across an unplowed field.

The tornado entered Missouri from Kansas at West Point, in West Point Township. In that locality but comparatively little damage was done, but further east the Southern Methodist Church, two miles south of Burdett, was broken into kindling wood, and a residence a short distance north was rendered a total wreck. East of West Point, the farm of Mr. A. H. Flint was swept by the storm and the crops totally destroyed. His loss was very heavy. From that point, the course of the storm changed about twenty degrees to the south, and the devastation was continued until near Vinton, when the wind current seemed to rise and skip a portion of country, striking the earth again with great violence at the farm of Thomas Webb, three miles southwest of Adrian. The crops on this farm were completely destroyed, and great damage done to fences. F. R. Weaver, one and one-half miles south of Webb's was greatly damaged, his crops being totally destroyed, and his fences wrecked. Adjoining the farm of Mr. Weaver, on the southeast, Mr. Charles Conkling's place was devastated, his crops being totally ruined. On the mound, about half a mile west of Webb's, the residence of Mr. Hackler was wrecked, but fortunately the family were not at home. Adjoining Conkling on the northeast, the farm of Mr. Thomas Davis was swept clean, the growing crops being thrashed into ribbons. In that neighborhood, the farms of Holt, Wolf, Florence, Wilson and A. H. and S. M. Jenkins were swept by the tornado and the crops entirely destroyed, and the residence of Mr. Wolf was blown to pieces. The family were in the house, and none of them were injured, but a stranger who had asked to stay over night was quite seriously hurt. The barn on the McCoy farm, one-half mile north of Wolf's, was unroofed and wrecked. This was one of the strongest frame buildings in the county. East of W. N. Wilson's, one mile, the farm of George Allspaugh was devastated. Mr. Allspaugh was in his wagon, in the lane near Mr. Wilson's home, and when the storm overtook him his team became frightened, and, attempting to turn around, were caught by the wind and thrown violently against a barbed wire fence. Mr. Allspaugh was badly cut by the wire, and the team was also terribly lacerated. South of Allspaugh is the farm of Miles Burnes, and south of Burnes is the James Robinson place, and adjoining Robinson on the south is the Etzler homestead. The crops on these farms were totally destroyed and other serious losses sustained. From that point the storm turned southeastward, devastating the farms of T. T. Wemott, Charles Etzler, Green Walton and A. Stuckey, after which it seemed to have spent its force, and raised, leaving the earth. Descending again further east, it passed down South Deepwater, doing great damage to buildings and crops, and passed out of the county north of Appleton City. This is the severest storm that has ever visited Bates County, and the damage is simply incalculable.

As tornadoes would be robbed of much of their terror if people were generally better informed in regard to them, we give a concise statement of the laws governing their movements. Both tornadoes and cyclones find their origin in the cosmical conditions of the globe, but are modified by secondary causes. A tornado is a storm on the land, which has three movements, a linear, circulatory and vibrating or swaying movement. A cyclone is a similar storm on the ocean, originating in the torrid zone, and has a linear and circulatory movement, and passes on a parabolic curve, probably caused by the trade winds. A tornado will average from a few rods to a half mile in width, and expend its force and run its course in a brief period of time, often doing its damage in a few minutes, and seldom exceeding an hour. A cyclone will average from a few miles to five hundred miles in width, and pass from the neighborhood of the West Indies northwesterly, near the east Atlantic coast, and bending eastward in its course, sweep on for several days, sometimes over a path three thousand miles in length. The laws and movements of cyclones have been thoroughly studied, and directions are now given by enlightened countries so that ships avoid them.

Tornadoes are not exceptional in their nature, and when thoroughly understood, will be rendered comparatively harmless. Tornadoes, when not deflected by surface currents from their course, move eastward by about twenty degrees north -- a fact to be remembered by every one who values his life.

In northern latitudes tornadoes revolve in a direction contrary to the hands of a watch, in southern latitudes in the opposite direction. The swaying or vibratory movement is due to obstacles in the path, like hills and forests, which oppose and deflect the storm north of the equator. Currents from the north rushing in toward a center, passing over parallels of latitude constantly increasing in diameter, fall behind and pour into the revolving storm west of the center. Currents from the south for a similar reason, pour into the storm east of the center. These two forces cause the whirl or circulatory movement. The linear movement is probably caused by the tornado being constantly fed by the northwest current from the regions of the upper air flowing downward into the tornado. Now, if tornadoes move east by about twenty degrees north, one can escape when they approach, by running north or south as the case may be. Some persons not knowing this fact have run directly into the tornado and been killed. It is well also, to remember, tornadoes occur late in the afternoon, when the atmosphere is sultry, and in this latitude on the last few days of May, or the first few days of June, being drawn backward or forward, as the season is early or late, and that they are increased in intensity proportionally as the season is dry. Tornado caves are a safeguard in prairie countries. The only effectual remedy for tornadoes is found in planting forests, which drive these terrible storms into the upper air. Tornadoes seldom do much damage in forest states or countries.

Bates County Missouri MOGenWeb