THE HESPERIAN.
and rain. The rotary motion causes a rarefaction of air which, mc to be a reader, while he who has rend only under com-
pulsion will cease as soon as that compulsion is removed. If
so much may be said of the ability to read, an equal amount
might be said concerning style in writing or ability in speak
ing and writing. The ability to clothe the thoughts in apt
phrase is no small part of an education. As there exist un
written constitutions, so there are also unwritten curriculums.
n the center of the storm being increased by the condensa
ion of moisture, sometimes becomes almost a vacuum. The
pressure from above then begins and pushes the center of the
cloud downward, thus causing the funnel shaped cloud which
is an invariable attendant of the tornado.
On the outside of these storms the air is almost always
comparatively calm and, in case of the larger storms, which
are properly called cyclones, the wind generally blows away
rom the storm center as well as towards it, owing to the in
creased density of air caused by the outpouring of warmer air
at the top of the chimney of heated air, if we may again use
the illustration of the stove
, The Professor then related some of the terrible effetts of
, these storms. A very common thing is for the roof of ahnild
ing to be destroyed or some part, as the side, forced out, caused
by the expansive pressure of the air inside. Sometimes build
ings in the direct path of the storm arc almost uninjured and
in one case the roof was lifted from a house and a cow stand
ing in the yard near by was lifted unhurt into the house. In
a tornado which created great destruction near Rock Island
in 1844 not only were the fences demolished, but the rails
themselves were broken to pieces. Wagon wheels were torn
from wagons and the spokes drawn bodily from the hub. A
large log which some workmen had tried in vain to split was,
by the storm split into four pieces. In another case not only
were trees torn up, but small pieces of wood were driven into
them. These terrible illustrations were not, the Professor
thought, from electricity as is so often claimed, but from the
violent movement of the air. Air moving 100 miles per hour
exerts a pressure of fifty pounds per square foot. If the vel
ocity is increased to 300 miles per hour the pressure becomes
nine times as great as before, and the rotary motion of the tor
nado is computed to be fnlly 300 miles per hour.
In concluding it was remarked that observations taken
showed Nebraska to be comparatively free from these terrible
visitations
A contemporary regrets that some great authors have failed
to "put themselves into their works." In a certain sense the
objection may be well taken, for too many in their imitations
of others or from a false idea of what is proper and desirable
fail to write naturally; but when one undertakes to lament
that Shakespeare did not stamp his individuality on his works
he assumes more than most readers will admit. It is spoken
ol as the crowning glory of Shakespeare that he was able to
so thoroughly sympathize with and enter into other men's
thought. It is this which made him a great depictor of char
acter and we could not wish him otherwise. No man with
a nature of the strongly, narrowly intense stamp could have
been a Shakespeare.
Certain things not mentioned in the college curriculum
should be cultivated and studied as assiduously by every stu
dent as though they were compelled to take them as regular
studies. These are reading, writing and speaking well. Cer
tainly they are the indirect objects of much college work, but
too many fail to perceive their value and pass through one,
two, or three years of school life without any special effort to
attain excellence in them. It should be urged, and urged
again upon every student that in nothing can he err more than
in thinking it unnecessary to cultivat a proficiency in these
three things. It is a fundamental principle of advanced teach,
ing that the ability to procure is more valuable than possession
itself. He who can read rapidly and intelligently need not
jpng be poorly read, nor will he. And such a. one will never
John Ruskin is great, but like some others equally great
js terribly egotistic. This is illustrated in his criticisms on
some seven authors.whosc works he threw out of a list pre
sented to him for inspection. Of Grotc's History of Greece
he says "There is probably no commercial establishment be
tween Charing Cross and the bank, whose head clerk could
not write a better one, if he had the vanity to waste his time
on it;" of Charles Kingslcy, "His sentiment is false and his
tragedy frightful. The story of 'Hypatia' is the most ghastly
in christian tradition, and should forever have been left in si
lence." Darwin he rejects because it is every man's duty to
know what he is, and not to think of the embryo he was, nor
the skeleton he shall be. Rccause, also, Darwin has a mortal
fascination for all vainly curious and idly speculative persons,
and has collected, in the train of him, every impudent imbe
cility in Europe, like a dim comet wagging its useless tail of
phosphorescent nothing across the steadfast stars." Gibbon
he rejects because "none but the malignant study the Decline
and Fall of cither state or organism. Dissolution and pu
trescence arc alike common and unclean in all things. For
the rest, Gibbon's is the worst English that was ever written
by an educated Englishman." Voltaire's work "is, in com
parison with good literature, what nitric acid is to wine, and
sulphuretted hydrogen is to air." Seldom have we seen a
criticism more evidently arising from prejudice or expressed
with less regard to the good that might be said. It may do
for Mr. Ruskin to criticise so unguardedly and swecpingly be
cause Mr. Ruskin is a man who is, in some measure, great,
but if one of less renown had undertaken to write such opin
ions he would have been a laughing stock. There is a fresh
personality about Ruskin's criticsm, yet we think it only just
to concede something to the value of the opinions of others,
and this he does not do.
Our friend from Suspension Bridge appears concerned be
cause the Cornell Sun has clipped from a western exchange
something that reflects on the Jesuits. The Index devotes
something over two columns to quotation, personal allusion
and an attempt at consideration of the charges made. The
Hesperian did not sec the article in question for the simple
reason that, knowing such topics to be generally treated from
a standpoint of religious prejudice rather than from any desire
to reach the truth, we pay them small attention. The Index
scarcely meets the charges fairly or successfully. It uses
words from a partizan standpoint and evidently with a partizan
meaning. The western journal before mentioned charged
that in a certain Catholic college in California no book on
philosophy other than Tongcorgi was allowed within the walls
and that the students were forbidden to read anything not
sanctioned by the church. The Index dees not presume to
deny the statements, but rather seeks to justify such a course.
It remarks that, in philosophical studies, the course above
mentioned is the surest step to success. Rut what is success in
philosophical study? We grant that one may reach a precon
ceived conclusion much more certainly by reading only those
books which are in harmony with that conclusion; but, unless
we can be infallibly assured that the preconceived conclusion
is foe whole truth and nothing but tjie truth, such, a course
