Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1857-01-16
Philosophy of Cold Weather
An old adage hath it
"when days begin to lengthen'
Cold begins to strengthen.

This nroverb is founded on the fact that
our winters do not reach their extent Oh
cold until after the longest nights have
nassed and the days begin to receive
additional length. The shortest days
come IN December, but January and even
February average colder than Deem
her. How shall we account for this fact
It would seem that as the days begin to
shorten the cold should increase, but as
they receive additional length 1t should
decrease, the very opposite Of what we
know to be the fact. Why is it so:-
The answer is found on a slight investl-
CATION. Take particular period in the
autumn when the heat of the day Is
equally balanced by the cold of the night
Then the days are Of a particular length
This relative condition continues for
short time, the nights still increasing III
length. when cold obtains the ascendency
and gains upon the heat. The succeed
inr morning the temperature is reduced,
saw one degree below what 1t was the
preceding, or the night has caused one
dearee more of cold than the day has
warm back. Consequently the sun be-
gins his work with one degree Of disad-
vantage as compared with yesterday
it will be consequently unsuccessful to
that amount in coming up TO its degree
of warmth the succeeding night. And
the cold of the night will commence
when the sun goes down, not only with
its own increasing power but also with
the aid of one degree Of cold as capital.
The next morning there will be two de-
grees advantage over the sun; the sub
sequent morning three, and so on. The
cold Of the night aided by its previous
capital, goes on gaining continually.
There is an illustration in the life Of
man. A man earns one dollar more than
is required for his expenses. Then that
dollar if put at interest will work fol
him, and these gain others, so that now
his gains increase not only by the work
of his hands, but by the working Of his
capital, his money at interest, and he
finally is able to exceed his former eX-
penses, and still gain property rapidly by
the mere force and momentum gained by
his previous accommodations. So Will
Jack Frost. lie has overpowered the
sun in his long cold nights, and now witt
his own strength and the strength Of hi
capital, be goes on increasing and accu
mulating even after the sun has obtained
the advantage.
Cold creates cold. So that although
the days begin to lengthen, the advan.
tage previously gained by the night actu-
ally enables it to reverse the apparent
rule, and make the days colder though
they are longer, and give one the ides
that the increase of cold is produced by
lengthening Of the day, and thus seem Il
prove that the rays Of the sun are rattle
cold than warm.
Set a raj! car in motion; apply th
force of the engine TO propel it onward
then detach the engine, and the car vii
sill continue to move by its own momen
tum, and often il is impossible to stop tn
train although the power is not onl
Withdrawn, but reversed, and all til
breaks are applied.
So it is with the power Of Jack Frost
He has been strengthened by the length
ened nights; he has accumulated a mo
ton, force Of his ewn, SO that now al
though the principle is reversed, the day
encroach upon the nights and take som
minutes from their sway, yet he goes OF
and his speed is for time accelerated
He now operates upon lis capital, and b
does so until the length of the DAYS ha
shorn his locks of their former strength
until their length has given them consid
cradle advantage over the night. The
finally away along in March the accumu
lated degrees of cold are all absorbed
"o!d Sol' triumphs, and Jack shrink
back into his dark caves.
Then nearly the same process is pur
sued with the heat of summer. Tn
longest days occur in June, but heat oftel
increases until September. August
generally warmer than June, althoug
the length Of days is considerably dimin
ished. The heat of the day more tina
drives out the cold of the night, and thu
each succeeding day commences with a
advantage over the day before. Til
sun works, and the previous accumulate
OF heat works, so that their united effort,
like capital and labor, have gained sue
a Roadway by the twenty-irst of June
that they 60 on with even more force I'll
the night once more by lis manifest in
crease stops its advance, and after a sbor