New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-12
a Norther-W where 1t Comes From and Wha
1t Is Like.


A letter written in Texas gives the following
account of the peculiar windst0rm of that region,
known as a nOrther ~
There is no country free frum disadvantages
The norther is one of the serious disadvsntages
of Texas This wind is a kind Of STORM prevailing
in Texas from November till the middle Of April,
inst as the monsoon blows six months in the East
Indies. But it IL not continuous wind. Its aver
age duration is two or three days, sometimes going
down in twenty four hours. II Is usually preceded
q few hours by the lulling of the south wind a
heavy, oppressive sultry state Of the atmosphere,
and focks of wild geese usually flying to the south
ward.
After the appearance of these premonitory
symptoms, you look to the northward discover
gray mist shrouding the prairies perceive strong
sulphurous scent, or an odor like the burning Of
pine straw, while your attention is likewise di-
rected to low, murmuring sound, like the roar
ing of an adjacent sea. You next see the post;
oak branches and their attached moss in motion
sudden gust, cold as ice; hurrying on Of over
coats and blankets; few shiverings, and the
Texas norther is on you like panther. The rate
Of the wind is about fifteen miles an honT its tenn
perature usually about seventeen degrees Fahren-
heit and it is occasionally accompanied by rain.
Such is the GOODNESS of the norther and the sud-
denness ofits arrival, that the mercury very often
goes down from Is or 80 degrees to the winds own
| temperature. During its continuance both men
and animals show q remarkable degree of thirst,
and there is tingling sensation of the skin facts
probably owing to the irritation of Ozone, to
which the peculiar scent characteristic of the COM
| ing up of norther is probably also due the
Ozone itself very likely arising from the contact of
| the highly-eectrihed wind with the moisture of
the surrounding AERIAL medium. The norther is a
very dry wind, SO dry that it drinks up all the
moisture in its path, extracting it from
plants, the ground, the air. While
outdoor work is suspended. The wind is so in
tensely keen and intensely cold, that exposure to
it for any length of time might subject you to Sc
rious disease, and often does. The inhabitant of
y tp hia
| pipe, his pleasant reVeries; the wagner TO his
camp; the soldier to his tent; the cattle aud
horses, sheep and goats to the south side Of the
clumps of post oaks-thus sagacously interposinp
trees and woods as wall between them and the
icy Northern blasts so fierceiy rushing down npon
them. Having continued two days, the norther
generally goes down in the evening gently as a
| sucking dove" :" or an infant falling to seep The
wind then drifts around to the east and is before
| morning, generally in the south.
The causes Of these storms, SO fatal to what
might otherwise be the splendid climate of Texas,
have received some attention from The scientific.
Prof. Forshey's theory is as follows cataract
of air occurs over the Rocky Mountains to equalize
the exalted temperature of the atmosphere over
banging the great plains to the westward as we'll
as the Mexican Gnlf. This atmospheric current
flows over the Rocky Mountains from the West, as
Niagara rolls over its rocky precipioes and turns
down on the praries to the Gnli, Jqst as the Ealr
rushes down chimney to cool the ar OF your bed
room. Having reduced the atmospheric tempera-
ture of the plains the nOrther ceases. aud the up
per aerial current with which it is IDENTICAL p1r-
sues its ordinary course to the eastward, without
: breaking through the lower strata OF the atmos
!. phere. In proof of this Prof. Porshey adduces
! the fact, that the temperature Of the n0rther, as
i inst stated, seventeen degrees Fahr is the same
s as that of the upper atmospheric regions from
d which this singular storm is supposed to come
? The gray mist which always heralds the immedi-
ate approach of nOrther, is evidently the resnlt
of the condensation Of the air very often at eighty
degrees, parting with its caloric, which goes to
supply the norther. The northers are justly dis
2 agreeable, nor can you have any real idea Of one
J till you have experience it, Only for them, the
want of water and absence Of rain, Texas would
be paradise indeed. Yet they appear to have
their uses-I say it on the authority of Prof For
shay, that few if any cases of pulmonary cousuu.
t0n have been known to originate within the scope
of county embraced by the norther, which com
} prehends not only the whole Of Texas but part oi
Mexico hkewise-for have heard Of twenty day
northers prevailing at Vera Cruz.
-e---
In the midst of the indecent stuff which formi
the staple Of late letter from the South y to thu
New York Evening Post we find the following
about negro slave holders
The negro aid in answer to further inquiries
that there were many free negroes all about this
region; some were very rich. He pointed out to
me three plantations within twenty miles owned
by eolored men. These bought black folks, he
said, and had servants of their own. They were
, very bad to them-very hard and cruel-hadn't
any feeling for them.
. " You might tink, massa, dat dey would be good