The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1868-12-24
THE TRIBUNE.


from the Springfield (Mass.) Republican,
II Is curious fact, which the natural
Philosophers have not undertaken to ex.
plain, that the east wind, all over the
world, is the most disagreeable of winds
Everywhere it extracts the vital force,
s<-exAspeFates the nerves, and gives human
Creatures the blues" We attribute its
stTange chiuiness here to its passage over
long sweep Of ocean before it reaches
but 1t has the same effect in England,
where It comes from the continent, and
the hydrometer proves it to be the dryest
*fud experie on the island. Neither
y its power to chill and depress the vital
> fnnctions TO be attributed to its tempera-
ture, for the west and northwest winds
are gene. ally colder, but produce the OPP
posite effect upon the body, quickening
the circulation, raising the animal spirits,
.snd kindling an internal warmth that
resists successfully the atmospheric cold
aud promotes a pleasurable & low and ex-
citement.
-; If it Is neither its GOODNESS nor its mois-
ture that makes the east wind the most
. dreaded and cxecrated of ali winds, what
is it? Job expresses hearty dislike of
thee east wind and declares it the last
thing with which a wise man would be
willing to fill his belly And yet it was
the hottest and dryest wind known to
him 50 hot and dry that Moses represents
it as blasting the growing corn. Isaiah
describes it as rough wind. and with
nearly all the Old Testament writer's it is
fayorite symbol for whatever is disa~
greeable and destructive. John Jarn-
game liue of thought in ascribing to the
east wind every feeling of irritation and
ANNOYANCE. Men who exuit In rude,
bovine health, whose internal fires are at
red heat, and send the blood tingling to
their fingers ends, may not take much
notice of the east wind, nor perceive in it
any peculiar quality of discomfort. But
those whose animal heat is low and varble
find in it source of positive suffering.
Many man and woman, amlable enough
by nature, knows it to be the hardest
thing in the world to seem even formally
polite when the wind is east, and their
milk of human kindness grows thin and
sour under its malign influence.
The universal recognition of this I'M
pleasant quality of the east wind has re-
naarkable illustrations in all the chief
cities of the world, ancient and modern.
The West End is now the pleasant and
fashionable quarter of London, Paris,
Vienna, Berlin and other cities, as it was
formerly of Pompeii and the ancient
cities; and manifestly In nearly every
case the chief reason for this preference
is the desire to find shelter from the dew
WALKING east winds and to seek the full
benefit Of those from the opposite quar-
ter Indeed, is not the face that west
ward the star of empire takes its way
60 be explained by the instructive desire
of the race to escape the east wind ?
THUS far we run against the wind, but
as yet we obtain no clue to the cause of
the disagreeabie effects produced every
yhere by the air moving westward. If
aaeltheT excessive moisture nor cold ness
gives to it its devitalizing quality, where
then lies the secret2 Electricity is a con
yenient thing to fall back upon, when we |
can account for phenomena by no other |
cause We know so little of it, and yet
1t SO manifestly is one of the chief and
most persuading of natural forces, that
we readily ascribe to it what We cannot |
otherwise expisin- And if it may stand |
godfather to Planchette and the spiritual
syrappings. why not to the east wind?
At all events, it is perfectly safe sug
gestion. In the present state ct human
knowledge that the east wind dlSturbS
the electrical currents Of the atmosphere,
and thus reverscs or neutraliZeS the vital
electricity, something as a sudden inter
ference with these currents during an
unusual display of aurora borealis will
reverse the poles AMI destroy the power
of u battery. Meteorologlsts say that
the atmosphere over the great central
plains of the continents is highly charged
with positive electricity May not this
account for the vitalizing and exhilerating
influence Of the air in those regions, in
part, at least? And if the east winl
throws the atmosphere into a negative
electrical state, this would seem to account
for an influence upon the human system
opposite to that of the positive electricity
of the plains. 1t is at least conceivable
that wind moving in an opposite direc
ton to the revolution of the earth should
cause different electrical results from one
moving with it.
When the Swans shall have taken up
our suggestion aud proved that the IN
pleasant popularity of the east wind Is
owing to its contrary electrical condi-
tion, we shall be ready to advance anoth
er step and propose the erection of asyl-
ums for those who suffer from it-houses
OF refugee for east windows. Surely
science can be at no loss for remedy
after the root Of the difficulty is found.