Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1869-01-01

BY ). n. DIXON, IN IOWA TEMPERANCE STAN
DARD.

BY ). II. DIXON, IN IOWA TEMPERANCE STAN
DARD.
The idea prevails almost universally in
many sections Of the United States, that the
climate Of Iowa is inclined te be severe, up
to the point of mercilessness, during those
months which include winter, and portions
of Spring and Autumn. 1t is confidently
asserted by poople who never saw prairie
in their lives, that stingingly cold weather
continues through six months of the year, in
Iowa; that the breezes OF the northwest,
which sweep unobstructedly through vaat
regions, from the base Of the Rocky Moun>
tains, are relentless in their severity; that
the cattle on q thousand hills, either die, or
are in imminent danger, from exposure and
starvation; that travellers, passing through
the State, are threatened with the horrors Of
transmutation into icicles, aud that the cases
are frequent, as well as frightful, wherein
persons have incurred the expense and en-.
dtred the chilly annoyance Of freezing to
death in their beds, out in the new settle>
ments where too little attention Is always
paid to the convenience and comfort of up-
raised habitations. A residence of more
than dozen years in this State gives US
right to speak with some authority on this
question, which this article proposes to dis
cuss, with reference to some of its varied re-
lations. We are governed by none Of these
sublime feelings which animate the breast
Of "land shark" - be looks around for
victims to his lust of speculation, or to his
irrepressible rapacity. That good old Meth
odist preacher who sang those lines of un>
affected pathos. commencing with,
mo foot Of land do I possess-
No cottage in this wilderness,
Apoor wayfaring man Of grief"
has successful iaitator in ourself, go far,
At least, as any property sense is understood
or appreciated. We take no pride in our
poverty, as our Methodist friend was wont
10 do, but merely refer to it, to show that
this article does not result from a grasping
desire 10 mislcsd the public, aud thereby Sc.
cure the sale of farms ia new settlement,
or corner lots in . paper city.
During the term OF years thus far allotted
to ~ in the world, We have become greatly
familiar with the Latitude Of southern Ohio,
and the latitude, also, of central Iowa. We
know that scientific authority places Cincin>
natl considerably south of Des Moines; bnt
in face OF this showing, we feel it our duty
to make the assertion here, aud now, that
the climate Of Iowa, all things considered,
possesses more elements OF usefulness ard
attractiveness, than the climate Of southern
Ohio. 1t is granted that there are days in
the winters Of the west which are terribly
cold but there are days in the winters Of
Ohio which are severe enough to give all
landscapes in that part of the world an ap-
pearance Of desolaiion, such as that which
is usually worn in high northern latitudes.
We remember that one Of our neighbors, in |
Greenfield, Ohio, was widow lady, whose |
husband had perished from cold . few
miles from his home, while he
was lost in the night among the entan>
clements Of win,ry forest. And while this
incident comes down to as from . former |
ture, occurring in the same part Of the coun>
try, are vividly remembered. The mercury
in the Thermometer grayitates toward zero,
and falls below that point Of polar frigidty, |
in Cincinnati as well as Des Moines. In |
the former city, not more than fifteen months |
ago; we suffered more from cold, while we
we're IN inmate of superb private hospital,
than We have suffered between the two great |
rivers Of Iowa. True, blindness, sickness,
depletion and despondeucy had reduced our
system to such an extent, that resistance to
the cold was almost out Of the question;
but these causes, which had overthrown our 4
constitution, and had compelled Us to recoil
from every foreshening breeze which was
permitted to assail -, exercised their full |
measure Of influence, before the departure
from Des Moines. We mean to say, that
with the same causes operating to reduce
our vitality in both places, We are constrain.
ed to Say that Cincinnati j. associated, in
our mind, with certain remembrances Of dis
mally cold weather, which are more
gloomy, more frosty, and more like Siberia,
thau we had ever experienced in any other |
part Of the planet. II We DO not design to |
assert that Cincinnati il more like Green,
land thanthe capital Of Iowa, NE intend, At /
least. to affirm that there u not 20 much |
difference n some fond people imagine,
whose marrow souls have no partiali,ies for |
the west.
Il should be remembered that the older |
States, including Ohio Penusylvapia aud |
New York, are yearly becoming colder, in
consequence Of the progressive destruction |
of vast forests which once opposed Q resis>
tance, like that Of high and continuous
wall, against the aggressions Of frresing |
tempests. Year after year, the surface Of |
those States is becoming more and more de- |
nudcd Of trees and the wind fisding but
few distractions in its course, insinuales it,
ct localities into the appearance and seri-
ties of wintry desolation. While such 10 the |
case Iowa Is acquiring . more and moro de- |
sirAble temperature ~ the years sdvance.