The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-03-30
{ E9 = HARo1!.5T 8 EF
Beecher on "The Month that Takes
DlsagTeeable Liberties"

(brom the helLedgerD q.
March Is here. 1t reaches out long
hands, which no one can escape, to greet
us. It rushes into our arms boisterously;
II takes the nost ttIbulent and disagree.
able liberties with eyes and ears 1t Iries
into every secret place, peeping through
cracks and singing through crevice with
yexatious violence and pert egotism, say
ing, In every possible tone, "Spring has
9rrived.p March, you, know, your Old
friend, March; ] am ihe.1 Howl sglad, 4 nm
ose6e you again Z Les me embrace You
and kiss you I Dear me, what are those
tears in your eyesP How rosy your
cheeks arel What do you bundle your.
selves up tor In so many clothesy Winter
is gone i am the first come Of the long
line OF months, etc, etc. .s
Now, March, be II said with all respect
TO the almanac, Is a nuisance 1t takes
on airs. Pretending 10 be q, friend, it has
ecold heart.s Thercis no generosity, but
. concealed malice in It's disposition. BY
fair speeches II tempts robins, and blue.
birds, and sparrows to the North, and
then, wlnking at the, sheriff wind, II
pounces down on them tall, and clutches
them with icy hands, ,,,..
What q week has this first week in
March beenl a friend in Florida writes
that the thermometer stood at 90 degrees;
while on Brooklyn Heights, on that verit.
able date, 1t was standing near to zero.
This is what March says to the North
and the South 1tisithe old trick of poll.
ticians- one thing for one, land another
thing for another section.
! am tired Of its,4 hate its harsh winds.
My nose grew red with indignation. My
hands are chapped; my skin 1t chilled. I
hear Of one and another down with pneu.
monia. Everybody Is coughing. We
can not keep the house warm. We pile
on coal, but the wind Is too fierce and
beats the furnace completely. The river
is blocked with Ice. The ferry boats
grind and crush the wsllowing masses, or
get stuck, and float helplessly away
down the harbor. Yet the sky is clear,
brilliantly magnificent. g High IN the Dir
fly the lordly gull. They love the cold;
they dip down ngracelully TO scoop up the
floating food which here and there swims
on the surface, when openings in the ice
give chance. But there are no cracks
in their feathers. The wind never
gets in. They Iced and then they
rise far up in the blue and sail
with sorstately flight that one might,
from their demeanoE5 take them to be ca.
gles, and not gulls.G y 4 love TO watch
them. They are the eminent birds Of
cold weather. When milder airs unlock
the north they thin out, and though some
doubtless remain and bread on near
shores, d the most Of them go toward the
north pole for domestic duties. They are
the true arctic explorets. Could we ride
on their soft backs a few hours, we could
tell all about the arctic open sea. Mighty
nations have, with all their engilery,
sought in vain 10 enter the secluded
north. These pllshy birds, with picnic
hilarity, will start of some evening, and
the next day plume their wings on the
dcsolate shore of-that polar ocean where
no human foot has trod, butwhich hun.
dred eager hearts are trying every year to
reach. insr- 1'f's fHS THeayh'i
Well, my temper growing more placid,
I will forgive March if it will play mes:
senger. for mo and run for April, TO tell
that welcome month that the earth waits
for It, that a thousand maiden flowers,
and imprisoned roots, and silent seeds lie
in the great Enchantress castle and sleep,
with hardly life, enough ior, q, dream, but
waiting for the sweet deliverer to set
them free: y ScYJlr- bH6 sIf!
At the touch othApril they all will
spring forth-the spell broken, the sorcery
at an end-the white, stern wizard winter
driven back, and lie and gladness, birds
and their singing all come back again!