The McArthur enquirer. (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1873-1884, 1873-03-05
SHOWING AND BLOWING.

c71E SNh "pN" 'A'S hAOi
alities of the season is yet t
be written. Our great Englisl
poem upon the subject, full az
it is Of exquisitely charming
pictures, is not very prof0unc
in it's philosophy. The delicate
grace of Cowper has illustrated
with a tender feeling which
makes US love him the success.
Esion ofthe seasons; but,th col,
or of his scenes, both out door
and ins is thoroughly English
Our sleculations upon the
weather. TO be worth much,
must be- climatically accurate.
Our good, old fashioned North
East snow storms, for instance,
are probably unlike those Of
|'any"dtpeN region9: They have
snowsm flsssia, and, now and
then, arespectable snow storm
in the regions visited by DR..
Cane; but the white veil there
does not fall upon the same
landscape, nor under the same
conditions. In Arctic coun-
tries the snow is expected ev-
cry winter with us a great fall
is.a constantly renewed novelty,
and, if it be very great, a fresh
astonishment. 1t is an mex
haustable subject of conversat'n.
1t is a remorSeless disturber of
human proposals. 1t prevents
undertakings; it hinders bust
ness; it suspends amusements;
it blocks up the thorougbfares;
it makes us prisoners in our
own houses; it premptorily
stops the railway trains; it is as
bad to walk as to ride; it tries
our tempers, it discourages our
energies, and it gives us the
rheumatism; it makes some of
us involuntary hermits at home,
and some Of us it cuts off from
home altogether; it is as hard
on horses, and renders the dai-
ly foraging Of the cheerful little
oparrOws difficult and unproduct
ive-in short, for a few days, i
utterly changes the current of
human affairs, or perhaps we
should say that it arrests it.al-
together. 1t brings waste and
loss. 1t waylays travellers by
land and by sea, sometimes
with a mortal pertinacity. It
NEEDLES with all our works and
ways. 1t is worse than hot
weather, because it impedes
movement. 1t Is more dOgged
than the hurricane and is as
insidious in its way as a simeon.
But it is the part of the wise
to extract comfort from every
thing, We had no trouble in
getting this from the snow
when we were small and supple
boys; when we fought pretty
serious battles with the damp,
hard balls; when we carved the
great white images; when we.
rushed down-hill faster even
than we have been rushing since;
when sleighing was nobIer in
our unsophisticated minds than
all the chariot-races sung by
Pindar; when we could skate,
and when we could slide, and
when overcoats, no matter how
low the mercury might be, were
to us u burdensome incumber-
ance, In some moods, we ask
ourselves, where are our
summers? Last week, if at all
reflective and old enough to be
seriously SO, we old and grow
ing-old people might have ask
ed ourselves, where are our
winters? AS we grow old, we
wax particular about the bar0m-
eter and the thermometer, the
warmth Of our flannel and the
thickness Of our boot-soles. We
stride, inditfercntly no longer,
splashing through thick and
thin, but pick our way over
the muddy crossings and the
CLASSY pavements. Our shoul-
derS may be still broad and
not very round, but we observe
in them just the faintest suspi-
cion of rheumatism. We be-
gin to know what winter means,
Fortunate are we il we es-
cape moral winter, and happy
are we, if come good hap or
evil we can still keep summer
in the heart. Whatever may
happen to the bodies of our