The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-11-19
LATE WEAruEn ANOMALIES i

1 :
tho country mas been passing Tor some
months constitutes memorable mete-
geological cycle, of which the New
York Herald thinks we have not aeen
the end. Since the early part OF July
nearly every section has been visited
by thermal extremes and excessive
droughts, which have fingered into the
present month and bid fair to leave
their impress on the approaching win
ter. That the great oontinnnt. uudor.
go cyclioal changes of climate by no
means iuuppreciable. liz matter of
historic record too fnmiliur to be- ig-
nored. In modern times, as in 1857
aud 1853. these non. periodic viciss,.
tudes have been sensibly fet. Iu the
year just named til. rain!.ss season
was so mnrkcd in Central Europe that
the Seine. in Paris, shrunk to mere
shadow Of its usual self, nud portions
of the bed of tho Rhine, never before.
dried up. wore left uncovered. Strange
to say, simultaneously. however. the
level of Lake Ontario was two feet
higher than its mean level AS deter
mined by fonrteeu years observations.
In the few years preceding 1910. the
rainfall waa 80 large in Pennsylvania
that nn American geologist showed
thnt, Gnd tho satnn extended to thu
lake gion. Tue inland waters. in the
nbschce Of Dew outlets. would have
risen twenty-lire feet Adore their nor
NAL height. The extraordinary dry
neas OF tho summer and autumn nf
1914 on thi3 continent has had It's
compensation apparently IN the udnur-
mai rainfall of an opposite continent
~ the same hemisphere. While the
Ohio and Mississippi have been slug-
glshIy .coursing their bail cmptied
channcss, the Nile has bacn pouring
Its torrohtini routing floods over the
inundated plains OF Egypt II, it has
hardly bccu known to do from time
'mmcmorial. Early in July last the
grent African River began to rise
rapidly (At tho very time our Amcri-
can rivers began to fdl) and continued
so to DO till 1t reached. on tho 1lih OF
September. the almost unprecedented
height Of twenty nine teet mt AlexAn-
dria. 1t continued at this point till
the 7th OF October. when an increase
of three feet woald have put all the
Dsitu of Egypt under the rushing vel
low tide. Still farther East the hcav,
ruins i'll India, the autumnml cyclones
IN tho Bay of Dongaf and the terrible
| typaoona which recently swept over
Nuensaki and Hong Kong, evidence
conditlobs of excessive humidity on
the opposite side of the Northern he
misphere, balancing the excessive
arldity prevailing in the United States
Such physical changes appear uno.
malous enough, especially whom we
| contrast those which caused the Beupal
| famine in 1873, and the floods in 1874
Arc theyidne to regular cycllcal causes,
recurring III supra-annual periods? So
1t would seen; aud it also seems likely
that these extraordinary phenomena
travel slowly around the globe, some
what as the ordinary storm does. The
attempt has been made to trace hot
aud cold years to the variations OF sun
spot frequency, mud eminent scientists
| have contended that the sun-spot pe-
RODS are followed by corresponding
climatic changes on the earth. Bot.
however this may be. the abnormal
| seasons we have experienced are di
| rectly traceable to the variations of at
moDpuerio pressure un tho earth.
Thus, according to known laws of the
atmosphere, the abnormal prevalence
of hot Southerly winds on any CONT.
nent North of the equator. proves that
| there has been an ,erial depression of
long standing in the ocean West of it;
and similar excess of cold Northerly
winds argues an excess Of pressure. II
these long'standing high and low pres
sures move from West to East, in the
| middle lstitudes, as the transient cy-
clones and anti-cyolones are known to
do. we have an easy and obvious ex-
planation of the contrasts of weather
on opposing sides Of tho Northern
hemisphere in the same year. With.
| ont dwelling on the theoretical aspects
Of these weather anomalies, it is evi-
dent the present year must close with
great deficiency of moisture in the
soil of the United States East of the
Rocky Mountains. The winter and
spring rains of 1875 may restore the
water OF which the rocks md springs
have been exhausted by the summer
and autumn droughts and thus pre-
pare the ground for agriculture. But
IN the meantime the water courses
must be soantiIy filed. tho wells low
and the subterraneAn fountains but
half replenished. In q word, the con-
tinent is now in tho condition of
thoroughly drained field. The effect
OF suoh dryness, however, will be to
check tho chilling evaporation of the
soil. and thus, in somo measure, to
| IL.