New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-12-17

Sne can not aing who aung 1t then.
For light and lie aaa love have gone.
~ hops had gone bcfSEa. TO
s. Oh, could hear the littls song -
s-. heard long yesrs ego, -. g..rs... ~
And he a. her sing as once abe sang . -
In accents pure and low,
1t % ems 70 No no sweeter joy
7 a weary heart could know.
Can We Cssrsl tho Weather.
The old fstalistie notions that prevail
everywhere in the Infancy of civilizations
gradually give place to the conviction of
human responsibility - the mind in ito de-
vslopment advances from simplicity to com
p:exity. Tho Asvage. through his ignorance
Ct natural laws, 10 everywhere at the mercy
or the elements. N..ure seems inim;cal to
bis peace and happiness. He is scorched by
tn. summers heat and chilled BY the win
rer's cold; he cutters from hunger, wild
beasts devour him, the simplest maladies
are beyond bis control, and few miles Of
migrations. The history of the development
of man from the savage to the civilized stste
ia the history Of the Development Of ne,,
functions or powers, and the sense 81 per
sonsl responsibility increases in q. direct
ratio Herewith. F",,- -. telt iitsi~
OF no self. .spro.ch , when the %s 1oune and
It-.'rcus wcre stricken down by disease.
when death invariably followed ! severed
artery, when pestiler. ce ragged, when fam
mes oecimaeed Ger Imunities; even great
corn agfations AM bloody wars were con-
eidered the Ver'k of angry or capricions
oe!tiee, agesas' whom man might not pre-
vail except " rare instances, through long
supPl,catio As to excite their pity, or through
eacrincee. to sppease their wrath. The ten
dency Of the cultivated intelligence IL ever
NOR and more to find tho causes of warn,
N.mines. pestilences, poverty, crime, intern
peranoe and oil evils rather in our own IT,
n0rance of natural laws than In the anger
or caprice Of diyinities. Lord Palmerston
is said to have replied to the commission
from Glasgow, who prayed for the appoint
ment Of day Of. fssting and prayer to
avert the spread of the cholera: "Gentle-
men, the whitewash brush has been found
moro effective"
Il it possible that map, whose genius has
filed the world with comforts and Injuries
through laborsaving machinery, tanned the
strongest animals, and made them do his
bidding, chained the giant steam. and com.
PEELED it to carry hts railway trains and
ships over al the eartb, and even made the
lightning his Obedient meseenger-is II DOS.
sible that hD must forever continue to see
see his fair 6elds. bis promiselsden haveste,
biighted BY drouths and floods, by armies
of devouring insecte, and BY. untimely
frostsl 1t must be that he 10 destined to
grappled and conquered others; and in the
establishment of weather bureaus in this
and other countries grand step has been
made toward the conditions tor the solution.
We shall by snd by possess an uninterrupt-
ed line of Geographic communication
around the globe, and then the philosophy
of the tides and the rise And progress Of
storms can be studied Is never before.
We know how persistent ID the belief
among the people that the weather may be
foretold. Sseinne.s in his admirable work,
Sunshine aud Showers" says that "to
doubt that q science Of the weather is pos
sible is to doubt that atmospheric disturb.
ances are governed by fixed laws" and he
has so far mastered the science that he ad-
vOcates the use of the hygrometer, if for NO
other motive, to avoid the wear and tear of
umbrellas by carrying them when not
needed. He relies upon this instrument, in
connection with the evaporation gauge, for
his predictions; and he says that eince using
them he has never been caught in showers
without An umbrella, nor been inconven.
fenced by carrying ono when not needed.
This is important, for, aside from its moon
venience, an umbrella costs more than
the ordinary hygrometer, which con-
sists' only OF two common thermome
tors hung side by side, one hav-
ing its bulb encssed in piece
Of thin muslin which ends in . cup Of water.
When the air lie dry tho evaporation from
the muslin will be rapid. This viii cool the
and condense It. When the atmos-
phsre 10 absolutely saturated with moist
case sometimes occurs-tho two
will mark the same degree of
When the air il very dry the
difference will be considerable; and ct any
time the difference, doubled and subtracted
from the lower degree. will approximately
show the dew point. When this difference
u beyond nve degrees there u very little
of rain, however cloudy the nv
may be; but when the difference 10 less. and
specially if there should be but the eight
vt fall Of tho mercury in the dry bulb
thermometer, heavy sh0 y ers are imminent.
Often IN dry weather our rain-bearine
,lcuds remain for hours lust on the point Of |
condensation. A slight fall Of Temperature
9 needed to effect THE. In Russia, during /
he cold Of winter, il . window in crowd. |
I'd ball room be suddenly opened, the com |
AMY arc surprised BY rail Of snow in the
oem, covering them with flakes just az
hough they were out Of doors. Toe cause is
he sudden condensation and freezing Of the
'spor In the room by the influx of cold air.
q simmer the suns rays and the heat
adiated from the arid earth tend to ex-
and the vapOr in the atmosphere and
revent its condensation and fall in the
orm OF rain, until some cause intervenes to
over the temperature. On low and rather
arren sols. like those of southern New
ersey, rain bearing clsuds often daily pass
icted fields, and then disappear without Q
rop of rain. In fact, every one is impress
ID with the thought that it tries to rain
nd can not-thst the parching earth calls
ne moisture from the heavens, but has not
he power to command its fall. The soil in
hose regions has been robbed of its trees
great extent to support glass manufac.
'ries, which formerly migrated from plsce
place after exhausting the forests in fuel.
es more than to others, and natures con-
nctors are 1.-The points Of the leaves of ell
egetation, especially trees." - ..
Forests not only serve ~ CONDUCTOR of
'mosphsric vapors, but through the rani-
,atiOns OF their roots and their layers Of |
Hen leaves they hold a2d absorb heavy
inns and prevent lnundati0ns, besides |
'eaking the force of destructive winds and
lualizing the Temperature. No regions
o 90 arid - those denuded of trees. The |
nous land of Canaan, which the Bible
fes g the most fertile in the worlds
and flowing with milk and honsy"-is
w deprived of both water and vegeta-
IN through the destruction of the forests. ,,
emmett and other writer's upon the snb-
ct show the effect of destroying forests.
It only in their immediate vicinity, but in
ighbOring countries-for example, that !
the clearance of forests in France upon
Q rainfall in Englsnd-but the subject is
. broad to be treated here. Ia
Meteorologlsts, agrioulturists and roliti-
economists are now extensively and az. | G