The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1876-03-17

-sseIglss ass5ss
The Way Weather Prophet Deceived
his Trusting NeighhOrs.
The Toledo co., Blade tells. this
There are several people in this section
of the country who make rails and kill
hogs when the moon is 'ta-fullin' :" cut
weeds when it is a-wanin'; plant pota-
toes in the light OF the moon, because
they want them to come up, and build
fence at the same time, because they
want it to stay up; put on shingles in
the light of the moon, to- make them
stay down; who plant their sscowcum-s
bers'' before sunrise on the first OF
June, and sell their produce according
to the ember days. The apostle of
ton is an old grizzly bearded sage, iv-a
ing but few miles from the city, who
has the intellectual capacity of . Digger
Indian, united to q loud-lnouthed con-
| fdentness that carries conviction to his
disciples. -.t :
Last fall the old mar. studied up the
signs, felt The moss ON the trees, took
notice of the way pigeons were lighting
out for the South, peered in the muskS
rats holes, and then announce 1, with
the calm assurance Of an oracle, that
we were going to have a winter so cold
that we would think the Greenlanders'
had gotten hold of the isothermal line
and twisted it around, giving us their
lend of it. ~ y ~ ~ !
Eyes, sir,,'. said old AVeatherwise;
ssits a-goin' to be reglar old singer,
an no mistake. It'll set in cold airly,
about the fust quarter of the moon in
iEOctober, and keep on a-getting colder
until, jusrafore the moOn fulls insJanu-
airy, it'll be so tarnation cold that coal
oil win have to be sold BY the chunk
and you kin buy whisky by the plug"
And his hearers straightway departed
4 fromyhim, filled with the idea that q
new glacial period was at hand, They
heaped up their wood-piles until they
could not see over the tops thereof,
they raised small mountains over their
potato holes, they wasted their sub
stance in buying Ulster overcoats, and
the stock of whisky they laid in enabled
| a liquoradeale in this city. to make his
wife a present of seal-skin suit and a
diamond bracelet.
4 Thus fortified, they sat down and
waited, sneering at their less provident
neighbors, a good deal after the fashion
A that old Father Noah chuckled over the
way those fellows slipped who did not
prepare an ark of shittim wood at the
time of the extraordinary precipitation,
which lasted forty days and forty
nights.
| At first the weather started in very
brash, and they were delighted, Then
it softened up little and resolved it.
lself into sort of mild, subtropical
winter, which, as it spread itself out
over weeks, began to disgust them.
When Christmas dawned, fair. as a May
morning, they felt as if they should be
, heard, and the man who had built bic
/ ice-h house by the river, and invested all
his money in that and ice-plows, step
; ped around to old. Weatherwise to ash
} what he meant by thus trifing witt
i their feelings and interests; if he wa!
= going to run that weather business, ht
must do it, and not fool around in tina
, absurd manner. Old Weatherwise an
g initiated him with
"Now, any fool'd know better than K
expect cold weather afore Christmas
; Just you wait till the days begin t.
(! lengthen, then weather'll begin t.
/. strengthen, as the old sayin' is"
. They were forced to be satisfied witt
e this, but went off grumbling. New
It Years dawned even brighter thai
Christmas, and then the chap who ha,
v bought barrel Of alcohol to serve q
/ a beverage in the cold days, went to tn
= old man in rage, but he was put off wit
# the excuse that the moon was not in.th
d right conjunction; to just wait until tn
It next change, when the moon was one
> dark, it would be cold enough toexcee
ii their most sanguine expectations.
III Once more they waited, but this tim
q with Impotence. The moon change
II about two weeks ago, and the night
d became dark as Egypt. The anxiou
people visited week for the fulfil
a ment of the old rascal's prophecies, AN
re then they rose as one man and went
rs his abode. The scene that followed W.
e. tumultuous. The ice-man swore he Wa
I'd in league with the men on the norther
i'd lakes to plumber his neighbors; the say
It, mill man said there was no doubt til,
n he had spite against men trying
u earn an honest living the men who ha
lg pork and grain to take to market aske
IN why he wanted to beatthem out of the
IS, hard earnings, whiles all ageeed he hs
ny made an agreement with the Tolef
~ clothing and whisky men to get a p
eentage on all the goods he sold in b
neighborhood; and they finally too
the false prophet out. rode him on
p rail and then draured him through