Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1881-03-31
SKY STUDIES.

SKY STUDIES.
New York sun.
"lt's easy enough to be IL weather
prophet. All you've got to do is t
keep your eye on the sky, and it is {
very sly storm, indeed, that steals {
march on you"
The speaker was gentleman living
on Columbia heights, Brooklyn, who
has done great deal of sky gazing
but who says he has no desire for q
public reputation as Il weather-wist
man.
Look out Of the south window. Dc
you notice those long, narrow. misty
looking clouds in parallel rows that
seem to be advancing upward from
behind Staten island with the precision
and steadiness of a line of battle? They
are the advance guard of an approach.
ing storm, The barometer has not Civ.
en- the slightest sign, and it probably
will not until that skirmish line has
reached the zenith, which may take
hours, and yet | am as certain that a
storm is coming as though | saw the
rain falling"
ADO you mean that you can foretel
II storm by the clouds sooner than by q
barometer?"
"AnybOdy can. Those winter storms
especially, announce their approach
sometimes two or three days in ad.
vance. Whenever you see those par.
allcl stripes of cloud rising in the south.
west and moving in ranks slowly across
the sky, you may be sure that wet ol
snowy weather is at hand. Why should
not the clouds foretell the weather
There cannot be any storm or any con.
siderable change of weather without
clouds, and there is almost as much
difference perceptible in clouds us in
faces, ifpeople would but notice them
closely"
"Do clouds always foretell stOrms?'
"No; some clouds give assurance OF
fair weather A very little practice
will enable anybody to read this Ian
guage of the clouds. 1t is more like
studying Il language than you would
suppose You know in Latin, q
change in the termination of a word
changes its meaning. Just soa change
in the form of clouds changes theil
meaning. 1t is no mere chance work
but certain change always means the
same thing. If 'cirri' turn into GIRO
strait every met rologist knows what
that means just a veil as the boy at
the head of the l. IN class knows the
difference between, Uic' and IIujus.'
"Ihen clouds are not all of one
kind?"
"By 10 means. About eighty years
ago Luke Howard, an English Quaker
whose business required him to take
long walks in the open air, completed
Il classification Of clouds that has evel
since been in general use. One of the emost
wonderful phenomena ever witnessed
in the sky led Howard to study the
clouds. This was the great dry fog Of
1888, that Oyersprcad the whole Of
Europe and part of Asia and America
reaching TO the summit of the Alps
and lasting from one to three months
according TO the locality. The great
est terror prevailed, and the end of tho
world was thought to be at hand.
Howard noticed that there art
three principal kinds Of clouds, whicl
hn pn1la1 pirruc pup,,tluc nnI ctrn I no
Anybody can see the difference between
these clouds at glance. The cirrus is
the highest of all clouds. You mus
have often seen it in the form of white
iilaments, sometimes called mares
tales and cats tails Stretched across
the blue sky like delicate lace work, il
is very beautiful. Travellers say thai
on the summit of lofty mountain peaks
from which they could look down upol
the heavier clouds, they have seen thes(
wispy cirri floating overhead, apparent
y as far away as when seen from tht
earth. In calm summer evenings
long after sundown, these clouds may
he seen rejecting the almost delicate
tints of color from the last rays of sun
of the ntmosnhcre
"Tbe cirri are comnosed Of little crvs
fails of ia These clouds and thei,
derivoiives cause tho hnlos that ar,
sometimes seen ohout tbe SIM anf
moon If was nrohablv cirro.strat
that caused the great display of moon
dogs and circles fhe other day at Dan
ver Cirrus clouds indicate boti
storms and clear weather accordin% :,
their annearance IF tbev s snnoar !, !,
iheir most JoIicofo forms ostor storr,, -
weather % tbnv are % siom That .
nerioa of se,tiod % ,ue,thor % ;s a. r h"ud
Whon thov % chow tbomSolvos in Nv narni %
Iel stroaks after I fair weather. has ~ Ipstod pt"i