The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-02-17
The HlrOoco.

What shall we say Of the sirocco?
What, indeedl Only Dante could do
justice to its horrors; only setting itside
by side with the plaques Of EgyptcouId
rightly catalogue it. During the sirocco
you do not live, you exist; and your ex-
istence is suffering. All the strength
goes out of your shews; oil the stiffness
out of your backbone. You have no
energy, no hope, no oheerfulness, no
patiencel Your head is burning. your
heart heavy rs lead, your nerves are
rasped and as if lying bare, your temper
is a curse to yourself and an 1nfliction
to your neighbors; and you take kindly
to the strange new heresy which makes
this planet the place of torment and
human life the expiation of foregone
guilt. ......,.
at night you cannot sleep; during the
day you can neither work nor play.
When you get up IN the morning md sec
the clouds Of dust hanging heavy i'll the
air; when you note what has crept in
through the crevices during the night,
and is now lying settled on everything
in your room-when you find sand be-
tween your teeth and rub into your eyes
then you know what is before you,
and shudder at the melanch oily prospect
of the day.
When the noon comes, hot and fierce
like the blast of furnace; whom the air
burns your face. cracks your skin and
dries up your hair till it feels like gritty
hay; when tho intolerablo glare over
everything, even when the sun does not
shine, makes your eyes ache, and when
it docs seem as if it would blind you
there and thcn-you think that your cup
is full, and that it would be impossible
to add more to your tale of suffering.
But when tho night falls things are
even worse. The heat is intense, and
the EARTH seems to radiatc dull and
poisonous fire. If you open your win
dows you are burned; if you keep them
shut you are suflocated,
Mosquitoes seem to be made Of the
same stuff as those stout ''medIums"
who can drop through roof or two or
ceilings, pass through closed windows
and two-inch doors, without moro diff
Guilty than flash of electricity; nor with
all the windows fastened they somehow
manage to make good their existence
| and to make You aware that they are
there. During n sirocco they bite like
fury; 80 do tho light cavalry, which
n ftstr n I'M HY1oT ,,f,J..
crulnbles under your feet rs you walk
across yonr tiled floor; 80 do the myr-
lads of flies which infest your apart
ment, for the one part, and for tho other
they fall about like drunken things and
sickcn you with their heavy loathsome
touch We'll for you If these are your
only living enemies! Life is prolific in
Sicily; creeping and flying things Of all
kinds are abundant and ubiquitous; and
it would seem is If the native skin we're
1mperyious to assaults which fairly
madden you.
Everything suffers during the sirocco.
Tho flowers d1oop ana Jade, ana tho
grass, Or what takes the place of grass
here--js burned and Drowned. In the
Favorita, which should be very carpet
woven Of all manner of wild fowors,
there are not this yoar one-tenth the
usual number. The orchards arc stun
ted; the moss is parched and dry; many
seeds havo not come up at all; many
roots are withercd before towering; the
orange and lemon gardens arc diseased.
and the fruit is covered with fungus. or
tho larys of tho little insect which in
crusts the rind with small brown oval
spots, and tho leaves are shpivcled and
blightcd.
Day by day you pant for tho rain
which never comes, and without which
oil things pine now and die hereafter.
In normal seasons tho sirocco lasts for
three days, and then passes OFF in rain;
this year it blows for more than it's al
loted term-blows almost continuouly.
and no rain falls. Night by night tho
sun sets in fiory tapors, which presago
storm and deluge; day by dy tho morn
ing sky is overcast with clouds which
anywhere else would moan heavy
downpour. But by noon these haye
cleared away, and the sun shines
free of all obstacles, save that light
brown veil of dust the blue haze which
lies sContlcss OVer the town