Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-07-30
HOW COLD WAVES TRAVEL.

Cold waves, so called, name for
which we are indebted to recent mete-
geological science, do not appear to
move in some instances much faster
than railroad express train. They
vary, however, in their rate of mo-
ton. Where do they come from?
1t is not easy to say. 1t might be
found, if one could travel at express
speed from the mountains of Mon
tana, and the frozen regions farther
north, that intense cold extends. all the
way to Eastern Alaska, and to the
Behring Strait, with even a greater de-
gree of intensity. In fact, the coldest
region is probably the wide expanse
west, and especially northwest, of
Hudson Bay, in the neighborhood of
the magnetic pole. A "cold wave"
is a wave of heavy air, following the
rarefed track of Glow barometer, :"
and changing the rarefed and miIder
atmosphere (Which is usually also
stormy to one of clear, cold skies i;
a heavy air, full of tonic power, and
exhilarating and hunger-producing to
sound and healthy animal life. The
establishment of the modern govern
ment weather observation stations,
with their appliances, including the
electric telegraph and daily press,
has enabled the country to see and
comprehend something Of the move
ments of these frequent cold waves.
The movement is as marked as the
advance of a veritable sea wave.
The telegraph heralds its start from
the Rocky mountains (it always seems
to begin there, though in fact it rare
ly does, having its origin much farth-
er north, and its advance can be
timed like that of a railroad train
Its speed varies from forty to sixty
or sometimes even seventy miles al
hour, usually it would seem about
| fifty. 1t rolls over the country, g
! real wave, an aerial counterpart or
the shore of its congener, the tida
wave of the ocean, and its direction
is usually from the northwest to tht
southeast. 1t sweeps slowly doWl
from the frozen wastes of the Asiati'
shore, and the equally frigid wilds ot
the American mainland in the arctic
circle, to our Atlantic coast, it
breadth reaching all the way from
Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras, ant
frequently making its chilling pres
ence felt as far south as Florida
The Burmudas which lie just soutl
of the Gulf stream, a little over 60t
miles almost due east of Charleston
feel the influence of our ''cold waves
very perceptibly. That solitary littl
group of small, low-lying cora
islands which can be reached by
steamer from New York in the sam
time that it takes to 90 to Savannah
happen to lie on the leeward side o
the Gulf stream; and that grea
thermal current of the ocean foreve
saves them from the frost, and keep
them in spring foliage all winter
but, while it finely tempers and mod
ifies the north wind, it cannot quit
rob it of all its intrinsic character
and the result is wind that may
at times cool, and frequently bolster
Gus, but never really cold; and thos
lonely islands, surrounded by wide
reaching coral reefs, have all winte
a pleasant climate of spring. Tha
is almost all they ever know of OF
winter ''cold waves Those com
in an almost rhythmical succession
and have their causes doubtless q
potent as those of the oceans tides
which they strikingly resemble.-E
Trade Journal.