The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1883-11-08
A Mild WinteF.-What Weather Prophets
Say Regarding ell the "Signs."

"Muskrats amt troubling them
selves much about hard winter"
said an old hunter yesterday" You
don't fool them much on the
weather." he continued: they're bet
ter than any almanac. pve watched
them for q gOOOd many years over I'm
the American Bottom, and i can al
ways tell along in the fall, whether
we are going to have an open winter
or not. How can tel, ,w added the
NimrOd, repeating the reporters
question. Easy enOugh."I don't
have to feel fer It, either. IL Il is go
ing TO be a hard winter you'll see the
muskrats commence hOuse-building
early in the fall, and by this time
they'll have their mounds on the
marshes built up Of mud and sticks
and leaves three or four feet above
water. But If the weather is going tO
be mild you'll see nothing OF that
kind" A eOlOred man from Bon
hOmme bottom, where he has lived
most Of the time since the war, was
standing by and added his testimony
as to the signs Of the season.
az tell you, boss" said he, 'de
groun' hog am de animal I goes by.
He's learned more about de weather
AN all de rest oh de beasts. II he can
see his shadow when he comes Outen
his hole in February, he gifts back In
de groun' an stays thar six weeks
longer. Then you can bet thar'll be
a late spring. He's jes' as smart about
de winter, foah If it's gwine to be
wan he jes' scratches a shallow hole
TO hide In that's all he wants. But
II it's gwine ter freeze hard he'll 90 in
deep an make himself q warm nest
Of dry grass and leaves. De grOun'
hog amt troubling any bout cold
weather nov. He's, made up his
mind it's no use an Is going 10 lib
close to the top Ob de grOun' widOut
any bed dis winter. / amt got any
use for a big wood pile dis winter. nor
you won't either boss, +" and the col
Ored scientist walked away. Looking
for further information the reporter
questioned a well-knOwn pOulterer in
Union Market and was informed that
the inner coating OF chicken gi7zards
peeled Of very easily, q neVeT-failing
sign, they say, Of green Christmas.
Another point was gained from a
farmer who says the corn husks are
remarkably thin and light this fall,
another evidence recognized rs a pro-
mise OF thin ice.
Mallard duck have very few feath-
ers this fall. "YOu needn't fear much
eOld weather when the ducks are not
well feathered," J" remarked Judy, the
game dealer. Another thing.n said
he, ''the wild fowls haven't gone south
yet. They are feeding north of here,
and will come down later, and stay
around here as they did two years
ago." Chris Niederwieser, of Baden,
cites the old infallible German sign OF
the breastbone Of a goose, to prove
that fuel ought 10 be cheap this win
ter. Chris Killed goose for dinner
last Sunday, and after eating the meat
from the breast bone he found the
bone 20 thin he could see through II.
"If the winter were going to be very
cold" he said, "the goose bone would
be three times as thick"
Ripe tomatoes picked daily from the |
vines are for sale on Union Market, a
luxury, Grundemeyer says, that ls not |
afforded 20 late Ia the season one year
in ten.
II further evidence Is needed to con-
vince the skeptlcal that there IL no |
necessity for squandering a fortune In |
coal Il is afforded by the willy catfish |
Of the Missouri River. When the 1
stream is going 10 freeze up the catfish |
knows lt long enough in advance TO /
prepare himself with Q good thick |
hide. johnson, the fish mOnger. de- |
clares the catfish had skins like hales |
last winter, but now their winter COW
ering Is as thin as piece OF silk.