Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-02-01
wrcGlss rmE rRernKr.

Virgins takes nothing back. Not
Others may turn In their tracks.
hedge on their prophecies. if they want
to, but never Virgins. Virgins of OF
tawa, p. o., rival of veuuor of Montreal.
+. O., ~ mean. On the other hand, he
sticks to it sitter than ever. And to
more of it, TOO. Not only Is he surer
than he was of the fearful storm which
he has set TO, the 9Th of March next,
but it's going to be bigger thing than
he at first supposed. Much bigger.
More every way. 50 to speak. It's to b
one Of the few shows that will surpass
the promises of the preliminary highly
colored posters. And it's "bOund to
come. unless the planets stop in their
orbits" he confidently declares. Fur
thermore, 1T will be felt all over the
world, from sea to sea and from pole to
pole" This will make it bad for the
people of the continents and the islands
of seas, as well as for the men who go
down to the sea in ships, and who gene
rally have to stand the brunt of rackets
of this sort. Also, for the boys who
may be engaged in hunting for the pole
at the time. Very bad, for all of them.
The way. Virgins knows all this is
"by thu heavenly bodies" he tells Us,
and by his calculations based thereon.
That settles it. The heavenly bodies
barring meteors and an occasional COM
ct, and of course Virgins wouldn't fool
away his valuable time on temporary
gimcracks like these-are the most reil-
able authorities imaginable; and as for
figures, why everybody knows they never
lie. The world ought to be satisfied
with this showing, certainly. But lest
1t may not be, and to make assurance
doubly sure" Virgins proudly points to
his own record as prophet in the past.
Now, nothing under the sun is, nothing
under the sun can b, So conclusive an .
record Of the past, proudly pointed to.
Holy Writ is hardly more oft a settler.
There is only one drawback to it. It
has its one weak spot, like that in the
so-called armor of Achilles, as it were.
1t doesn't always bear examination.
And the more proudly it is pointed to,
the more likely is some fellow to look
into il. There is such thing as tempt
ing fate too far. The prophet who
points too proudly runs this risk. And
that Is what Virgins has done. He tri-
umphantiy says he foretold s'the great
storm, accompanied by hail, which
would pass over tho American continent
from the southeast, on the 18th of June,
1884," He says, moreover, that ut was
on hand at the hour named" and also
that lit unroofed houses in Washing
ton," and played smash generally all
over the country. Taking Virgins IN
failing formula for getting at things,
and adding to it his previous successes
in the same light, it would seem safe to
count upon the shaking mp promised for
March 9Th as certain to come off. But,
alas, what are the facts? There was no
storm in Washington on the 25th of
June, 1881. The severe gale which Wis
tied the city that year and did SO much
damage as to make it one of the notable
storms in the memory of even the oldest
inhabitant, occurred ON the evening of
the 9th of that month. It didn't come
from the southeast, either, but from the
northwest. Neither was it general in
its character, nor widespread in its eff
fects. 1t was entirely and peculiarly
local. both in character and application.
This seems to make it bad for Virgins
and his record. Very bad. But, unfor-
tunately, We cannot alter history. Not
even for Virgins.