Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1883-11-30
A Mild Winter.
WHAT WEATHER PROPHETS SAY RE-
GARDING ALL THE ':SIGNs."

WHAT WEATHER PROPHETS SAY RE-
GARDING ALL THE ':sIGNs."
''Muskrats amt bothering themselves
much about hard winter" said an old
hunter yesterday. ''Y GU can t fool them
much on the weather." he confined j;
''they are better than any almanac. I've
watched them for good many years over
in the American bottom, and 1 can always
tell, along in the fall whether We are going
to have an open winter or not. How can
1 tell?" added the Nimrod, repeating the
reporters question. EASY enough.
don't have to feel for it either. II it's
going to be hard winter, you will 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 colOred man from Bonhomme
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.
Il tell you boss" said he, "de ground
hog am de animal goes by. He's learned
more about de weather an all de rest OBJ
de beasts. If be kin see his shadow when
be comes outen his hole in February he
gets back in de ground quick, and stays
thar six weeks longer. Then you'll bet
thar'n be late spring. He's just as smart
about de winter. foah if it is gwine to be
warm he jest scratches a shallow hole to
hide in; that's all he wants. But if it's
gwjne ter freeze hard he'll 90 in and make
himself waam nest of dry grass and
leaves. De ground hog amt troubling
any bout cold weather now. He's made
up his mind it's no use and is going to lib
close to de top oh de ground widout any
bed dis winter. l amt got any use for a
big wood pile dis winter. nor you won't
neither, boss" and the colored scientist
walked away. Looking for further infor-
nation, the reporter questioned well
known poulterer in Union market, and
was informed that the inner coating of
chicken gizzards peeled off very easily, a
never failing sign, they say, of a green
Christmas. Another point was gained
from farmer, who says the corn husks
are remarkably thin and light this fall,
another evidence recognized as promise
of thin ice.
Maliard ducks have very few feathers this
fall. "You needn't fear much cold
weather when the ducks are not well
feathered,' remarked Judy, the game deal .
er. Another thlng,'' said he 1.-The wild
fowls haven't gone South yet. They ar e
feeding North of here, and will come down
later and stay around here, as they did
two years ago. Chris. Neider weiser of
Baden, cites the old infallible German
sign of the breast.bone of the goose, to
prove that fuel ought to be cheap this
winter. Chris killed goose for dinner
last Sunday. and after eating the meat
from the breast be found the bone so thin
that he could see through it. 'If the win
ter were going to be very cold," he says,
'''he goose-bone would have been three
times as thick.n
Ripe tomatoes picked daily from the
vines are for sale in Union market, lux
uIy, Grundemeyer says, that is not afford
ed so late in the season one year in ten.
1t further evidence is needed to convince
Che skeptical that there is no necessity for
squandering fortune in coal it is furnish
ed by the willy catfish of tie Missouri
river. When the stream is going to freeze
up the catfish knows it long enough in adj
vance to prepare himself with good,
thick hide. johnson, the fish monger,
declares the catfish had skins like whales
last summer, but now their winter cover
ing is as thin as piece of silk.-St. Louis
Globe Democrat.