New-York tribune., 1883-03-11
A RAINY DAY IN NEW-YORK.
COMMONPLACE DRIzZLE AND MUD INSTEAD OF
wIGGINs's ELEMENTAL STRIFE.


Yesterday morning came. noon passed, and
men went home dinner in peace and in defiance ot
weather prophets Il drizzlng, sloppy mry sticky
dun co0red city that formed the Of these
siye occurrences. The air clsmmy with cllngng
moisture which oozed out of the ground. gushed up
between loose stones in the pavement, and
turned mud into mucilage OF inky hue. This
moisture fell in misty rain, driven before
a cool but not very urgent breeze,
collected wherever dampness could cOndense, and
drpped poured wherever there anything TO guide
It's fall Nothing could bs moro dsagreeablc, and II
seemed doubly exasperatng because the general tact
understanding seemed TO be that this was only bcdrag-
gled COW ward.mnded, mean course which the weather
took OF sneakng out OF its engagement 10 give New
York something exciting and tremendous in the way Of
Storm But here instead OF the grandeur of eementa
strife came an inexpressibly tame and nasty
drlzzle. This humbug seems 70 have been
made matter OF personal grievance by most citizens,
mantle sting itself In an entire indspostOn to talk about
the matter. Say Virgins to man. and he would very
likely retort with snar and gesture which told how
nauseating the and all 1t implied" were to him
II was extremelydicult to ind personwhO would admit
that he had paid enough attention to the matter to know
exactly what was have been expected IN the shape OF
meteorological calamity and it utterly out OF the
question to discover who had put the least faith in It
mr. knew ANYBODY VINO had-that Is, anybody for whose
opin Oh he had tn" least respect
PROFESSOR DRAPERs OPINION.
Even the me eorolossts. might be expected to
take languid interest In such matters shared in the
general repugnance talk about the predicted disturb
anccs Of the earth's atmosphere.
..Wigginsi" exclaimed DR.. Draper "Wiggins He
isn't worth mention. It's great pity the newspapers
gave hs supposed utterances tne least publicity
Cant you give some reasons why sqcl storm as ne
fretod aud Is sui fOrct eng should be lmpOssble. or
at least highly improbableP
in he Of .
His talk is too wild and intangible To- dscusA IL lst
worth the least attention. because it Is nothing but the
individual dlctum or VINO mas not done anything To
cntitle lisen to him. WHAT'S the ufe OF bringing
science seriously to bear upon such folly "a tat p
Have you any idea what ais theory is-hOw he ar
don't think he has or had any basis for deductions.
What aspect Is TO ne paid 20 man who refuses TO as
close ae facts and methods of reasoning by whch ne
h'nts himse entitled to make such prophecies he
dors am inclined 10 think IL ia pure assurance on his
e to i ever let il get beyond his own hps There
nothing about II that an Intelligent man can waste time
j" tte winter has been a normal one so this month
has differed the ayersgc only In being lDider
than ordinary. There mas been only one storm OF any
conseguence ami that was not unusually severe or ex
tended In the history of great atmospheric disturb
anccs, March does not compare, lor Hs0r' Win tne
summer s1, aud parc.ne. s%f in fRs" the west iados
gives only eleven to March. while August ha5
81 S4prember 80 and October 90. Tue greatest aud
mast obstructive gales record IN North America nave
not happened a ths but at quite IN opposite ume OF
ibc y@ar Moreover, the great Storms meteorooglsts
sss,rt do nor come from the nOrtnwest OF along the
rqck which The Canadian sad his gale 10 aiict with
f,rv ami leave I'm desCdtiOn at is clear says Blod
re whose authority 10 nghly regarded III thls matter
mat tue great Of thc Atlantic coast whch are
most destructive 70 shipping come from tue south along
ne line of the Gulf Sredm and usually from tue tropics
where progress course is from +. = L." Thus
te ocs OF october. 1S47 August Is, 1880, aud many
ofnrr4 whose violence made them r,markable. They
are ofteu followed by clearing wind" from the north
and uorthWe.t, but these OF short duration and
gimnlshing power Local storms develop IN the nortn-
west but their area Is limited
The monOtony OF the day at the Ship News Office WAS
broken upon Oy various comments relative 10 Virgins
aud Wigginss storm" About noon there was s,r0ng
apprehension that something really Intended TO happen
This of feeling deepened when man came IN
from Island ana with steriOus air conveyed the
Intelligence that Virgins just around the corner or
the island" Almst simultaneously came the report from
Sandy Hook: "5trange yi4t0r jus passing IN looks
ike Wiggins." Somebody thought that s1meoody was
joking; yet 1t was not known Dat t.aI tnSlS tS
was something In It after ALL Tor the "lnu
had started In In the morning Fom lne
northeast, had whipped to the east thence
soutneast bac to east northeast again. theh IN swift
succe sion norn, northwest north rtneast, nortD
northwest Az er this uncertainty had passed, and tno
blow" began to lessen, people Id tho once began 70
speak dersiyelY Of WgSns aud the telegraph operator
declared that the Canadian prophet could claim no
lConriaued on the seventh pagel