Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-11-16

rainy season and dry one. The shut
est rainy seaa IN in twenty two years has
been Que hundred and tweniy-six day 8,
and tho longest two hundred and
twenty-one days, while the mean duga
ton Of each has been Que hundred and
eigbty-eight days. Oi the other hand,
the shortest dry season for the same
period was one hundred and tbirty-louf
days, and the longe t, two hundred and
eleven days, while the mean duration oi
each was one hundred and seven ty.n wen
days.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE RAIN.
The time ,f the commencement OF the
rain is uncertain, and wares many weeks
between the two extremes. In Septem-
Der the people OF the country begin 70
talk about rain, and to look for the
tokens Of it, but rain s. Id m falls during
that m NTH. nnd further, in eleven OF th,
twenty-five years under consideration,
40 rain fell even in Oo.ober. When
rain does not fall until the middle or h,
last OF November, great anxiety and dis
tress are caused by the delay. In foui
Of the twenty-five Yeas there WAS
light f,ll Of rain in September, but rain
during this mouth is to bs Considered as
exceptional.
THE EARLY, MIDDLE AND LATTER RAINS
Every Que is familiar with the rms.
'the early aud lstt.r rains" which re.
fert, paris Of tho rainy season The
rainy SEASON, however, is re hly ovid ii
into three parts. and i; is duiing the
middle ous Of these periods that the
mo Of the rain falls. II is very seldom
that many days of rainy weather occu
in succession, but whether the RAINY
peii IDS are OF one or of several days dn
rition they are sure 10 be followed by
one or many days ,f fac weather, an
these fine days of the Winter and arl,
Spring months are some Of the most en-
joyabls that the q IN ste Of Palest ne nj
fords. Tue early raj IS are dspend- d
upon to moisteu the earth and 81 it for
the reception Of seed, and henos it is .
90 eral signal for the Gunner cement OF
blowing. The miId.e or heavy Wintel
rains furnish the water supply ef the
year. The earth is then saturated,
springs roplenished and els erns filleu
with water The "a ter ram" which
falls in gentle showers. is Indispensable
to the perfection Of the gain. However
cap;ous my have been the Winter rains.
unless the "lat'er rain" fills the harvest
is in whole or in part failure. Hence
this il looked for by the farm rs especi
ally, and by oil the people Of the land
as well, with peculiar anxiety.
CONNECTION OF WIND WITH RAIN.
Most Of the rain storms come fron a
westerly direction. OF thoss noted dur
ing the period Of twenty two years,
forty-n'ne wsre from the northwest;
one hundred and fif y six we're ON the
west, and two hundred and thirty. eight
were from the southwest On one hun
dred and nine occasions, however, au
easterly wind preceded the change which
ushered in the rain Not infrequently
the direction Of the wind changes during
the storm. II it passes to the north the
wind ceases, while change from any
quarter to the southwest Usually indi-
Gates continuance of the rain.
COLD. uEAT AND FROST.
Tho coolest month in Jerusalem is
February, in which month the mean
temperature during the last twenty two
years has been At 0 degrees, Fahrenheit.
1t sss, month by month, until Angus. !,
when the mean temperature has been
76. l degrees, and then it sinks again,
month by month, until the following
february. The mean annual tempera
ture during this period was 62.8 degrees
The hottest da, do not occur, however,
in August, but usually in the months Of
May, June and September The lnwest
temperature resi tered by the thermom
eter during this period was 25 degrees,
which was ON thu 20 Of JaDu lry, 1861
IL February an Oaober, also. anl once
IN April, a minimum of 81 aud 30 de-
grees have bsen nptel. Thes3 Gases
are, however, notab y exec ,ptional. In
Jerusalem frost occnrs on five or Fix
rights in the conrse If winter, bat 10
is rarely ever formed.
1t must be remembered that Jerusa
lem Is 1900 feet above sea level, VIII oh
gave rise 10 the term IN ,unt Jerusa-
lsn, and at this eiev .tion, like the
high mesas of Los Angeles, tn, rcula.
ton of the atmosphere Is 5, active that
frost seldom forms. II is also very
windy country. Tho Clnsal says. ".he
north winds are sharp and cold even in
summer, SO muoh 50 as to prodncs fever
and other diseases. Without the west
wind the summer climate of Jerusalem
would be unbearable." Like Los Ange-
les, the nights in jerusalem are always
cool. The east wind, which takes the
place Of our "northers," are the sir1ccos
that are dreaded. They bring a smell as
of buraing brick. cause sore throats,
fever', fierce head lches and un1 iencha-
bic thirst. and destroy Gsids Of grain
The dumb animals ars mentioael ia
Scripture as smelling tn, east wind
Some u these winds last for thirty day.,
but generally from three days to twice
that number. 1t is needless to say that
sand and gravel fill the air
at suoh times worse than ever
prevailed in California, except on
the sandy deserts. 1t will be ob
served that the temperature of Jorusa.
lem is considerably higher than in L IS
Angeles, and that the hot winds are
longer. hotter aud more fierce than here.
The other leading featores Of the Pal
estns climate correspond remarkably
with the climatic vios.itudes Of South
ern California, which have been so clear
" stated by Dr. J. P. Widney Of this
city in the ILLusTaATRD Herald, and
IA other publications. Still the sunny
skies of Palestine have great attractions,
and that land has been the home of die
character, since the days Of
N 'ses and the immortal Joshua. II was
ths home Of prophets and kings. poets,
sarriors, the Temple of solomon. and
The chosen place for the appearance. life
Ind miracles Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Taere is something SO attractive in It's
historic associations aud in its California
climate, that il is no wonder people "go
np to Jerusalem" from far, ss they come
% California for its favoring skies, be-
.ignant air and beautiful scenery. Aside
rom historic associations a prenter than