The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-12-11
HOW TO FoRETELL WEATHER.
Few Signs Which Careful Observes Ma,
Rely Upon.

now TO FORETELL WEATHER.
Few Signs Which Careful Observes Ma,
Rely Upon.
A communication to the Southern
Planter deals with the subject of weather
orognosticS. Few intelligent persons
IAN have any sympathy with the So
,alled prophets who eracularly announce
phenomena, giving dates, occasionally
making lucky hits, but as often firing
their random shots altogether wide of
the mark. That there is, however,
something IN weather philosophy intel
ligent persons will be quite ready to con-
cede, and they will be in accord with the
views of the writer when he recon-
mends the habit of observation of natural
phenomena, which has long been prac-
ticed, its results being handed doEn to
us in the homely weather proverbs with
which al are familiar. There Is good
ground for belief that observations of
this kind will prove useful, the more Sc
as modern science enables us to give the
reasons, unknown 30 our fOrefathers,
for many phenomena, and thereby tC
determine the value of indications, by
the association of causes with effects,
instead of following blindly the perhaps
erroneous observations of others. An
apt illustration of this is furnished ia
the article under notice. Persons
really intelligent and not uniformed
have maintained that the direction et
the milky way changes and indicates the
coarse of the Wand, when. as every child
of to-day kneHs, this aim of white
crossing the sky is reselvable by the
telescope into myriads of stars, whose
position is, Of course, independent OF
terrestrial carrents. How this deeply
rooted idea originated is a mystery,
since it could not have some from OBJ
servation. Careful and intelligent study
in the field If weather phenomena would
undoubtedly establish many facts, while
st would dispel a great many errors and
false inferences; the knowledge gained
would be besides OF practical interest
and benefit to the observer and to the
community, provided the observations
were recorded. On this ground the
writer's vitwS well deserve commenda-
lion. He:sayS:
eff onescould read1he signs, each day
foretells the next; to-day is the progeni-
tor of tomorrow. When the .atmos-
phere is Aelescopic, and distant objects
stand out unusually clear and distinct,
a storm IS near We are on the crest OF
the wave, and the depression follows
quick. 1t sometimes happens that
clouds are not so indicative of a storm
as their total absence. In this state OF
the atmosphere the stars are unusually
numerous and bright at night, which Is
also bad omen. ii appears that the
transparency of the air is prodigiOusly
increased when a certain quantity OF
water is uniformly diffused through it.
Mountdineers predict a change OF
weather when, the air being calm, the
Al ps, seem covered with perpetual snow,
on a sudden to be nearer the observer,
and their outlines are marked with great
diStinctness on the azure sky This
same condition of the atmosphere
rendarsdistant sounds mUre audible
"There is one redness of the east in
the morning thai means storm; an
other that indicates wind. The first is
broad, deep and angry; the clouds look
like au immense bed of burning Goals.
The second is softer and more VapOry.
Al the point where the sun is going to
rise, and in a few minutes in advance OF
his coming. there rises straight upward
q rosy column, like shaft OF dyed
vapor, blending with and vet partly
separated from the clouds, and the base
of which presently comes to glow like
the sun himself. The day that follows
Is pretty sure to be windy.
II is uncertain to what extent birds
and animals can foretell the weather.
When swallows are seen hawking very
high. it is a very good Indication, be-
cause the insects upon which they feed
venture up there Only in the most aus
piciOus weather.
People live in the country all their
lives without making one accurate OBJ
servation about nature. The good OBJ
server OF nature holds his eye long and
firmly to the point. and finally gets the
facts. not only because he has patience,
but because his eve is sharp and his in
ference swift. There are 1aany asser-
tons, the result of hasty and incomplete
such as. for instance, that
the way the milky way points at night
indicates the direction of the wind the
next day; also, that every new moon in
dIcates either dry or a wet month.
There are many other stories about the
moon too numerous to mention. Again,
when a farmer kills his hogs in the fall.
if the pork be very hard and solid he
predicts a severe winter, if soft and
loose, the opposite, overlooking the fact
that the kind of food and the tempera-
ture of the fall make the pork hard OF
soft. Numerous other instances could
be cited to prove that the would-be
shrewd farmer does not interpret nature
in the right way, and that his conclu-
sions, being hasty and incomplete, arsI
wrong; and until he studies nature I'M
derStandingly, using little common
sense, so long will he be more or less
under the ban of superstition and ignor-
ance. The South.
CHALLENGE TO BATTLE,