Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-03-05
no FoRETELL WEATHER.
signs which Careful Observers May Rely
Upon.

Upon.
communication to the Southern
Planter deals with the subject OF weather
nrocnostics. Few intelligent people
can have any sympathy with the So
called prophets who oracularly an
nounce phenomena, giving dates. occa-
sionallv making lucky hits, but as often
,ir;nO their random shots altogether
vide Of mark. That there is, however,
something in weather philosophy, in
teIlicent persons will be quite ready to
concede. and they win be in accord
with the views of the writer when he
recommends the habit of observation
of natural phenomena, which has been
long practiced its results being handed
down TO us in the homely weather prov
orbs with which all are familiar There
is rood ground for belief that observa-
tions OF this kind will prove useful, the
more so as modern science enables us
to give the reasons, unknown to our
forefathers, for many phenomena, and
thereby TO determine the value of indi-
cations, Nv the association of causes
with effect, instead of following blindly
the perhaps erroneous observation of
others. An apt illustration of this is
furnished in the article under notice.
Persons really intelligent and not unin-
formed have maintained that the direc-
ton of the milky way changes and i'm
itates the course of the wind. when, as
every child to-day knows, this film of
white crossing the sky is resolvablc by
the microscope into my~iads of stars,
whose position is, Of course, indepcnd-
ent OF terrestrial currents. How this
deeply-rooted idea originated is a mys-
terry. since il could not have come from
observation. Careful and intelligent
study in the field of weather phenome-
ma would undoubtedly establish many
facts, while it would dispel a great
many errors and false inferences; the
knowledge gained would be beside of
practical interest and benefit to the OBJ
server and to the community, provided
the observations were recorded. On
this ground the writer's views well de-
serve commentator. He says:
If one could read the signs, each day
foretells the next; to-day is the progen-
itor of tomorrow. When the atmos-
phere is telescope 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 storm
as their total absence. In this state of
the atmosphere the stars unusually
numerous and bright at night, which is
also a bad omen 1t appears that the
transparency of the air is prodigiously
4 CO.. : g
water is uniformly dilfused through it.
Mountainous predict a change of
weather when, the air being calm, the
Alps covered with perpetual snow,
seem on q sudden to be nearer the OBJ
server, and their outlines are marked
with great distinction on the azure sky.
This same condition of the atmosphere
renders distinct sounds more audible.
There is one redness in the east in the
morning that means storm; another
that indicates wind. The first is broad,
deep and angry; the clouds look like
an immense bed of burning Goals; the
second is softer and more yapory. At
the point where the sun is going to rise,
and in 4 few minutes in advance of his
coming, there rises straight upward q
rosy column, like shaft of dyed va
por, blending with and yet separated
from the clouds, and the base of win. ch
presently comes to glow like the sun
himself. The day that follows is pretty
sure to be windy.
1t is uncertain to what extent birds
and animals can foretell the weather,
When swallows are seen hawking very
high, it is a good indication, because
the insects upon which they feed ven
ture up there only in the most auspi-
cious 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 10 the point, and finally gets the
facts, not only because he has patience,
but because his eye is sharp and his in.
ference swift. There are many asser-
tions, the result of hasty and incoul
plete observation, 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 indicates either dry or wet
month. There are many other stories
about the moon, too numerous to men
ton. Again. when farmer kills his
hogs in the Fall, if the pork is very
hard and solid he predicts severe
Winter; if soft and loose, the oppo'
site, overlooking the fact that the kind
of food and the temperature of the Fall
make the pork hard or soft. Numer
Gus other instances could be cited tc
prove that the would-be shrewd farmer
does not interp, ct nature in the right
way, and that his conclusions, being
hasty and incomplete, are wrong; and
until he studies nature understanding
ly, using little common sense, so long
will he be more or less under the bar
of superstition and ignorance.