National Republican., 1885-08-18
a Great Loss To the Weather Bureau.
L L.

New York sun.
With mingled feelings OF satisfaction
and regret we observe In the list OF long
| favored army officers who are to be sent
back to duty with their regiments the name
| OF Lieut.. ii. ii. c. DuuwOody, of the 4th
artillery. On general principles, Lieut.
Dunwoody should go with the rest, for he
has been away from the ith artillery for
! thirteen years five months and six days
Yet his removal from his present sphere of
usefulness, namely, the headquarters of the
weather bureau at Washington, will deprive
That Office OF the only man who has ever
been able to breathe into its ordinarily pro.
sale routine of meteorological prognostica-
tion the spirit Of imaginative poesy.
1t was llazen who conceived the idea OF
appealing from the thermometers, hygrom-
eters, and bnrometcrs provided by appro-
priation OF Congress to the free and en-
lightened ground hogs, guinea hens, and
bulltrogs of North America for correct in
formation as to the state Of the weather.
DunwoOdy, however, carried out the idea
in a manner that was as far beyond the ca
pacity OF his chief as 1t was beyond the eX-
lectation of even the hopes Of the public.
The authorship Of the only really interest
ing document that ever cnnmted from the
bbureaIh Dunwoody's alone. From dry
pgures OF moisture and pressure aud geo
metrfcally uninteresting areas and isobars,
nature. Hear him:
The increase of aqueous vapor in the atm3,.
rhcTe is indicated by its effect upon animal
ana vegetable organization. Animals are o..
served to become restless before rain, and
many pIognoslics are based upon the action Of
birds, beasts, fish, reptiles and insects. The
ablest meteOrologists OF to-day. aided by the
most Perfect meteorological instruments and
the results of years Of accurate instrumental
observations, are still unable to give reliable
forecasts of the weather for a longer period
tlan two or three days, and frequently not
longer than twcnty.four hours. II Is possible
that more accurate observation of the coldi.
ton oi plants, or the condition of plants or an-
mails, might lead to some valuable suggestion
Ill this important field of Investigation.
Not content with pointing out the field,
Lieut.. Dunwoody boldly entered it, and
made 1t all his own. To him We owe the
series OF extraordinary poems on the rcla-
tions between animate nature and the
weather that was so eagerly published in
book form by Gen. Hazen as soon as the
gouarnre"t printing onioo could uu the
work. 1t was Lieut.. Dunwoody's pen
cOuplet ot
When the ass begins to bray,
lie sure We shall vcrain that day.
And he gave us the not less brilliant and
profoundly psychological meteorological
stanza, based on observations in the chicken
yard
II inc cock moult before the hen,
We shall have weather thick and thin;
hut II the hen moult before the cock,
we snail nave weather hard rs block.
The same meditative yet keenly obseryant
genius expressed in two lines, correctly
rhymed, the hopeful sentiment:
Ifthe sky beyond the clouds is blue,
BE glad, there Is picnic for you.
And he. too, produced the flea poem,
which perhaps stands alone and unap- |
DrDnplpI la ntnr
government printing ofllce
When fleas do very many grow,
Ihen 'twill surely rain or snow.
When eager bites the thirsty flea,
Clouds and rain you II surely see
The moral and mystical lesson conveyed
IN the subioincd verse would have been lost
10 the American public If Lieut. Dun
Woody's muse had been less versatile:
AS old sinners have all points
Ofthc compass in their joints,
Can by their pangs and aches find
All turns and changes of the wind,
Is IT necessary to insist still farther on
The debt which the lovers of genuine
weather poetry owe to the military gentle
man VINO now lays down the pen to take
up the sword that has been rusting for
thirteen years five months and six daysY
II so, we are willing to rest the poets fame
IN q single musical stanZa, and to conclude
his too brief tribute with a quotation from
lie "Song Of the Beam" which may be
ound on page SO Of Dunwoody's modest
'olume:
Go plant the bean when the moon Is light,
Ana you will find that this is right
ilnit me potatoes when the inOon IN durk.
Ana 10 This line yc;l always hark
Iut fyou vary from this rule,
You viii find you are fool.
With Gen. lIazcn In Europe aud his
rusted subordinate sent Off to the frontier
y Secretary Endcott's orders, the future
4 onimal and vegetable prognostication at
Washington looks indeed gloomy.