St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-01-31
WINTER IN CALIFORNIA.
How 1t Differs from the Winter Weather
In New England.

In New England.
After Thanksgiving, winter. In the
Atlantic States, east of the Hudson,
good sleighing is expected at this date.
Here nothing more than few white
frosts indicate that winter has come.
There have been frosts in the lowlands
during the past week Last night the
frost crept up on the hlllsides little
The crystals lay on the plank side
walks in the suburban towns, and
sparkled as the rays Of the rising sun
touched them. For a moment or two
there were millions Of diamonds, then
small drops of water, and then moth
ing. But the frost makes crisp morn
ings, and coal or wood fire most en-
joyable morning and eVening-the
wood fire especially. Moreover, the
frosts help to color the foliage, although
in this country the deciduous trees drop
the greater part of their foliage before
the frosts come. The soft naples,
elms, white birches and locust trees,
which have been naturalized here, for
the most part, have cast their leaves.
Yet the naples take on wealth of col
or before the leaves fall; so the frost
does not do all the coloring. Even
the eucalyptus, which casts its leaves at
midsummer and continues dropping
them until late in autumn, has wealth
of color which is hardly noticed. The
coniferous trees prevail so largely in
California that the high colors of decid-
uous trees which grow ON the hillsides
and eli IF CfafnC
are rarely seen here. Yet in every dell
after the first frosts have come in this
latitude, one may find patches of color
shading off from gold to scarlet, with
great many subdued tones, which art
lists, who are good colorists, do not fail
to notice. The frs and the pines clothe
many of the mountains in eternal
green. When they are bare, they are as
desolate as in Spain until the vernal sea-
son sets in.
The first rains have already come.
But the winter rains have not yet APP
peared. There is sort of hush between
autumn and winter. If one goes to the
wood, he will hardly hear any other.
sound than that of the harsh and OBJ
streperous blue-jay. Here and there
will be q tapping on the trunks, and an
occasional squirrel descends to see what
provision in the way of acorns there
may yet be left on the ground. In the
open, where the ground is soft, there
are the tracks of the sneaking coyote.
Even owls cease in a measure to boot in
the winter season, and the mournful
sound of doves has altogether ceased.
A great silence has fallen upon the
woods. There is hardly singing bird.
The linnets in the suburban gardens,
which two months ago were so active in
feasting on the ripe fruit, beginning
with cherries, and continuing until the
last ripe pear had disappeared, have
become silent also. No more songs and
no more depredations, for the good rea-
son that there is nothing to steal, and
the pairing season has not begun. The
white frosts are the fitting introduction
of winter. They precede the heavier
rains.
The trade winds have died out. They
will not prevail in this latitude before
the middle of next May. Some are un-
kind enough to say that it is pity that
they should ever prevail, But these
winds are the Lords scavengers, sent
up as so many messengers from the salt
ocean to deliver the city from plaques
and pestilence. San Francisco has not
been clean city from the day of its
foundation. There is Oriental dirt, and
Occidental dirt It has come to be a
foreign city. Merchandise fills the side
walks, and in many places crowds the
pedestrian into the street Offal is
thrown there. The six months trade
winds of summer and the six months
rain are the two sanitary agents which
keep watch and ward over the city. |
The most dangerous weeks of the year,
on the score of health, are those when |
neither the trade winds nor the rains
prevail The winter season being less
pronounced in this latitude, there is
less disposition to store up anything. |
Ali the season is open, and even now
the bees are making honey, or are go
ing to rob other hives. They get a part |
of their honey honestly, and, as to the
rest, they do not scruple to get it dis
honestly. San Francisco Bulletin.