The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-01-27
WET -; SIGNS.
Natures Means .: ;1::i. Ing the Coming
OF 2 :-,Ir;N.

The wind r:>:'>. fore:"iiin@ storm.
II cries and maan; at the window as if
it lamcn.ed The c;:!! i wa> powcr!cSS to
prevent. Il is I sHln,I which tries the
nerves already >:%E;ng is the electric
stimulus is Withdrawn ira.n;hc air. The
low spirits We are unable 20 account for
arc often caused bvthc suspension fthe
bra"inr. positive electric current during
4 change Of weather. too slight, per-
hapS. Tor Us 10 notice This sinking of
spirits uncGn>;.;ot:sly leads sensitive peo-
pie to regard the "ry Of the wind rs 4
sort of ban<l:cc warning of disaster and
wreck. This i one Of the Oldest super
stitionS IL IL, world. for before the time
of Virgil and .Ihcocr:;i:>. when to Greek
and E;luriaA IN eclipse was the frown
of an offended ,i";tv and 4 comet was a
| fiery !.l;~< .l.-cI' ri wrath. The >;g! OF the
wind was f;,li of lmuttcrablc portcnts.
| In o!dcn dayS. when window frames
were not ~ c:o>e rs OURS and chimney
crannics offered pipe for any tune the
wind chose 10 play upon it. imaginative
cot; rs wove many 4 legend OF demons
of the air and witches slri2hing discord
and horror. Is ii
The cloudy air Was i:i:cd :c,;nd about
With li"wimg cries and woful. waiing plants
O,d-coumlry tradition is full of such
tales. and we are all primitive enough
to feel 4 to:lch of creeping dread at the
c!lrich voices OF the wind. forgctful that
the cl;,mor and wailin@ is only the wind
forcing itself through i crevicc too small
for it.
The world is full Of Superstitions which
have arisen as naturally us the childish
dread of the wailinS of the wind. But
YOU must be sure that these well-worn
ideas have neither meaning nor worth
| before YOU throw them away. A super
stition is not always L thing TO be
laughed at. . truth which tie latest re-
search of science Strikingly illustrates.
In places on the west coast of Eng
land, on the calmcst, quietest of days, q
strange, hollow moan is heard from a
distance at sea. although the waves lie
sleeping at ones feet Fifty years ago
the coast folk believed it the voice of q
spirit, bv the old heather Saxon name
of Bucca, which foretold tempest and
woe. You hear the voice now, ominous
as of yore. but You know tha. t is the
noise OF q storm so far Oft on the Atlantic
that its swell has not even reached
shore Sound travels so much faster
than currents of air that the tempest
reaches the ear long before the first
ripple of wind touches the check. Sound
in air travels about thirteen miles a
minute; in wa,cr four times as fast. out
stripping the speed of any tornado
known. The shore at these places
gathers the sound as in the drum of the
ear. and currents striking eastward
carry the roar OF storms which are
sweeping midocean hundreds of leagues
away, not blast of which may ever
vex the shore. It is wonderful what
carriers of sound and motion the great
empty spaces of the ocean are. Before
gale is felt in the British isles 4 Heavy
swell sets the lightship swinging at the
station of the kiSh and Cookie Cat,
while at Valcntia the surf rises twenty
four hours before the storm reaches that
projecting point In the bay of Mon
terev, California. the billows come tear
/ inc in from the Pacific while the day IS
perfectly calm. y cyclone off days at
sea has sent these surgcs to tell the
shore of its work.
When distant hills look clear, sailors
forbodc storm. When instead of its
usual haze. Blue hill. rs seen from Ded-
ham. invites the cyc to pierce its dells
and woody paths in singular cleanesS,
we know il is the las; OF our good
weather for awhile. How is this? a
great German observer SAYS the moisture
| in the air washes Its dust and impurities
away. leaving this beautiful clearness.
But this reason fails 10 be satisfactory.
Why isn't it rs clear after . rain rs well
as before il. when we know the WOODS
fold their biucSt mist about them, as If
to keep Their r>cc>se> fresh? prefer
the theory that the air before 4 storm
has u retract;ng quality which brings
distances near. like the glasses OF a tcle-
scope. How does it gain this quality at
one time and not at another? Perhaps
by the different arrangement OF It's mole
culeS by the alteration of the electric
current so that various layers OF the air
act like lenses in 4 degree. One 1lndS
the same lcnsc-like quality in the air OF
Arizona plains when mirage il visible,
and on the northwest prairies, when at
times it is like looking through great
prism, and the slopes are outlined with
purple and laid with roseato tinges OF
enchsnting harmony.
You have heard OF the old 81 gns and
sayings about the right time of the moon
for sowing seeds and expecting rain at
such quarter, and YOU have laughed
at the idea that the moon had anything
to do with the affairs Of the earth beyond
giving light like big lantern. I'm
fact," writes one English scientist, ''thc
influence of the moon on the weather is
as mythical as its influence over human
lifen Presently the same writer speaks
Of the powerful agency Of the moon in
causing tides of ocean and of air, sub
iect to the same tidal influences.
Farther he declares that changes CT
the weather are associated with various
aspects OF lie MOON" Mr. Park Harri-
son, one OF the closest observers OF
modern times, after studying mass OF
observations, concludes that there is a
tendency in the moon to warm the
earth at her first quarter and cool it at
the third, slightly but pcrceptiblT. MIR.
GIaiShcr, the celebrated mcteorologlSt,
finds that there are more north winds
in onc-half of the moons period and
more south winds in the other-causcs
snite sufficient to affect sach susceptible
things as tie germs OF seed.
| n, I,,,.;nr il,. .i;oht . additional heat