The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1888-05-19
WEATHEiI sIGNs.
rndications OF Change Furnished by
|sS' Natures signal Service.

SSsAt>. VI ''SpVhSA ASp 10
talk knowingly. The man who can
force an approaching storm and can
I-giye such timely Warnings to his neigh
boE as to allow. him to prepare for it, is
apnblic benefactor; and did we care
fully observe nature we could soon be-
come prophets of reputation even in
tonra own country 3. Storms ana great
|2changes are shocksto natures nervous
system, and there are always Fremont
5toryisymptoms. Z Our weather bureau,
with its flags and. .hieroglyphlcs, is re-
l%gatded as something neE.a progress
Isslon in;a progressive age-and yet it Is
merely an infringement on q system Of
signals adopted by nature, as old rs the
Oldest hills. Nature Knows our needs
and she knows We e2mtist sbe warned Of
weather changes; hence her warnings.
8IlfaIiW hat are these signals2 Where are
they displayedpp Every where; animals,
birds and ipsectscan read them. Sen
men and country folk understand them.
| Some time ago statement. concerning
some ants was published in the papers.
1t seems myriads loG these insects in-
shabited section Of low bottom land.
One day-a pataeularly bright day4i
they were, noticed le8Ying their dwell
ings for the highgrodnds. In immense
masses the exodus continued until ap-
,parently the last antfiad moved. Then
came u few clouds, then great pail Of
ashen vap0r, and q terrific rain-storm
completely inundated .fhe bottom where
the ants had had their. homes. A gen.
tleman related to men very similar in
%cident, He was in Arkansas, and In
Shis neighborhood wash stretch of rather
| depressed country thst, by reason Of its
rank vegetation, Waah b favorite hunt
ing ground. IT :akoGnded with game.
Suddenly the creatures vanished. The
deer, the cougar and the catamount
could only be found in the highlands.
A fewadays after this yagary was noted
came asviolent STORM. a river burst
It's banks and, for the first time in many
years, the region mentioned was COM
pletely flooded. Now, how did these
creatures foresee these weather changesy
BY instinct? Yes, instinct enabled
them to read the warnings given by ma
ture's signal service. What are these
signals? Where can they be seen9
SIGNS oF4TIs,2 MOON.
Everywhere; the moon is some etimes
used as q storm.hag. ). 60 out some
night and gaze at the clear heavens in
which every star sparkles like diam
ond. Around the moon is curious
misty halo. One might ALMOST COM
pare her to the pallid face Of affair saint
encircled with an aureole Of glory. It
.is an unfailing admonition that bad
| weather is near at hand. For long
time man has been prone to credit the
moon with weather wisdom in some
cases without any good ground. 1 fear
Lave you never crossed dewy meadow
Withan old negro and had him point
to the crescent moon and say, stDere's
| goin' to be fallin' weddah, massa; ;'dat's
a wet moon2" If the crescent was in-
verted, some sable astronomers predict
ed rain, because the water was being
| poured out Of the moon, Other wealth
er pundits on the plantation would hold
| to the contrary. e., that such posi-
tion showed the water had all run out
of the moon and hence drouth inn
pended. Frequently violent discussions
arose on this point and the prophecy
was. rather unsatisfactory. Many al.
manacs profess to base their conject.
ures as to the weather on the time Of
day or night at which the moon changes.
DR.. Foster, an eminent meterologist of
Bruges. informed the English Astrono-
mical Society that many years. careful
observation on his part and that Of his
father resulted in the discovery that
new moon on Saturday was inyaria-
bly, followed by twenty days Of wet and
windy weather. This prognostication
may be easily determined By little
watchfulness and looks as reasonable as
the grounding prophecy or that Of
moist old ST. Swithin. In fact. this
supposed effect Of Saturday moon on
the weather obtains among the Eu-
ropean FOLKLORE and even. with the
| Chinese.
THE WIND.
The wind is rusty prophet. If o
! steady. piercing nor easter Is sending
the rain plashing against your windows.
mark when It changes. If 1t yeers from
east to northwest and clears the clouds
away natures. storm signal Is still
hoisted. If, however, it goes to tile
northwest, via tho south, you can fold
up your umbrella. In the first case the
clear weather will be temporary. In
the second the stormy clements are
completely exhausted.
The sun takes hand in weather pre-
diction, .If lie lifts his face above the
eastern horizon, takes q peep at the
world and then creeps behind a veil
Of clouds--like a young life made som.
bre by great grief before it could reach
meridian--thenf foul weather is at band.
/ Your trusty old chimney that has been
staring in open-mouthed wonder at the
heavens this hundred years is one Of
natures signal posts. If the smoke
evinces q repugnance to going toward