The Worthington advance., 1888-03-01
On Praise Of the echlnook. y

III UU0U00 ~ Wu0 SuuvUyOORs
One Of the most curious and inter.
esting features Of the report Of Gov.
Semple of Washington territory to
the secretary of the interior, just
printed, is the bit of tradition and
rhetoric which he weaves about
zephyr that blows through tho mount
aims: 'The east wind" he says.
'the drying or chilling wind, according
to the season. that blows down the
Columbia river With great force some
times. was called by them the Walla
Walla wind. because it came to them
from the Walla Walla country. In
the winter this wind brings freezing
weather, and sometimes will close the
streams With ice. In the summer it Ia
a parching wind. and It's approach can
be noted for long distances, az 1t lifts
the dust and debris high in the air.
1t is an odious wind, and no one wish
e. it to blow upon them. Fortunate
ly, it's reign is always short. 1t rarely
prevails for more than q few hours,
but will sometimes continue for three
or four days.
ats enemy is the Chinook wind, 50
called by the Indians alluded to above
because it came to them from the di~
rection of the country of the Chinooks.
This is q balmy wind, coming from
kuro Slw0, or great Japanese current,
of the Pacific ocean. In the summer
it is . cool wind, and temp+rs the heat
of summer so that nowhere in Wash
ington territory do people fall down
with sunstroke- In winter it is
warm, moist wind, and is sometimes
slightly odorifer ous, as If spice.lad-n
from the tropics. 1t is so gentle upon
could not be noted by it's motion. and
is almost miraculous in its effects.
Snow and ice disappear before it with
rapidity, and it seems to be able to
blow for long distances between wallis
OF colder air without parting with it's
heat. Sometimes it constitutes an
upper current, in which case the re-
markable spectacle is witnessed OF
snow melting from the mounts ain tops
while the Thermometers in the valleys
register below the freezing point. At
other times it is g. surface current, and
follows the valleys and gorges as q,
flood might follow them. 1t seems TO-
bear healing upon its wings, like San
dalphon, the angel of prayer. and it
is not difficult to conceive that the
Indians would wish to personify it in
order to fix upon it their dev otions.
'"Ihis wind sometimes penetrates as
far as the upper stretches OF the Mis-
souri,. and even tempers the air on the
plains OF Dakota beyond the Rocky
mountains. Wherever it goes the
chains OF winter are unloosed and the
ice.bOund rivers are set free. The Chi
nook is the natural enemy of the obi
Gus east wind, and while, ordinarily,
it yields it's influence as gently as the
zephyrs that watt the thistle downs i'm
autumn, still there are times when the
two winds engage in giant conflicts and
fight for supremacy, now in the upper.
then in the lower strata, on the
mountains and in the valleys, alter
nately driving each other back and
forth, swaying the trees, tossing the
leaves and swlrling the rain drops or
the crystals of snow as the one or the
other advances. But the combat is
never long, and the victory is always
with the Chinook. The inhabitants
east OF the Cascade mountains, when
winter has seized them and the east
wind dashes snow in their faces, pray
Tor the Chinook to come. They look
by day for it's moist front and listen
by night for the noise of it's combat
with the east wind. and when it reach
es them they rejoice.
'Such is the Chinook wind. the
blessed wind of the far Northwest"