The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1889-05-04

who attribute the violence of the ele
ments at certain periods to equinoc-
tial storms to learn from SO good ar
authority as Gen. Greedy, the head
of the weather bureau at Washing
ton. that there are no .equinoctial
storms. The popular belief in the
occurrence of storms on the 21st Of
March and the 2lst Of September
rests largely, it appears, on the as.
sumption that they ought to occur
at such dates. The 2Ist of March
marks the exchange of the long
nights and short days of the winter
for the short nights and long days
of the summer, while the 21st OF
September marks the time when the
long days and short nights of the
summer are exchanged for the short
days and long nights of the winter.
1t seems but reasonable to the anna
teur meteorological that at the time
Of these changes there should be q
dislocation of the weather arrange
ments of the one season, SO to speak,
and the substitution of other entire
ly different arrangements, the move
ment being attended with NANTES
tations of violence proportional to
the greatness of the difference be-
tween summer and winter. Such
may be said to be the popular view.
To Gen. Greedy the equinoxes pre-
sent themselves in an entirely diff
ferent aspect. ''The equinoxes," he
observes ''are imaginary points at
the intersection of the circle describ-
ed by the earth about the sun with a
plane of the earth's equator extend
ed till it strikes the imaginary dome
of the sky" and they are nothing
more than this. Hence "it is very
evident he says, shat they can
have absolutely no influence. on
storms. II might be thought that
somehow the frightening of the day
at the spring equinox might affect
the weather, but, as this frightening
amounts to only about 81 minutes
daily and and is continuous action,
lasting for weeks before and after
the equinox, the effect is absolutely
nothing" Observations made in
England over period Of fourteen
years and in this country over a
period Of sixteen years show that
storms do not occur uniformly on
March 81, or September 81. The
English records chronicle As storms
in March, but none on the 21st. OF
eighteen storms in September, but
one occurred on the 21st. If the
figures prove anything, they prove
that the 2lst is not the charmed
date, but that storms are "much
more abundant just before and after
the equinoxes than near them" The
American statistics include the
storm-centres observed between the
lO2d meridian and the Atlantic on
each day from the Is to the 26th of
March and September in each year
from 1878 to 1883. "They show, .
says Gen. Greedy, ian increase on the
2lst of March and a elimination on
September 21' As respects the
present year, and the chief signal
officer observes that the Atlantic
coast alone had any rain or high
wind on March 20, 81, or %, the
country having had unusually calm
and clear weather on those DAYS.
Assuming that the equinox brings a
storm for one part of the country, it
could not well do the same for the
whole area of the United States.
Changes of the weather are brought
to us by movements of the atmos-
phere across the country from west
to east at intervals Of three or four
days. If the east has one kind of
weather on given day the far west
almost invariably has a different
kind. "The evidence preponderates
largely" Gen. Greedy concludes, Sin
favor of the view that there is no
storm period occurring each 21st of
March and September. The popular
belief is entirely based on the fact
that our storms during March oc-
cured at an average interval of about
four days. If a storm occurs two or
three days before or after the 81, it
is regarded as the sequinoctiar and
no thought is given to the fact that
in the regular order of things a storm
is bound to occur on one of those
days" We may continue, therefore,
it appears, to call storms occurring
on or near the 21st of March and
September ''equinoctial,n provided
only we understand clearly that the
equinox does not produce them.
They are mere condolences, which,
like our 4th of July storms and the
st. Patrick's drizzle, cannot he as
sumed to have any causal connection
with particular dates.
That is a good story about an
evangelist who went over the State
painting upon rocks, "What Shall 1
Do To &c Saved?'' A patent medi-
cine advci tiser followed him and I'M
der the question added this reply:
Use Blanks Cure for Consumption"
When the text painter heard Of the
patent medicine mans pernicious
activity he went over the ground
again and nainfnd halow Tho advnv.