The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-10-20
OUR MILD WINTERS.
Misrepresentation Used to Pre-
vail Regarding Them.
PIONEER WEATHER STORIES.
ne FIRST Chinese Cock ON Puget Seund
Or. Teimie-A surgeca's Mania
TOR AmPusation.

IGNORANCE not unmfngied with
some Prejudice and lncrednlisy. existed
abroad Tor many years in regard to the cll-
mate OF Washington territory. And this
the earnest efforts OF the
. nfss settlers and the pioneer press 10 en-
.igbten the outside rorld Blu. il would not
&c enlightened. for the reason that many
intelligent Eastern people ohstinaselv rser-
sisted IN thinking that il ought, and there
lore must, rain. hail. snos and freeze here
hine months in the year: such weather be-
ing me natural sequence OF its high north
eTh latitude. In vain were thee assured OF
the contrary. il could not be other than ther
snought and believed. Ii was idle for scien-
saAsc and scholarly men. some of whom kept
meteorological records In early DAYS. 10 as
ssst that tie most equahle and healthfsI
safiate on the globe Was found on Puget
AoaAs lev or none would credit il. MANY
WHO located permanently here were skep-
sicai anil yearsof observation and expert
ence convinced them: and not few. ever,
70 this day, retain the delnsion that the ac-
faai rainfall is much greater in duration
asid quantity than the records give evil
dence of
Some twenty years ago cultured and
sensible lady of Olympia, who had then
been IN the territory but a few weeks. but
VINO had come to stay, heard so many
conflicting and exaggerated reports of the
winter rains that she could believe none of
shem Many people Informed her that
~ rained necessarily for six months and
she did hot credit it. DESTROYS OF getting
the truth. she concluded to keep a weather
asary. AT the commencement OF the rainy
season she entered upon her self-imposed
task. faithfully recording each morning and
evening the condition OF the weather. For
SIX months she kept the record, never
ofitting IN single instance the daily en-
tries. Then she exhibited the result. TO the
confusion Of the grumbiers and TO her own
satisfaction. 1t had been an ordinary win
ter, with the usual amount of rain, not an
exceptional one like that of 1850 This
iady's diary showed that there had actually
been more sunny than rainy days during
That horribly wet winter as many often
term IT, And so IL Is with our most dis
agreeable winters, they are never so bad as
some people imagine them to be.
In 1862 genial doctor named Price came
to Puget sound from the East and tempo
rarily located in Steiiacoom. For some
months he skirmished around for practice,
but the population was too sparse and the
climate too healthy to afford him liveli-
hood at his profession. After drifting to
and fro on the Sound for year or two,
visiting in turn the towns and mill ports
from Olympia TO the straits, and meeting
nowhere sufficient encouragement to in
duee him to settle permanently, DIR. Price
departed for Southern California. For
three years he remained i'm that sunny
clime-three years OF uninterrupted drouth,
during which every blade OF grass and
every shrub shriyeled and died from lack
of moisture. Thousands of sheep and
cattle met the same fate from the same
cause-lack of life-giving and life-sustain-
ing rains. OF patients the doctor found
enough there, but he wanted something
more than patients. The incessant sun
and dust and parched vegetation soon be-
came monotonous, and he ionged for the
verdant fields ans. forests of Puget sound,
with its refreshing rains and numberiess
streams. At the close of the third winter
in the Sunny South DR.. Price turned his
steps northward. arriving in Olympia in
March. On the morning after his arrival
the sky. which had been clear for several
days, gradually assumed leaden hue from
gathering clouds. and soon a gentle rain
commenced falling. At this moment the
writer saw the doctor issuing from the
banking house OF Mr.. George A. Barnes, on
Main street As he stepped out on the side
walk he removed his broad-rimmed SOM
brero from his head, reverently turned his
face toward heaven, and said:
Thank God am once more in coun-
try where il rains"
The fervency with which these words
were uttered bore ample testimony to the
sincerity OF the speaker. Replacing the
sombrero upon his head. the doctor ex-
tended his hand in greeting and then
briefly related his experience III Southern
California; concluding the narrative by
saying that he would not receive that entire
country as gift il compelled TO live there.
Among the residents of Olympia. up
wards of twenty years ago, was highly
cultivated lady from Connecticut. where
she had lived all her days Ia the time of
coming to this territory to reioin her hus-
band She had been two years in Olympia
when circumstances demanded her return
10 her home i'm the East. The two years
She had nassed here were characterized by
no exceptional weather. the summers were
warm and dry. and the winters wet
and mild. with neither ice nor
snow To mark them as differing
from our ordinary winter seasons. On the
eve of the departure of this lady, at her re-
quest. | called. accompanied by my wife.
To bid her adieu. Rarely have | witnessed
grief so poignant as our departing friend
exhibited on this occasion. Amid sobs she
gave exnression Ia her sorrow at being
comuelled to leave a climate so delightful,
exclsiming:
II cannot tell YOU how deeply | dread 8
return and exposure 10 another Connect
cut winter The contemplation Of II nils
ne With unspeakahle terror"
twas late in the autumn, and wintry
blasts. snow and ice had already visited
the home she was going TO. tnhappiiy for
her She was very susceptible 60 extreme
cold, while our equahie climate was just
suited 10 and enjoyed in the largest measure
hy her. our rains had no dlsagreeahie
feature for her when contFasted with the
winters of her native state. Her residence
nj two years here had not effaced the rec
objection OF the terrible winters She had
passed through In the East; the thought of
returning brought them hack 10 memory
a. ylvidly as il but dav had elarea since
she last experienced their severity. To
othsrs the sultrv summer heat al the East
ern states is A source OF As mitch dread a.
the winters we're 80 this lady, aud the ar
ssora s,f 10th here ia soon discovered by in
,sgs3,rant ,eople Who are not inseuSshle of
heat and cold.
.f~ n uarhaas lors Of alvrapta bat