St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-07-21
TOPICAL TALK.
The Mystery Of course you are
talking about the
of Rain. weather these days.

about the mysteries of rain-about the
methods of the transportation and con-
eentration of moisture in the atmos-
phere? Meteorological science can de-
termine the proportion Of moisture in
the air within reach, but what does it
know about the vast bodies of water
stored in the clouds above us and ready
without moments warning to pour
their floods upon US? The truth is, the
world has made very little progress in
weatherology. Thousands of years ago
people could discern by the face of the
sky in the evening whether it would be
fair or foul weather the next day. That
is the most our great weather bu-
reau, maintained at public eX-
pense and under government direc-
ton, can do; and it doesn't always do
that. By the formation of water drops
on the outside of an ice pitcher you can
tell that there is greater or less guam
tity of moisture in the air around the
pitcher, and instruments are in use to
tell the relative amount. But that
doesn't give us any knowledge of what
quantity OF rain is stored in the clouds,
of when it is going to fall, or upon what
particular spot it is going to light.
There is popular theory that the Vapor
Of water is carried between the atoms
of air as water is contained in the pores
Of a sponge; yet who can tell how the
tons and tons of rain, snow, and hail
are held aloft in the clouds and trans
ported over seas and across continents?
1t has not been great while ago that
rain clouds gathered over the Northwest
and then passed on with their great
volumes of water, nearly half across
the continent, to be poured down in
floods upon the mountains of PennSyl-
yania, while the wheat fields of Dakota
and Minnesota were parched by the
drought. There is nothing we discuss
so much of which we really know so
little as the weather.
Winter Wheat Talking about rain
and weather, the most
Growing. natural thing to do is
to fall to chatting
about the prospects of the wheat crop.
There is a sort of a dismal foreboding
in the mind of every one that the spring
wheat crop is going to be comparative
failure, and that as a result we are 60
ing to have a continuation of dull times.
The winter wheat crop south and east
of us has been harvested, and there is
more than an average yield. This has
started an inquiry in the minds of some
of our Northwestern wheat growers as
to the advisability of experimenting
| ,&a,, ,I,pa In
l am inclined to think that the subject
is worth their attention. There is
field of winter wheat between Still
water and Forest Lake which the best
judges say will yield thirty-fve bushels
to the acre. If all the wheat sOWn in
this state and in Dakota had been sown
last fall the probabilities are the yield
would have been three times greater
than it now promises to be. 1t is true
last winter was an exceptionally open
winter, yet it is question whether the
risks of hard winters are greater than
we experience from the winds and
droughts of the spring season. My
friend MARSH, the hotel man at Forest
Lake, who is an old settler and an ex-
perenced farmer, suggested that our
Minnesota wheat growers should eXpe-
riment with winter wheat to the extent
of growing four or five acres each sea-
son for several years.. and then compare
the results with the spring-sown wheat
Turf This week we are to
have the first genu-
Superstitions. inc, heightened run
ming race in the his
tory of the Northwest, and the men
who are in the habit of backing their
| judgment of fast horses with their
money are already on the lookout for
those peculiar signs and omenS which,
according to popular superstition, pre-
sage the results of race. 1t may not
be generally known, yet it is true, that
turfmen are as superstitious as actors.
Yet, unlike actors, they regard the
presence of hunchback as a sign of
| luck. Many an actor has refused to
play because he saw hunchback in the
audience. The sight of one in the
grand stand rejoices the heart of turf
man. Turfmen say if you are in search
| of good luck never let hunchback
pass without touching his hump-no
matter how lightly, even with the tips
of the fingers will do. To shake hands
with cross-eyed woman is token of
good luck for man who is betting on
horse race, bnt an omen of ill luck for
| the female better. If a woman who
backs her judgment on horsefiesh with
her money shakes hands with cross
eyed man she will win. All pa
irons of the race course are firm
believers in the old superstition
about seeing the new moon first.
1t is good luck to see it over the right
shoulder, bad luck to see it over the left,
| but the best luck of all to look at it full
in the face with money in your pocket.
| The money must be turned over while
looking at the moon, and it will double
itself during the next twenty-four hours.
| The number Is is a "hoodOo." If
there are thirteen horses entered for a
race there will be an accident. and no
body ever backs the one numbered IS.
The number is the favorite number on
| the course. 1t is lucky number to bet
| on. Most turfmen have their mascots
| in some form or other. An old race
| goer told me the other day that several
years ago he found and picked up S.
| gold piece while going through the
| gates at Jerome Park, and Immediately
| took it as ''tip" that he would be sue
cessful. He was, and ever since. when
he had that gold piece in his pocket, he
won, and when by any chance he hap
pened to be without it he was sure to
lose. l once knew Kentucky horse
man who always carried brier pipe in
his left hip pocket for luck. He told