Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-01-24

Ir'atvd IL fitq'nmine parish. For three
az. lglrt,r months the total rainfall
h2s Le . h1.t a fraction over three inches,
or frOt les than common; the city els
terms are generally dry, and the people
are using river winter. BY way of con-
ISOLATION, il is added that the ice factories
q the city are producing ice at the rate OF
i ttU l. ns - month. and can. if needed,
pIouuce 500 tons a day. at a cost Of So q
ton.
In Charleston the mean temperature
or Pc, rlbor was co deg. and the rain
( \ ie.- tan a third OF an inch. II the
pe.Ii!s were not afraid Of late frosts,
they ~ .;lI agree to supply northern
IN. ri. - ~ ilh early Vegetables ten weeks
ahead If the usual time; and if the pres
t,.i ". ,i.i,ar continues cotton could be
pie',od in May Instead of October. AT
$ lacns", Ny, garden roses have devel-
op-d and several sorts Of shrubs have
{, rmed leaf while the air has been
warmer generally than in any winter
sine" 1929. In all New England, save a
Thin skin" ON few of the most north
crn lakes, there is no ice. while on the
eastern end of Long Island, which gets
Tire warrn wave al its strongest, dande-
Iio 5 are in full bloom where the earth is
ordinarily hidden by snow.
Explanations abound. But they do
mot exl .i9in. 1t is, Of course, known that
he winter storms from west to east,
or rast-northeast, are moving across the
l. %,
mills north Of tile usual line. and that.
a. the storm center creates a suction
dra wing side winds towards it, this op-
crates TO bring up warm winds from the
south; tat why do the storms go SO much
further north?
The first explanation offered was the
now f,u1liar one, the maximum Tor min
,n.t-sio Of sun spots. But that is com
plc,ely demolished by the records for
many wears showing no connection be
tween sun spots and warm or cold
winters. I'm explanation Just fan
ciful enough to MAKE it popular W as
that Of the Gulf Stream; many cap
tina cont nd that it is gradually draw
ing nrarnF the Atlantic coast. and there
fore givt-; us warm and foggy weather.
quite English. you knaw." There are
three conclusive answers 10 that. First,
the mHft.r Is not SO; the Gulf Stream
swaN> a. rioved upon by winds and
other currents but its central line is
int whore II was when first To-
Gated in the charts. Second. England
and western Europe generally have
their usual winters. And thirdly.
and most conclusive Of all. the win
ter is even more abnormal west Of the
Aileghaui' $. away up in the northwest
and at the west md of the Gulf Of Mex
leo. than Oh the Atlantic coast The
Gulf StrrnW il Il big thing. but it could
not "a .- -r-,n {. IDS in Missouri in
January
y few -ua.rscien;it.c people are in
cliu,d to fail back on the late Professor
James Wat>ons favorite theory: that the
earth. sun and solar system, in their
grand sweep through space, pass through
great hcii- of heat and cold-great
zones which fill uncounted millions
of miles Of the interstellar void. 1t is
now generally conceded that the illimit-
able space through which the stars are
scattered about as thickiy in proportion,
perhaps, rs if hundred pin heads were
distributed over the state Of Texas is
filled with some stance extremely
tenuous. 0f course, hut still substance,
or gas il You please. And it may well
bc that ii has great waves of heat through
which the whining systems plunge
Only, We cannot prove it just now
S,r-t pfiun. the local weather official
Of New York city. propounls most
Startling il,eory. and very plausible too;
bet tho. 0i;p hear il for the first time
viii tI' 10 th,nk willie before they
can d, e - h. clad or sorry. His the
o., i,tti.f i. this. as outlined recently
in H.. : So York Sun: The change ia
p,rl,' a.. r. he litcd States generally is
% '.aNv g. isJer vi1ttrs. and the cause is
that new storm center has been estab-
lished by the settlement, irrigation and
redemption of a once arid region in the
far west. From the Black Hills to the
mou h Of the Rio Grande and from longi-
tude 81 leg, or Whereabouts. to an I'M
American Desert" Settlement and irri-
cation have wonderfully changed its
character. 1t is scarcely an exaggeration
to say that millions OF acres have been
covered with timber since 1850. Within
the memory of men still living the buff
falo grass clothed the western bluffs of
the Missouri. Then the dry winds swept
over the plains without hindrance. Now
artificial groves, ponds. fountains, plowed
fields and irrigating bitches and reser-
voirs create clouds. \ new storm cen
ter has been made by the hand of man.
In demonstration Sergt. Dunn says
that New Yorker who, within a year
or two has invested thousands Of dollar
in an irrigation company in Colorado re-
Gently called on him to tell the story Of
his i'll luck After the bitches Of the
company had been dug at great expense
and the water had been turned on, the
company began to look for customers to
buy their water. But the construction
of the great irrigation system itself
brought on natural rainfall. which has
continued at intervals ever since. The
irrigation company has conferred great
boon upon the neighborhood. but it re-
eeives only thanks for its pay
The annexed map illustrates the won
dsrfu change in the once .'far west"
ard arid belt. q eourss the ssrreaat's