The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-12-26
THE THAw BRINGS NO FLOOD.
A Chinook Wind Dries Up the Snow
Its Blessed EEects.

Ats Diesseu Bects'
The thaw which set in on Thursday
night seems to have been confined to the
valleys and the country Immediately bor-
dering on the Sound, and not to have ex-
tended to the mountains, just as was the
case with the snowstorm. Reports from
the mountains are that there was slight
frost on Saturday night. Though the
White, Green and Cedar rivers were some
what swollen by the melted snow from
the valleys there was no sign that a flood
was approaching. and none is likely unit.
chinook wind melts the snow on the
mountains
The explanation Of the rapid melting
of the snow without freshet in the rivers
is probably contained in the following
communication from Hon. Eugene Semple
on the chinook wind:
To The EDITOR: The wind that blew swiftly
last night about O'Clock was a chinook wind.
II took the snow away in a very short time
without raising the streams This is the lead
ing Characteristic of the chinook wind. The
ordinary wind that brings a change of tempera-
turs and meits the ice and snow. causing it to
turn to water and flow off down the gullies
ana canyons to the rivers and the ocean.
Is not a chinook wind. We had that, accom-
panied by rain, on Friday. Last night we had a
chinook wind for a few hours, and the usual
magical effects were TO be noticed this morning.
l have seen six inches of snow disappear from
the Walia Walla hills in four hours before q Chi
mock wind. and the streams were not raised or
discolored. The wind blew through the snow
and dried it up instead of melting it. Near Ce-
lilo. On the Columbia river, the rocks come
down on both sides and hold the river
in their jaws. When the floating leo is
heavy enough, it gorges at that place, and piles
hgxk xs-f,, a
will reduce this gorge to nothing in few hour.
The Ice does not become sodden and disinte-
CRATE, as in ordinary thew. The wind blow.
against 1t. and through the crevices, until great
holes are made The ice remains blue and
brittle. and when piece becomes dislodged at
the top it ratt.es against the other pieces the
way TO the water below. There Is no dripping
water There are no icicles. The ice is dried
up and carried away in impalpable mist.
When the chinook wind blows anyone can go
out without a coat or hat in the fiddle OF the
winter. Its breath is soft even when it blows at
nigh speed. Sometimes it envelops the coun-
try as though it had settled down from above.
At first there are little patches of cold air ana
little patches of warm air They 90 gently
by and the warm patches seem to kiss
you as loved one might, in gentle
surprise. as you swing in hammock under the
summer trees. An old settler of the Columbia
river valley, when he feels the soft touch OF the
chinook on his cheek, viii turn towards it and
FIJI his lungs with its blessed vapor. and.
whether his lips move or not, there will be a
tenediction in his heart, and he will stop what
ever he is doing and stand still, exactly as a
man in some other country would stop whatever
he was doing and stand still when some grand
anthem from a master hand should suddenly
break upon his ear. The chinook wind never
blows long Whether it comes gently or bolster
ously it does its benefcent work i'll a few hours,
and goes, as it came, where no man knows.
Winter is its victim. When the cold seizes this
country its stay can only De short, and the poor
who have no Goals need only shiver for a little
while The chinook will come in at the cracks,
following the snow and frost like ferret
does rat, driving them to their death.
The coming and going OF the chinook
wind, its merciful appearance when il is
needed, and its wonderful qualities. have not
been explained, and should not be explained. 1
have been where its breath was most welcome to
me. Savage men will pray to the chinook when
they are bound and hungry, and to them it
is a spirit and blessing, softenng their hearts
and tanning their passions. Then let science
touch It not. but let ii remain dream OF ultra
mundane influence. coming from the Heaven Of
every man and representing the essence of
Mercy. EUGENE SHMPLE.
Seattle, Dec. *.