Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-08
A PROPHETS REVENGE
The Weather Man Wearied Of Past
Failures Mars a Bright Day.
HE LAUGHSTHE CROWD TO SCORN.
Sergeant Stewart in Great Glee Over Pre-
dicted Cold Day.
THE GAY CROWDS DISCONTINUE

A malignant expression Of ghoulish glee
rested upon the sallow features of the
weather man yesterday as he nestled in his
chinchilla overcoat and nuttered little
idotic words that sounded like IT told you
So" The weather man was cold, but he
was happy; one Of his predictions had come
true, and thereat he rejoiced.
The weather man foretold that the tenn
perature would fall; that the people OF
Western Pennsylvania would shiver and
shake; that the face of the earth would be
covered by light frost and various other
unkind things And, as the chill, bleak
sky, in the Schmidt building over
on Fifth avenue, he rubbed his
thin hands together and chuckled inwardly.
But his cup of joy was not filed to over
flowing until along toward the early hours
OF the afternoon, where the matinee girls
were getting ready to start for town. Then
the somber, dark heavens were unveiled
and the bright, soul-inspiring SUMS rays
bathed the grimy streets with the oft-writ-
ten-of golden flood of light
The Weather Sharp Congratulates Himself
The weather man turned his eyes rever-
emily toward the sun, and he repeated, II
told you so," for the ninety-third time
since the break of day. Then he stepped to
the window and watched the changing
phantasmagoric of the crowds far below.
At first the crowd wrs clothed in winter
darkness The dark overcoats of the men,
the cozy furs of the ladies, and the cold
blue looks of the faces made fitting the garb
of the dav. Then, as the chunks of clouds
drifted and dropped farther apart, there was
the beginning Of change. Occasionally
bright hued bit of headgear fitted in and
out among the throng. The weather mans
eyes sparkled again, he murmured, II told
you so."
Warmer was the air, brighter were the
rays and the change in the crowd went on.
Incoming cars discharged their heavy but
fascinating loads. The matinee crowds
were coming in. The crowd presented the
spectacle of a forest ground just after the
snow has melted, with the darkness relieved
here and there with dainty snowdrop,
only here the snowdrops came from the
milliners instead of mother earth. The
somber crowd was relieved with various
clusters Of spring suited females. An occa-
sional bouquet of bevy of dear, dimpled
daughters and sisters of brightest hued
suits wended their erratic way, humping
into knots of darker costumed ones with
courage begot of companionship. The
weather mans smile broadened and his
lips moved as he spoke the time-honored
phrase.
Spring Girls Flirting With Winter.
More cars, more clusters, more bouquets,
and now the dark relieved the brightness.
The latter predomlnates. The stream of
passersby is like panoramic view of days
long agone, dazzling array of the most ex-
travagant colors decking equally e1travagant
fair ones Bonnets worth their ght in cop
per, bonnets worth their weight in gold,
and bonnets of no weight at all and vet
worth more than ALL Suits of flow
ing fullness, suits of painful tight
ness, basques cut high, basques
cut low, basques which no one knew how
thew were cut. Opera cloaks of ugly style,
opera cloaks of attractive style and opera
cloaks of no style at all, out which were fae
more bewitching than those with style. The
gay crowd increased and surged and the
weather man smiled on.
Suddenly the weather man ceased his
smilings and mutterings He moved mys-
teriouslv toward his peculiar machines.
He passed his hands through the air as does
Fannie Davenport in the storm scene. He
began singing a weird accompaniment to the
movements of his hands, and the eyes of the
Office cat took on a dark green hue, and he
mewe1 peculiarly.
The heavens darkened. A chill, cutting
wind sprang from the Soho regions and
came cavorting down the street like the
witches after poor old Tam O'Shanter's
mare. The wind was the kind that robbed
Poe OF his Annabel Lee. 1t was heartless
weather mans wind.
The Matinee Girl Was Mad.
The crowd received the wind coldly and
surlily. They were not to blame, for the
wind managed to scurry in and out among
that gaily-dressed throng with an utter
disregard for sex or condition.
The bare-footed newsboy forgot to
wait for the baseball score and hustled
about to sell his papers The sporty boy on
the corner forgot to ogle every feminine
passerby and sought the enervating atmos-
phere Of the nearest buffet. The matinee
girl looked surprised, shivered, laughed
dolefuly and then hastened on. The aspect
of the crowd again changed. all was hurry,
rush and hustle and still the wind kept up
his unkind play.
Far up in the little dark room ofthe
signal service Office was a peculiar scene.
The Office cat was perched on a slowly NOV
ing machine. His eyes burned with, feline
pleasure as he watched the ac-
tions of the weather man. The
latter laughed fendishly. He ran
to the window, looked down on the unfortu-
nate ones below and then danced an insane
Jig. His eyes shone strangely. His lips
moved and on the chill air was waited the