Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-12-09
THE INDIAN SUMMER.
WHEN IT COMES AND WHAT IS RE-
 sPoNsieLE FOR IT.

In Their Views Upon the Subject-How
 the Season Was Given Its Name-Is the
 Haze Caused by Smoke?
 There is great difference of opinion among those who are wise in weather lore as to the exact time when Indian summer makes it's appearance. some weather prophets declaring that it in- cludes every warm day between Mi chaelmas day, the 29th of September, and Christmas, while others locate it ill the month of October. Indeed, the opinions of scientists do not agree any better than those of ordinary indiyidu- als, but seem to be as hazy as the season itself
 After looking up much scientific data on the subject, and making a consensus of popular opinion, the fact seems established that this phenomenon of seasons really belongs to the month of November, although tho signal service notes say that if Indian summer does not come in October or November it will come ill winter, as if it were sort of movable season. Neither do scientists agree as to the cause Of that hay at- mosphere which accompanies tho season, a condition peculiar te North America It was attributed by early settlers in this country to the smoke from prairie fires kindled by the Indians-hence the name, tINdian summer. But it is now said by scientific investigators that the appearance of smoke is an optical illusion produced by peculiar condi- ton of the air, which might be compar- ed to dry fog. Sentimentalists declare that it is this dreamy haze which gives its great charm to this short delightful season, when the whole world of na- tnre appears like beautiful dream. It is the fifth season, the mellow ripeness of autumn, when creation stands still i'll lazy languorous mood, and the pic ture is vanishing and indistinet like one of Corot's landscapes. It is the gold en sunset of the year, brief and evanes- cent
 Like mirage, the Indian summer does not wait to be investigated. It is here-it is gena-before the would be investigator was aware of it's presence. It is such a restful, happy period that people are content to enjoy it without asking questions, yet there is much in its phenomena that is worth the most careful scientific investigation. 1t has been suggested that the dreamy haze which accompanies the season is com posed of animal life of such minute form as to be incapable of microscopic examination, but of such innumerable quantities that they obscure the atmos- phere and redden the sun. It is also charged to vegetable matter, but these are mere theories which have not yet been proved
 Another token by which this genial Indian summer makes itself known is the absolute silence of nature herself, as if sho were taking a vacation from winds that blow and clouds that shade. There is such a stiffness i'll the air from sunrise to sunset that sound itself seems to have gone asleep. But there is no loneliness i'll the silence. It is only as If everything were resting, bathed ill the happy sunshine. The flowers are gone. the singing birds have flown to their southern climes; the leaves have drop ped from tho trees when the Indian summer comes trailing her white veil to cover the desolation and filling all hearts with the tranquility of her gracious presence There is d tonic i'll the air she brings which chemists cannot bottle nor charge commercial rates for -whiffs of summers that have been contracted into few days and gone before we can an alyze them to say, "This is balsam, or that is balm" 1t is draft for the gods.
 The subject of Indian summer was investigated as long ago as. 1885, when Dr. Lyman Foot of the United States army in his report says that the Indians gave the season its name by calling it their "fall summer, which occurred i'll November The doctor was stationed at Fort Winnebago, Missouri territory, at the time and wrote from observation. He says,
 We arrived at this ,ans tue Sd day of last November. We .4res weeks of Indian summer, with @ll tic peculiar redness of tho sky in great perfection. ," He adds that he had long observed the season with curious attention ap ! calls for an expression of opinion on the sub ject from other observers.
 Professor Wiilet advanced the theory ill d report made to the government ill 1867 that the dry fog is real smoke, not produced by prairie fires, but the prod uct of chimneys. The late Professor Henry of the Smithsonian institution reported that portion of the haze fil- tered, was found to contain the lava of volcanoes and fragments of burned veg etables. Neither of these distinguished scientists added anything to the litera- ture of our Indian summer, so when doctors disagree it is not expected that ordinary observers will bees oAs to for mulate any tenable theory of it's Gi2.nse. The next best thing is to enjoy it's op- portunities, leaving its origin to the un- known -sourcc whence it is derived.
 New England is especially favored by this after summer guest In that land of rocks and rills the stiffness of the oc- casion is more delicious, the haze plnna poetic and the winds mort langu at in their passive acquiesce,ce i'll sh1s meditative mood of nature. Emerson must have writtersof this period:
 Twas of the charmed days
 Wlap ft,n pslni11 of to1 nf