The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-07-16
WITH THE WIND ~DUE EAST"


That is what the Model Farmer remarked
the other day after trying for three weeks
to disprove his own statement.
The Impractical Man Games along just
! then and began 10 make out of thin air
some patent contrivance for drying hay
in defiance of wind and weather-the
invention to bo called very apppro pri-
ately "Hay Kiln" The speaker limited
that he could be Induced, for price, to
promulgate his scheme with diagrams,
through the medium OF the press. But
we remembered an important engage
ment at that moment and had been trans
ported half mile in passing electric be-
fore the completion OF "the Kiln. Z"
1t chanced that the aforesaid engage
through rural regions where we had
ample opportunity to observe the evident
There was sun enough, but the east wind
was full of moisture, and the hay in
the meadows had a most wilted and be-
draggled appearance. There was no crisp
rustic in the swaths, and all the juices of
the crop seemed to be steaming and oozing
out. We didn't envy the .makers-not
a bit.
But when we came to compare our lot
with theirs, we found, after all, some
striking similarities. For hay field
isn't the only place where an east
wind may blow. We have known
it to lurk behind counters
and to float around the desks at the office,
and even to render things very uncom-
Portable at home. 1t isn't always chilly
while it blows from this quarter There
is plenty of heat, but it only seems to
generate steam and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
even tc threaten spontaneous combustion.
Some way, the goods on the counter don't
suit the shoppers, and matters are in a
heap at the Office, and as for the domestic
very marrow and is like wet blanket to
any kindling impulses of civility that one
may have fiattered oneself upon possess
ing.
There is no use trying to make hay, in
any sense of the phrase, while such state
OF things continues. And whether we
can change the weather indoors any more
that we can outside is question. Usually
there is nothing to be done but to keep
as cool as possible under the circum-
stances, and wait quietly for the currents
that circulate in the social and business
air, as well as in the ordinary ether, to do
their work OF purifying the atmosph ere
and regulating the temperature
Very likely when the wind does ch ange,
1t wheels around all at once when we least
expect it, and we find 1t grown suddenly
so bracing as to be almost shock to us.
There is always a convenient straw lying
about loose to indicate any change of
direction--it may be the tune that some
one at the desk in the opposite corner
begins whistling, or perhaps our favorite
pudding, that caps the climax Of the cosiest
meal we have had at our own table for As
hours.
We knew an enterprising young farmer
once who was the marvel of The country
round because during very unfavorable
season he did not lose a single hay-cut-
ting. His explanation was very simple;
he had intelligent confidence enough in
the signal service commission to make
their reports the basis OF his movements,
and so did the right thing every time.
We wonder whether some kind OF sig
nal service wouldn't be of value I'm busi-
ness houses and under domestic roofs.
We have an idea that IL wisely conducted
this might prove OF real value II would
forewarn US In time TO make preparations
against many sudden drenching with
thunder and lightning accompaniment,
and perhaps help us to rescue the en-
dangered fruits OF our hard work from
the downpour that seems determined to
drown out our little harvest.
But when, instead OF any such definite
tumult among the elements there sets In
an east wind, about the only thing to do
is to wait silently for the little indicat ion
OF n clearing sky and the warmth that
brings good cheer with 1t, and then make
the most OF the glorious weather.
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