The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1895-04-10
THE INDIAN SUMMER.
WHEN IT COMES AND WHAT is RE.
sPoNsI6LE FOR 1T.

!
summer makes its 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
in the month of October. Indeed, the
opinions Of scientists do not agree any
better than those of ordinary individu-
ais, 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 IF
seasons really belongs to the month of
November, although the signal service
notes say that if Indian summer does
not come in October or November it
will come in winter, as If it were sort
Of movable season. Neither do scientists
agree as to the cause of that hazy at
mosphere which accompanies the season,
condition peculiar to North America.
1t was attributed by early settlers in
this country to the smoke from prairie
fires kindled by the Indians-hence the
| 4ICSs+NJ 1hu1Cll DuIIlluO1s DuU ~ IL
now said by scientific investigators that
the appearance of smoke is an optical
illusion produced by peculiar oondi,
ton Of the air, which might be oompar.
ed to a 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 ns.
10 Ell IA
is the fifth season, the mellow ripeness
Of autumn, when creation stands still
in lazy, languorous mood and the pic
ture is vanishing and indistinct like
one of Corot's landscapes. tits the gold
en- sunset of the year, brief and eyanes-
cent.
Like mirage, the Indian summer
does not wait to be Investigated. 1t is
here-it is gone-before the would be
investigator was aware of its presence. |
1t is such 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 a minute
form as to be incapable of microscopic
examination, but of such innumerable
quantities that they obscure the atmos.
phere and redden the sun. 1t is also
charged to vegetable matter, but these
are mere theories which have not yet
beef proved.
Another token by which this genial
Indian summer makes itself known ia
the absolute silence Of nature herself,
as if she were taking a vacation from
winds that blow and clouds that shade.
There is such stiffness in the air from
sunrise to sunset that sound itself seems
to have gone asleep. But there is no
loneliness in the silence. 1t is only as If
everything were resting, bathed in the +
happy sunshine. The flowers are gone;
the singing birds have flown to their
southern climes; the leaves have drop
ped from the 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 tonic in the air she
brings which chemists cannot bottle nor
charge commercial rates for-whiffs Of
summers that have been contracted into
a few days and gone before we can an
alyze them to say, '"This is balsam, or
chat is balm. - 1t is draft for the gods.
The subject of Indian summer was
investigated as long ago as 1888, when
Or. 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
in November. The doctor was stationed
st Fort Winnebago, Missouri territory.
at the time and wrote from observation.
He says:
1--WE arrived at this post the Sd day
Of last November. We had three weeks ..
Of Indian summer, with all the peculiar
'edness of the sky In great perfection. :" ,
He adds that he had long observed the
season with curious attention and calls ,
or an expression of opinion on the sub ,
ect from other observers. !
Professor Willet advanced the theory
n a report made to the government in
1887 that the dry fog is real smoke, not
produced by prairie fires, but the prod
let of chimneys. The late Professor
Henry of the Smithsonian institution
exported that a portion of the haze, fl
cred, was found to contain the lava of
,olcanoes and fragments of burned veg :
tables Neither of these distinguished
chemists added anything to the litera
ure of our Indian summer, so when
doctors disagree it is not expected that
observers will be able to for
nulate any tenable theory of its cause
The next best thing is to enjoy its op'
,ortunities, leaving its origin to the un.
Known source whence it is derived.
New England is especially favored by
his after summer guest, In that land
# rocks and rills the stiffness Of the CO.
aston is more delicious, the haze more
,oetic and the. winds more languoroua
u their passive aoquiescence in this =
neditative mood of nature Emerson m
must have written Of this period: "a n,
Twas one of the charmed days 4
When the genius of God doth flow. "
The wind may alter twenty ways, n
A tempest cannot blow. a
1t may blow north, it still is warm, o
Or south, IL still is clear, L
Or east, it smells like a clover farm, >
Or west, no thunder fear. e.
The caprice of the season is to wait fc
until winter is almost upon US, then TO x
lrop unexpectedly like a benediction fl
With sunshine and warmth and rest =
illness that soothes and comforts her o
ractious children and whisper to them g
weet promises of heavenly death 49,
Detroit Free Press r
ASKED HER AGE.
asked her age. To crimson grew O
Her pearl white Gheek-ah, then l knew
IVbetY,1 stuuiditv had lost