Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-02

| extra ordinary notions prevail as to biz
| yards. When Yankee finds himself out
| i'll blizzard his customary resort is to
| take off every stitch of his clothing. You
| never heard of that, Ell? Well the state
ment is made by many British authors
| have succeeded in tracing 1t as far pack as
| Abercrombie, the eminent meteorologist,
| who gives it his unquestionng indorse-
| ment Where or how it originated nobody
| can say.
This quaint myth is based on the idea
| that storm of this character produces a
| demoraizing effect upon the mind OF the
1'erson exposed to its fury. causing him to
shed his garments when he needs them
most. 1 myself have been on the plains in
a very severe blizzard. but l felt no such
inclination that described. And no
wonder. irasmuch the air was filled not
with snowtlakes, but with actual needles OF
| ice, which stung most painfully wherever
they struck the flesh. These ice needles
are phenomenon peculiar to billiards. :;
but the latter have another eCcentricity
Yet more remarkable. The wind seems TO
blow all ways at once. and. whatever di-
rection you may pursue, it is always in
your face. Such thing a real blizzard
is not known in the eastern part of the
United States; it belongs to the west. The
So-called blizzard that struck New York
and buried the metropolis under several
feet of snow in March. ISIS, was not the
true article, but merely great storm.
As to Cold Waves.
Gold waves are very strange phenomena.
Nobody knows with certainty where they
come from or how they are formed. They
are formed somewhere inland in the far
northwest, in the latitude of greatest cold.
which, as you know, is a good way south
of the north pole. At the north pole it is
probably comparatively warm, and that
unit Il
surrounded by an open and unfrozen sea.
AS for the typical cold wave, my belief is
that ii is composed of air drawn down
from the higher and more frigid regions of
the atmosphere. Ascend to altitude of
thirty miles above the earth'S surface, and
you might find a rarelied air at a tenn
perature of 100 degrees below zero. or even
much lower.
The body of cold formed by the down
rush of this frigd air from above starts
on journey eastward across the CONT
nent. travelling at the speed of a fast rail-
way train. say, thirty-tive or forty miles
an hour. As it proceeds it spreads out
Obviously the cold air would be gradually
warmed during the trip unless the wave
Were repIenished with cold in some fashion.
My noticn is that while the is in
transit fresh cold is continually drawn in
to il from above, where there is always
unlimited supply of air at an extremely low
temperature. Finally the wave passes off
over the ocean. In some manner the Ale
gheny mountains seem to interrupt the
passage of cold waves to a certain extent.
as if the cold air banked up against
that range of hills, and its passage thus
impeded. on this account it is very diff
cult to predict cold waves for the region
about Washington.
Il have spoken of the extreme cold of
the higher layers of the atmosphere. The
temperature of outer space is very low. of
course-perhaps as low as 800 degrees be
lew zero. Fahrenheit If it were not for
the atmosphere. which serves a blanket
for the earth, we should be exposed to this
fearful cold. and not all the fires that could
be kept burning would save us from be-
ing frozen stiff at short notice. The lowest
natural tempera ture ever recorded was
taken in a balloon at an altitude of ten
miles. 1t was 104 degrees below zero. The
balloon was the Aerophile. which ascended
from Paris, under the guidance of Gustave
Hermite.
Extremes Of Temperatures.
1.-THE lowest temperature ever recorded
on the earth was taken at Werchojansk
i'm the interior CT Siberia. January 10. 1855.
1t was 80 degrees and a fraction below
zero Werchojansk is in the latitude of the
POLE of cold. There the earth is frozen to
a depth of about 100 feet, and in the warm
est season it never thaws. The highest
temperature recorded is 124 degrees and a
fraction, taken in Algeria, July II. 1879.
The lowest temperature record in the
United States is 81 degrees below zero, at
Tobacco Garden, n. d. Greedy. the arctic
explorer. has probably experienced n wider
range of temperature than any ether living
man. He recorded 66 degrees below zero
at Fort Conger, in Lady Franklin bay. On
another occasion, in the Marcopa desert of
Arizona, his thermC meter in the shade ran
up to Ia above. a lucifer match dropped
upon the burning sands Of the Sahara will
catch fire. 1t Is very difficult even with the
finest thermometers to get accurate records
Of extreme temperatures and on that &C
count such observations. in general. are
to be regarded as only approximately cor
rect.
when the heavens are covered with
clouds there Is little or no danger Of kill
ing frosts, because the blanket of vapor
hanging overhead prevents the heat from
radating from the earth. and thus serves
to keep the plants warm 1t Is when the
rapidly, and then, if the thermometer falls
it is time for the farmer to look out Quite
commonly. nowadays, truck farmers make
use of artificial clouds to protect the grow
ing vegetables. If night promises to be
clear and cold, they place in various parts
of the field heaps of dampened straw or
chips, tic which they set fire. This makes a
great smoke which spreads over the field |
and serves the same purpose as real clouds. |
If there is a breeze. line of straw Is laid |
on the windward side of the field. In the |
same way the vineyardists of France fire.
quently save their grapes. The enlightened |
agriculturist has simple instrument call |
ed a 'psychrometer.' consisting Of two ther- |
mometers. which costs him only 81. By |
means of this. together with a printed table |
furnished for the purpose, he ascertains |
the 'dew-point. The dew-point is the tenn |
erature at which dew forms. The observa-
ton is made at o'clock on the evening |
when frost threatens If the temperature |
is Al degrees and the dew-point "a degrees, |
there is every chance of frost, and it is |
time to arrange for making artificial clouds |
Showing Indoors.
Probably you never saw a snow storm |
in a room-at all events, not unless a
window mad been left open to admit snow
from without. Nor 1 either, in fact.
Nevertheless. there is apparently authentic
record of such phenomenon, said to have