Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-10-02
ORIGIN OF SUNOOG.
The Expression Finds Place In several
Well Known Dictionaries.

To great many persons the term "sun-
dog" will appear strange and curious and
will probably suggest I'm inquiry as to its
meaning Yet the word has q vogue and
is recognized to the extent Of claiming a
position in several Of the best known OF
our dictionaries According to the Ency-
clopedia Dictionary, sundog u.s. in me-
neurological sense, "a luminous spot some
times visible a few degrees from the sun.
It is believed to be formed by the intcrsec-
ton of two or more halos.
In the periodical called Notes and Que
ries" of Oct. 10 last year thore appeared an
excerpt from the isle Of Wight Mercury
wherein writer describes the phenome-
non on its first presentment to him: "Tho
sun was shining brightly on our right
hand and lighting up range of downs on
our left. Behind these downs largo mass
of black clouds were illunined by frequent
flashes of vivid lightning, when what ap-
peared like q fire balloon-only, of course,
with much more powerful light, as there
was strong sunlight-was seen travelling
slowly in front of the black clouds against
the wind and apparently going out to sea
in front Of u.s. We-for the others in the
coach saw it also-however, unfortunately
lost sight of 1t at a turn in the road and
did not see it again. spoke Of it the next
day to the boatman at the bay ard he then
called it a 'sunhound' or 'sundog, and said
that it was light effect only, but was un-
able to tell me anything else."
Several contributions appeared at sub.
sequent date in the same periodical resa
tive to the term, and from them 1t would
appear "sundog' is by no means uncom-
mon as a name for tho phenomenon de-
scribed above. In Wright's Provincial
Glossary "sundog" Is described as Of Nor
folk vogue, but probably the range is
wider. "Sunhound," it's oongoner, Wright
localizcs as belonging to the southern dis
trict of England. Mr.. Edward Peacock,
who writes to Notes and Queries with ref
erence thereto, mentions it as a Lincoln
shire term and describes 1t as "a false sun
that is, an appearance like q somewhat
clouded sun near the real luminary."
'These things generally, but not al
ways" writes Mr.. Peacock, "appear in
pairs on the right and left of the true
sum-" Among sailors short and detached
pieces of rainbow were called sundogs,
which were generally regarded by them rs
precursors Of dirty weather. But the Cs-
sence of the subsequent contributions in
the periodical named Is contained in q
communication from the pen Of Professor
Tom1inson, who goes more into detail, and
as a scientists speaks with some authority.
The article is too long to reproduce here,
but it may suffice to say that, according to
the writer named, the term is merely y
happy go lucky guess which the phenomc-
non might suggest to an observer, and tl?t
the thing itself Is due to dedrical dis
oho mi II 1i~,l,% p1
ball lightning. Dispatch.
Patagonia and Chi-chi
Chi-chi is the name given by the Pata-
gonian natives to a rude sort of cider which
they brew in the autumn, when tho wild
apples are ripe. Their method Of mal1il
it is simple in the extreme. Pits are du
in the earth and carefully lined with tn
hides of horses to prevent any Of the juit
soaking into the earth. Then the apple
are gathered and thrown into tho pits.
They decay and ferment, and their juice
provides the material for the grand annual
drinking bout of the Patagonian men.
The women have learned by experience
what the results of this bout too frequent
ly arc, so when it commences they go round
carefully collecting knives and other dan
gerous weapons from the men. With these
and with their children they then steal
away and hide in the woods until their
lords and masters shall have drunk them
selves mad and slept themselves sober
again.
It is somewhat sad reflection that these
wild apples are the only legacy loft by
few devoted Jesuits, who, soon after the
conquest of South America, set out to con-
vert the Patagonian savages. The Jesuits
took with them various implements of hus-
bandry and European grains and seeds for
cultivation, but they were all soon murder
ed, and only the apple trees lourished,
propagated and produced excellent fruit, in
o climate more congenial to them than to
missionaries. -Chambers' Journal
Nekarious Scheme.
"You say you got even with that stingy
relative of yours by giving his boy a bicy-
cler How is that"