The San Francisco call., 1896-03-04
Buds and Blossoms Kept Warm
Under the Big, White
Weather Blanket.
THE SCENES ABOUT THE CITY,
All the Suburban Hills Were Covered
and the Views Were More Glorious
Than Ever Before.

1t was snowstorm that saved the State
from frost.
That might sound absurd to people un-
acquainted with the climate of California,
for IN the Eastern States, and even in some
of the high Sierra districts, snow is usually
followed or accompanied by weather so
cold that people burn their houses down
by overtaxing the heating abilities of the
family stoves
Yet every cold weather man knows that
snow is warm. He finds it out when the
neIghbor' vilIainous son reaches him un-
der the ear with missile of the beautiful.
and his own boy, pitcher for the baseball
nine at school, tackles him from ambush
on the other side. Shovellng snow away
from the sidewalk within three hours after
sunrise, according to city ordinance require
ments, is another thing that gives an i'm
preston OF the warmth, but that is not
strictly scientific
Sheep buried in snow would not freeze.
That has been taught in New England
schools The plan of thus burying the an
imals for protection from the cold has
never been resorted to by the New Eng
land farmer, however, for it would be too
much trouble to 60 out and dig them up at
every feeding time.
1t is the snow that keeps the grass from
destruction in the lands of the severe win
ters. 1t is the snow that is blanket for
the gentle violet, and sometimes for the
belated and storm-bound calf. The fra
grant, the incompatible arbutus-the
flower that greeted the Pilgrim Fathers
when they we're looking for something
n h11H ho-
fore the lingering snow has got out of the
way. Then the boys and girls come troop
ing along and the fragrant and incompar-
able arbutus wishes that itshadn't bloomed
so soon.
Even in California the red snowfower
has It's existence among the winter-loeked
mountain crags, and scientific men and
other people of culture risk their necks in
clim bing TO capture it.
So snow is warm, though unlike a good
! many other things it can never be warmed
over.
Its coming saved the fruit crop, for it
kept the frost away. OF course the Cali
fornia snow did not bury the fruit trees,
buds and all, in order to keep them warm.
1t did not act as if it had taken a seasons
engagement to save the grass, nor az if it
were promoting the sheep industry or try
ing to hatch out trailing arbutus. The
operation IN this State was to moisten the
ground and warm up the atmosphere in
meteorological way.
This gentle process wouldn't do at all in
q colder climate, for the snow would only
protect what it could cover, and the ac-
companying cold would destroy the buds
and blossoms that shoot forth in a Cali
fornia March. But it was sufficient here.
and the fruit is saved.
Yesterday morning the streets in some
sections of the city were covered, and snow
remained on the roofs until late in the
forenoon.
The hills about the City liked their new
mantles and kept them on all day. Tam
alpais presented a majestic appearance,
and storm-clouds hung over it all day.
The view from the San Francisco hilItops
and from the high buildings was as i'm
posing as it was novel. Twin Peaks
seemed higher than ever, the Mission
Range looked like an importation from
the Sierras, and the foothills beyond Oak
land and Berkeley could not have been
prettier than they were.
Distant Mount Diablo loomed up grand
and radiant in the sunlight.
ONLY one inch of snow fell, but careful
estimate shows that even that amount OF
snow, placed within the reach of the small
bows, broke 856 windows in the center of
the City.
Snow fell at sea as fast as on land. The