The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-06
MIND AND THE WEATHER
QUEER SUPERsTITIONs REGARDING
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
Some Traditional Beliefs. Absurd and
Otherwise, That Have Been Cher
ished by Mankind.
Chicago Evening Post.
Feb. . bright and clear
Gives a good flax wear"

| is in eVerybody'S mouth. To-day he is cut
| trying to measure himself by his own
shade, and if he can do so without being
| compelled to imagine the presence of any
of the suns rays there is to be another
month of winter. In other words if the COM
mon superstition is of any consequence we
should not need Professor Garriott and his
weather bureau in the Auditorium tower
until March l. We might simply rest con-
tent in the belief that all of February is to
| be winter for here is what the wisdom of
our ancestors has framed and approved
a grounding day sign:
IF the ground hog is summing himself on
| the I'd of February he will return for four
weeks to his winter quarters again.
And further:
IF on the I'd of February the goose finds
| II wet then the sheep will have grass
| March %.
This too:
when drops hang ON the fence on the I'd
| ofsFebruary icicles will hang there on the
| 25th of March,
Then, carrying step further the conclu-
sion we reach by accepting the above, we
| are to have beautiful summer, according
| to the following, which is also long-cher-
| ished superstition-or, as you please theory
formed from observation:
IF February gives much snow
A fine summer it doth show
If these are not enough proverbs about the
weather to form a full-hedged prediction to
the satisfaction of your mind here is anoth-
err affecting the beginning of February
whose authenticity can be vouched for and
whose accuracy is as great as that OF the
preceding ones that have been quoted:
1.-The month that comes in good Will go
out bad
There is, perhaps, no other particular time
of the whole year regarding which the as
trologers of old, assisted by elderly women
and wise farmers. have gathered together
so much that is supposed by many people TO
be useful in ascertaining what the weather
is to be at some future date. But regarding
all times, all months, all seasons and nearly
all festival and religious holidays there nave
been handed down to this generation all
legged weather guides. TO give them all
would make it necessary to devote large
volume to the purpose. Only comparatively
few ever have been compiled and printed
| They are continued in one OF the record
books of the Navy Department, which took
an interest in the matter long years ago,
when it had charge of the signal service
for the governments part of the service
which since has passed into the control of
the Department of Agriculture.
The few superstitionS In the government
volume form an interesting subject for per-
usal Even Professor Garriott admits as
much and says he frequently refers TO the
matter contained therein, not In order 10
make his daily forecast from any of their
weather recipes, but to see how we'll the
! traditional beliefs regarding the relations
of animals, plants and natural phenomena
| toward the elements are verified from year
| to year. And quite often it, is found even by
| his wisdom the time worn weather fable
| strangely appears even to him to have been
| based upon something more than mere SUI
| DerStitiOnal gueSSWOrk.
Still. such tale as that about ground
| hog day cannot have any weight IN sclen-
| tifc mind. These days, says Professor Car
| riott should not form basis for any pre-
| diction. When it comes to making calcula-
| tons by the actions OF plants ana OF peast
| and insect and when the appearance or sun,
| moon and sky are taken into account 1t Will
| be found that not so many persons are ar
rayed with the skeptical. The fact that all
| is given by Professor Garriott as an illus
| tration of his claim that all men are to
| greater or less extent DeileVerS III one OF
If It is true that all of us are superstitious
more or less anyway, 1t IS not out Oh pace
to quote several of the old weather proverbs,
| nearly all of which are in the list compiled
| during Chief Hazen's administration OF the
| United States Signal Service bureau by
| Mai. II III. G. Dunwoody, of the navy The
| Bible. Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Zuni In
| dians-all contribute to the stock OF lntor-
nation, and the man VINO suiIeT rs from r. IA
| chronic rheumatism is not left out, Tor II IS
said -. ~, ,,o;ots
| o. the compass in their joints,
Can by their pangs and aches find
All turns and changes of the wind"
ARISTOTLE ON METEORS.
dramatically it is not without flaw, but
| there are those who will testify that there
| is no mistake about the truth of what the
stanza says Aristotle in his work on
meteors says:
IF the sun goes pale to bed,
| Twill rain tomorrow, 1t is SAID.
More common, but from a less distin-
| guished source, is the following:
Hank / hear the asses pray,
We shall have some rain to-day"
In the Old Testament Kings xviii, 44-45,
| is found this anent storm
Behold there ariseth little cloud out of
! the sea, like mans hand.
Prepare thy chariot and get thee down,
| that the rain stops thee not. And 1t came
| TO pass in the meanwhile that the heaven
was black with clouds and wind, and there
was great rain.
| In nearly every locality where storms are
| of frequent occurrence people have learned
| to know certain signs that are believed to
| tell the coming of a storm. According to
| the Zuni Indians of New Mexico it is a sign
bats speak flying" when the chimney
swallows circle and call or when the blue
| birds twitter and sing. Regarding the rain
! bow the wise men of the Lunis say:
1.-THE rainbow has but a bad character;
! she ever commands the rains to cease
This does not agree, however, with what
| others give as their Interpretation OF the
| phases of the rainbow. Following is "A COM
! plete guide to the pretty phenomena of coll
! ors:
IF the green in the rainbow be large and
|
be largest and brightest of the colors, there
! is to be rain and wind. After much wet a
rainbow indicates fair weather; if after a
| drought. it indicates rain. If 1t breaks up
! all at once, severe and settled weather Will
| come If the bow is in the morning, rain
! will follow If at noon, slight and heavy
| rain; if at night, fair weather. Two or
| three rainbows appearing at once indicate
| fair weather for the present, but heavy rain
in few days.
No doubt few persons will undertake to
| tax their minds with all the above rules, for
! they seembtoo conflicting TO be reliable, and
the following verse probably covers the
| ground better:
'The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,
For see, a rainbow in the sky.
FORECAST BY ANIMALS.
That is enough for rainbows. and atten-
! ton may be paid to animals, which were,
and still to some extent are, supposed to be
able to tell what the weather will be with
out as much effort as the government ex-
Ponds There are many popular super
stitions about animals and atmospherical
conditions that they alone might fill book
When, in going TO pasture, the bull leads
the cows, instead of struggling along behind
them, it is supposed TO be sign that rain
| is to come. When cats snore, or when they
sneeze, rain may also be expected, as well
as when the cattle remain near the barn in
| Another sign of impending rain is when
7 LILO. ,.4at Nrsfr. nd Ar,-