The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-18
BILL ARPS WEEKLY LETTER
HE SAYS LUNA MEA Ma PIE MOON, AND
MOST People ARE LUNArICS.
Blackstone, Great Jurist. Define n II iunnttc
TO be Doe WHO Is Insane at 1imrs, Hut
Has Lucid Intervals During Ger
ttan Change.

IL iS u DCdulIlul ncN IloOl iol
exactly new, but since Tuesday night,
when wo first saw it, never saw u
larger one nor q brighter ono nor
ono that balanced itself SO proudly
in tho western heavens. Not drop
Of water would it pill and somc say
that means we will have Il dry month
and somc say we will have Il wet ono
To my unlcarncd mind tho moon is
the most complicated and most won
derful piece Of machinery in tho
realms Of space. 1t makes my head
swim to study its elliptic oroit, its
lunar time and sidcra time, its
librations of latitude ard longitude
and diurnal libration: it's ascending
nodes and their retrograde motion
which takes eighteen years and 2l0
days to complete; it's apogce and
porigce, the two points which are
movcablo and movo along the Cir.
cmmferenco of the ellipso from west
to cast complete the circuit in eight
years and 300 days. Sometimes it
comes along a circle in tho heavens
that is near tho zenith and some
times its course is low down in tho
southern sky. Its speed is not uul-
form as it moves around the earth,
for sometimes it gets ahead and
sometimes lags behind. It's axis is
inclined to its orbit and seems to nod
backwards and forward for three de-
grocs. Then there arc the eclipscs,
which add to the wonderful c0mnli-
cations, and yet every phase and
ovory motion obey law and are IN.
telligiblo to men of science. 1t is
tho regularity Of irregularities. But
mon Of science like Otis Ashmore
understand it all and can make an
almanac and foretcll cclipscs for Il
Thousand years. I have unboundcd
respect for these mcn--for Greer and
Ashmoro and DR.. Means, and all of
our own State, and for the lamcnted
Professor Mitchell, who was the
greatest Of modern astronomers.
But this beautiful new moon pro-
voked another limo Of thought.
sew it over EIy ri ght shoulder and in
clear sky and was satisfied, and
yet l am not supcrstitious about it.
| had just Il little rather see it that
way and so had The majority of civi-
lized people. Luna means the moon,
and most people are lunatics. Even
Blackstone, the great jurist, defines
lunatlc to be ono who is insane at
times but has lucid intervals during
certain changes Of the moon. And
although the medical world has long
since exploded tho superstitious
theory of tho moons influence on
tho mind, tho name Of lunatic still
obtains and is applied to all insane
persons. After South Carolina had
seeded, a man asked Mr.. Pcttlgrow
which was the road to tho lunatic
asylum. 'Any road-all tho roads"
he said, "tho whole State is ono vast
lunatic asylum" Almost everybody
has some superstition about the
moons influence on vegetation. My
good neighbor, Mrs. Fields, told mo
last week that she had been riobt
busy all day planting her potatoes,
for" said she, "you know it is the
dark OF the MOON" She is tho bost
gardener in town and always succeeds,
but she does herself injustice when
sho gives the moon any credit for
her success. Many years ago I made
fair test of tho moon theory, for I
planted four rows in my garden in
the dark of tho moon and then four
moro right beside them two weeks
later and gave all tho same culture
and | found no difference in the
yield. Tho best time to plant pota-
toes is when tho ground is ready
and it may be very unready if We
wait for ,he dark of the moon. But
l have found that good farmers diff.
fer about how many days arc includ
eel in tho dark Of tho moon. Some
say one, some say two or three, anG
others say all the days of tho moons
Wane, which would bo about thirteen
But if thero is anything in the
moon theory, why conlino it to Irish
potatoes and peas and beans? VIII,
not apply it to sweet potatoes anC