The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1899-02-18
THE ZERO.

OfeeIeS ian the summer lanu, We
have never been much interested
ia Arctic or zero matters. Now,
however, we have undergone a
change, and although nearly all
the sweet summer islands lying
out in dark purple spheres Of
sea are ours, we have become a
rather Northern people, so much
so that your correspondent feels
almost disposed to call a COW a
kowe, or the North, the Narth.
The zero is a term in use by
men who make thermometers,
which instruments designate
changes Of temperature. and the
zero is their point of departure or
centre from which their degrees
range. The French use the Gem
sigrade thermometer, thai divides
degrees of temperature into 100
degrees. These place the zero
at the freezing point, and the
boiling water point at 100. We,
as all English people, use the
Fahrenheit thermometer, so called
from the name Of its maker. This
instrument places the zero at 80
degrees below the point at which
water freezes, and the boiling
water point at 212 degrees, thus
making the difference between
the freezing and boiling points OF
water $50 degrees.
Ia this country our people very
rarely indeed ever see the ther-
mometer descend to 10 degrees
above zero, button last Saturday,
l1th Feb, the weather assumed
strange and unusual attitudes,
and that night the Thermometer
got down to 8 degrees, and snow
and sleet wrapped the entire
earth in one white winding sheet,
while the thermometer, as if i'm
pressed with some frenzy not at
all Southern. kept looking slowly
downward upon its linceul Of
frozen snow and heavy ice, as il
it had lost all its southern aspir-
atoms, and at 8 O'Clock p. m.
the record was broken for this
country. and 6 was the figure
marked at my house. More cover
was then drummed up for the
beds, and with all these Arctic
propensities clustering round us,
we essaycd to sleep. The water
bucket, placed inside for its pro-
lection, began to put forth occa-
sionally a note Of plaintiye woe
as the water kept on freezing
thicker and thicker, and every
little mug or bottle placed on
mantles for protection, also gave
out their dirge notes, as their
contents became frozen. AT 9
O'Clock, with lighted candle, /
hurried into the gallery to see
the thermometer, and there, sight
before unseen by my eyes, stood
the needle in conscious glory at
2 degrees below zerol I looked,
and looked with wonder, but like
Poe's grim Raven, there the
needle stood, our climate had
been transformed, and we were
no more a Southern people, and
had gotten below zero, and for
once was below par.
Day soon was out, and there
upon their roosts the poor, de-
spairing chickens sat, while the
fierce wind drove the loose snow
everywhere. Our early chanti-
cleers had for once failed to
shake off their powdery snow,
and rouse the place with a cot
tage rousing crow. They had
forgotten they had ever crowed,
and when later, part of them
came down, they looked like a
beaten and broken army after a
defeat.
The poor hogs, when made
arise, looked only half as large
as on the day previous, and with
head down and back erected, {,
looked as if grim visaged despair
had placed his shroud upon
them. The COWS, though shell
tered, also presented their looks
forlorn. All nature seemed in
one sympathy of SORROW, though
tbs said the saw mill OK rejoiced,
knowing he could not be worked.
This is the fourth day since
Mississippi ceased to be an AUS
tral country, and entered into
the Boreal Constellation that con-
stitutes the Arctic regions; and
every corr weevil, every flea and
every yellow fever germ is once
and forever frozen, and gone
where the woodbine never twin
eth.
We, here in this once sunny,
but now frozen country, are YER