The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1899-04-14

make so little fuss about weather 80
and 40 degrees below the mark. 1t is
like the engineer who wascalled in by
IA railroad committee to give his opin-
ion about speed. They asked him II it
was more dangerous to run so miles an
hour than 40. He said no. "Can you
run 60 as safe as 40?" Yes said he.
"IIow about 10 or S0?" Just as safe
as 40" he said, "for if you jump the
track at 30 you will 90 to the devil,
and that is as far as you can 60 at 100
miles an hour" Just so | don't care
much where the mercury goes to after
it gets below %.
Twas talking to an old friend from
Maine about the weather, and he said
he had suffered about as much down
here rs up there, but didn't suffer long
at timc-only Il day or two, but up
there it was several long, weary
months. "Where | was sSaised," lie
said, "thc mercury was far below zero
for moth at time. and | remember
one long, weary night it dropped to 30
and then 81 and 10. There was an old
fashioned box stove in the big room.
1t was made Of thick mallCablc iron
and on bitter nights We crowded in
pine until it was red hot all round.
On tins particular night we boys had
to turn round and round to keep from
freezing on one side while We were
scorching on the other. About mid,
night the mercury dropped to As, and
the house cracked and popped like
little guns. Father got alarmed and
being an oldfashi0ned Christian man
said, Come. children, let US all kncel
dwon and pray After prayer We
piled more pine into the heater. d.
Father said to mother: "When
Elisha Kent Kane was in the articS
he said that he found that fatty mat
ter was better than fire and he made
his crew stuff themselves with whale
blubber and seal oil and grease, and
1t saved their lives. And so mother.
you had better bring US all the grease
in the pantry Mother turned us all
loose on her lard and butter and fat
meat and we crammed it down. and IL
did do us good. But the mercury kept
on dropping. Father had an old don
key that brayed necessarily all the
foicpart Of the night, but about 3
o'clock he ceased and father said:
"My children, the poor old donkey Is
dead About 1 o'clock there was a
fire in the little village, but nobody
went to it. The family fled to the
nearest house for refuge. Just before
daybreak the mercury began to rise a
little, and father said: Come, children
let us kneel down and give thanks to
God for his mcrcv.'
Well it was glorious to see the big,
round, red sun rise and shine in the
windows next morning. About this
time we heard Il racket in the barn
which was near by and father said:
Boys 90 out and see il that donkey is
alive And.sure enough there he was
and there he stood facing the door with
an iciclc sticking out of his mouth
three feet long and as big at the base
as coffee pot. His brays had frozen
and frozen to sharp point and had
stopped up his mouth so effectually he
couldn't bray any more. That's what
, my friend told me, but n. b. he was
! a newspaper man. Well. I'm not going
} to write poem On the beautiful snow
for don't like it. especially when !
: am the boy-the only boy about the
house, and have to keep tr0tting tc
town Or the woodpile OR cQahouse, Oh
} somewhere.
| But the children like it, and there:
! some comfort in that, and the othel
day while l was tramping slowly tt
town on the slippery walk l met ;
pretty lady, a middle-aged matron
and just befose she got to me her foo
! slipped for xard and the other ex
tremity had to bend forward and sh
3 made me the prettiest little courtesy
' ever had made to me. She never los
S her perpendicular, but just come dow
] gracefully on one knee like | hav
2 seen girls In the parlor dance. @
] course, tipped my hat and sal
< "Thank you, madam" She coIore
! up and smiled and spoilt it all by sa!
n ing, 81 didn't mean to-" l haven
!, told my wife about 1t yet, for on
e golden wedding is near at hand and
d Is no time for these irregularities. !
!. was the beautiful, the sickery, trick
S cry snow that did it. l had to shove
it out OF the pathway from my hous
d to the street l5O yards so that my wo
Il men folks could walk without wettinl
e their shoes and stockings, but every
l one of them, even to my wife, prepar
}. ed to wsstc In the beautiful snow ant
a the girls found ditch where II wa
Q knee deep and waded in that. That
I the way they impose on d poor old DO.
r like me.
] But there Is not so much differenc
: between hcatan cold after all. Bot
] destroy sensation and vitality an
wither and blast vegetation. The
T are very close akin. Not long ago
= man told me he witnessed the expcr
!, ments made In New York with liqu