Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-09-05
THE HEGlRA OF THE SUMMER
SEASON,

September may well be termed one
of the remarkable months of the year
To all classes and to those of all ages
it is full of portent.
To the popular mind it marks fall
IN the northern hemisphere-the fall
of summer with it's attendant verdure
and beautifiers of growing nature;
though astronomically considered sum
mer does not cease until about Sep
TENDER %. the date of the autumnal
equinox, when day and night are equal
Seldom in using the term September
do we consider it's meaning of the sew.
enth a.. septem) month of the year
That through "the glory that was of
Rome" down to the year 1852, when
changed by Great Britain, the civil or
legal year commenced on the 25th of
March, and September was conse
quently the seventh month of the year
To the haberdasher and man general.
ly September l means the passing OF
the straw hat
In parity of reasoning we would
therefore assume that to woman il
meant the passing of the shirt waist
But then with the twentieth century
the shirt waist has no longer become
woman's peculiar property. Man has
discarded his primitive garments of
skins and furs and can now count the
shirt-waist in his wardrobe.
To the child the period marks:
THE whining school-boy, creeping
like snail unwillingly to school,
with the attendant, bell, book and
teacher
To the merchant it means the chang.
ing of stocks from light to heavy wear
and hoped for improvement in trade,
To he who loves outdoor life it
means the opening of the hunting sea.
son. Yesterday and today hundreds
are in the field with gun and dog pur-
suing the whirring grouse over golden
stubble, or along lake and river bank
pursuing the wood and teal ducks
grown in our native waters and to be
found previous to the southern migra.
ton of their heavier companions the
mallard and the wild goose.
To the Indian the period marked the
early approach of the time when he
could no longer defer laying in stores
for the rigorous season. Hence the
term Indian Summer" as applied to
the quiet days of floating zephyrs of
cobweb, of mists and frosts and glo-
rious coloring of nature, commencing
in late fall when Lo went forth on his
long hunting and fishing expedition.
To the farmer it means the measur-
ing Of his yield of grain from the
thresher, and the month which is to
mark the wealth or poverty of his tas-
seled following fields of maize; when
he can first determine whether nature
has been generous or frugal unto him.
On the seacoast it marks the first
of the eight successive months in the
names Of which occur the letter "r''
and during only which period the oys.
ter is regarded as seasonable, and is
taken by the hardy fisherman, bend
ing, long rake in hand, over the side of
his open boat, to serve the bivalve
throughout the broad land.
Soon will come the days, as James
Whitcomb Riley, the farmer poet,
says:
When the frost is on the pumpkin,
and the folders in the shock
And, speaking of fodder, is remind
full that this marks the first year in
which the recently invented corn har-
vester is coming into extensive use.
The long drought has prompted many
farmers to cut the corn for fodder;
and it is found that in large fields the
horse power machine applied to the
purpose Qike the self-binding reaper)
is proving more economical than hand
labor. The call for corn binders is so
great that the factories are meeting
with difficulty in supplying the de-
mand. Hence the season may mean
the passing of the corn knife, the ma
Ghetto of the field.
Moral: Lay in your fuel.
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