The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-06
The Cassandrn Ok the weather
Bureau


TIE Chief of the Weather Bureau IS
receiving maIedictions from every parI
Of the country for the predictions
which went out from that Office regard
ing the recent hot wave He IS in the
position Of Cassaudra, exactly re
versed; in her case she prophesied evil
and was not believed, and her prophe-
cies came true; in this case the s0oth-
sayer foretold evil and was believed,
and nothing Of the kind predicted hap
pened.
It was stated in the forecast. at the
height Of the hot weather, that there
was no hope Of relief for several days
Mr.. Moore himself is reported as hav-
ing stated personally 10 the newspa-
pers that he saw no chance Of any pro
tracted cool weather for q month, and
that the present hot weather would
continue without break for that
length Of time He was then in Bling
hamton. New York, enjoying leave
He may not have realized what his
prediction meant TO the people who
We're swcltering in the cities
At the time that prophecy appeared
in the papers, the people Of Washing
ton were treading on the asphalt in a
gingerly manner because it felt like
partly cooled molasses candy. and no
body cared to be caught by the neels in
the middle Of the street and stuck there
until some one came with a plank and
furnished relief If the present condi-
ton Of things were TO continue for d
month, it was justly anticipated that
the streets would be in the condition
that they were during the war, when
the mud was soft and sticky and i'm
passabIe. only in this case the mud
would be asphalt and unfortunate
mules and horses caught there might
be swallowed UP and fossiliZed-
Was il right to raise in the minds Of
a suffering people a picture Of this
sort? Would it not have been kinder
TO give them even the mirage of cool
wave Tor momentaTy relief, though il
might seem 10 mock their pain? Evil
IDENTIFY Mr.. Moore thought not.
But as it happened. his hair-raising
prediction did not come true In the
face Of all that the Weather Bureau
said, the present Fourth was not the
most oppressive in thirty years. The
fireworks did not go off by spontaneous
combustion. but in the proper manner.
The waters Of the Potomac were not
hot enough to cook the fish therein. 4
cool wave struck the asphalt and made
it hard enough TO serve as 4 perna-
nent, but not too permanent, foothold.
It was possible TO breathe without
cooling the air first, and 10 sleep with
out outraging conventionality by put
ting ones bed in the back yard or on
the roof In short, cooler weather
sneaked into town without the Bureau.
apparently, knowing anything at all
about It.
Now that Washington has got its
breath, however. and the rest Of the
country has had the same experience.
there seems to be a general disposition
TO utilize returning strength by taking
il out on Mr.. Moore for the scare which
he gave the public. It is nothing short
Of cruelty to tell gasping and suffering
people that they can hope for nothing
better inside a month The victims of
this unreasonable April fools joke are
not disposed TO accept the excuse that
the perpetrator did not know any bet
ter They say that he should have
known better