The news & observer., 1901-02-22
AN AONORED INSTITUTION
THREATENED.

these columns the attention of members
of the General Assembly was called to d
crying necessity for legislation in regard
to Ground Day We pointed out. as
best We could, that the day has grown
more or less uncertain OF itself; that
popular opinion on this thrilling subject
hes become SO divided that even his hog
ship cannot. for the life of him, tell
pearance en- February 2nd or February
1lth
Naturally this has produced greatly
disturbed ard uncertain weather condi-
tions-cold waves followed by spring days.
snow storms on violet beds, and arctic
winds rudely toying with the hirsuitc ap.
pendage of venerable Senators and Rep
resentatives. Now in any well-regulated
mind no doubt can longer exist as to the
cause of these things, and hence there
is a decided feeling among the constit-
ueney of men now occupying seats III
this General Assembly that something
ought to be done to remedy so deplor-
able a state of affairs.
The Legislature could easily satisfy this
great and popular clamor. 1t might be
done. as we have already suggested, by
establishing a legal grounding day, Off
cially notifying his hogship that his APP
pearance on any other occasion than the
aforesaid would be considered in violation
Of the law as made and provided in such
cases.
We are panied to note that in this pa
triotic position we are not sustained by
the esteemed Washington Post. 1t takes
a widely different view Of the subject,
tells of the many disappontments 1t has
experienced and finally, in a rage, bids
farewell to his hogship forever. All be-
cause il locked for him On the End ana
judged the weather accordingly, whereas
he didn't put in an appearance until the
18th. We quote its song of despair;
1--WE are now satisfied that the ground
hog is a pretentious, fraudulent. and fool
ish beast AS far back as we can re-
Misunderstanding for more than half
century-hc has been set up as sooth-
sayer and a prophet. Ancient darkies--
fat old mammies and rickety old gray
boards Of African eXtraction--have always
in the past sworn by the ground-hog as
a prognosticator compared with whom the
wiseacres of the colleges and the experts
of the Weather Bureau were fumblers OF
the deepest dye In the days of slavery,
when folk lore, lullabies, ghost stories
and the like belonged to and were mo-
nopolized by the blacks-when Brer Rab-
bit kicked up his heels in every Southern
nursery and the Tar Baby was thins
of widc-ey wonder everywhere-the
equality" were never permitted TO inject
SO much as a mint OF increduility. That
would have meant q war with no con-
caivable outcome save that of inglorious
defeat for the incredulous. But slul
upon the grounding in his character as
professor of meteorology would have
shaken the socia! structure to its base.
Every self respecting colored person,
from the gorgeous butler 10 the all-pow-
erful cook would have left the big
house" in rage and demanded fold work
with liberty to nurse that reverend tra-
dition in reace and honorable indepen-
dence.
This ridiculous ground hog has thus, by
q species Of Inheritance, exerted more or
less power over the imagination Of nearly
every one who had q black nanny in
his or her infancy and had mbibed the
lore of the nursery and the kitchen.
Through untold generations we have i'm
plicitly believed that ii the ground hos
Issuing from his hole on February 2.
found a sun shining above him and saw
his shadow on the ground. he would.
like some frightened Thi9be fee again to
his retreat, and that for sixty days there
after storms. hailstones, sleets and bli1-
yards would prevail. During all this
time these black old swinders have put
ueop us with various alleged contlrma-
tions, and have smoothed over as many
failures and populations with impudeDt
and misleading explanations. They had
their greatest triumph in 1899. The III
CT February OF that year was an unms-
takabIy brilliant and sunshiny day The
weather thereafter was beastly, and on
the 18th of that month Washington was
afflicted with q blizzard the like OF which
even the most senile of old residents
could not recall. Every hoary old rascal
of a darky in town was covered Ger with
Tugs, and no white man dared to whisper.
But this year we break loose from the
bondage of life-tme. The I'd Of this
month was a reasonably sunny day. Any
ground hog of ordinary intelligence could
have seen his shadow il he wanted to.
And yet we have ever since enjoyed the
most delightful weather Fifteen days
have passed without really disagreeable
incident. NC have had. upon the whole,
a term OF ideal winter weather. The
ground hog is discredited. dsgraced and
forever branded as "A humbug Alons
with the maelstror, the apple dumpine
the hatchet and the cherry tree. Israel
Putnam the hero OF San Juan HILL and
other beautiful and radiant roorbacks, the
ground-h hog passes from The category OF
our illusions.
And let him so, say we.'
No, no, Mr.. Post, We can never consent
to that. The ground-hog is an honorcd
institution-tke original and only genuine
Weat ther Bureau-.and We would not see
him thus ruthlessly brushed aside. He has
made mistakes, VIC admit, but they were
mistakes born OF his hogsnip's head and
not of his heart How could he regulate
meteorological conditions when half the
world looked for him on one day and the