Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1901-10-15
LOYELIEST TIME.

There comes q time iD the fall o
each year when Nature is at her lowell
est. The year is we'll on its way to 9
close, and the trees, like the Iudisr
who puts on bis richest-aued feathers
| and decks himself in his most cherished
tinery In which to meet the death
witch be sees approaching, put on
their bravest attire-their glorious reds
and yellows-ss though la a spirit oi
brsvsdo, to say good-by. 1t Ia the
Indian summer-the last warm smile
of the departed GUNNER ss she turns
her head and looks back at us, visit
fully and lovingly, for farewell 10 the
distance before sbe finally disappears
from our view.
Then is, without donb', the time to
be abroad and to drink ones soul fall
OF the beauty of the woods and fields.
10 the cars, on horseback, swheel or
afoot-it makes no difference. One
passes through an evercbsnging, never
ending panorama OF flaming foliage
and the evidences of the farmers 10
dustry, with a golden hszs spread
over the face of all things, softepipg
the sharp outlines, yelling the unst-
tractive spots 10 the picture, II there 20
any, and throwing over the wi le
world an atmosphere OF peace and rest
after the years labors. Oae feels that
the Spirit OF Work-the genius that
provides the world with its food and
clothing, ss well as with its luxuries-
has paused on Its way from the coun-
try, where it has been busy all summer
raising and gsrnerirg the crops and
caring for the herds, back to the city to
take up the more strenuous and nerve
rscSing labors aud problems to be
faced there during the winter sessop.
But what is this Indian summer ? On
coDeulting the authorities one learns
that 1t Is snort season OF warm and
pleasant weather, which occures gen.
orally in the latter part OF October and
the first part OF November, during
which the air is hszy and dry and rain
scarce--about as satisfactory q defini-
ton as that dog is an animal with
four legs, q head and tail Why the
weather Is warm after having been
chilly or cool; why 1t does not rain, and
what is the nature of the haze that lies
over everything we do not know, and
there seems none anxious 10 enlighten
Us Does the earth In lis journey
around the sun enter at this time into
a portion OF the sll-surrounding ether
whoss condition is suc1 ss to produce
q higher temperature 10 our atmos-
phere. as We ct more or less definite
times enter belt Of meteort? Science
seems TO bAve no very sure answer.
All we know Is that 1t does become
warm and that the hszs does appear.
The early colonists In America sup.
posed the haze to be smoke from the
burning over of the western prsiries
by the Iudiaus. and hence the season
was called Indian summer. The set
tiers we're not in the main scientific
people, but their view OF the matter is,
perhaps, just as close to the real ex.
PLANTATION as that OF most people of the
present day. We are told 10 general
terms that the haze is due to the
evaporation of the esrth's moisture, but
there may be good deal more to be
said about II than this, and the oonnec-
ton between the smoke OF forest trees
and burning prairies and the condensa-
ton OF moisture may not be o remote
one.
Prof. William Morris Davis, OF Har-
ward, 10 his Elementary Meteorology,"
says that hazs Is not very generally
but that 10 America 1t is
generally due to water particles in the
air. Sometimes, however, 1t arises
from the smoke from the forest fires,
and in Europe Is occasionally the result
Of smoke burning peat bogs Of consider
abls extent. Sometimes, according to
him, 1t is very fac mineral dust gather
I'd from prairles and suspended or
carried far away by winds. The dust
md smoke may be carried huodreds-
sometimes even thoussnds-of miles by |
he wind.
Prof. John Aitkep, an English sclen-
list, holds that If there we're no dust 10
he atmosphere there would be no con-
1ensation of moisture, no fog, no clouds,
aud perhaps no rain. He has eatls6ed
himself by careful and elaborate expert
ments that, save in very rare instances
where electrical disturbances achieve
the result, there can be no condensa-
ton of moisture without free surface
Tor 1t to form Oh. Were it not for the
lust particles, he has declared, the mois.
ture would condense upon objects on
he earth, and every tree, every house,
md, 10 fact, every object, including
,umsu beings and animals, would be
irippil g with water all the time. These
views he elaborated before the Chicago
Meteorological Congress during the CO.
lumbiau Exposition. Some OF the dust
10 the air, he said at that time, was
probably meteoric, but most of Ii was
the smoke from fores; fires, and thus we
have the connection between the forest
hres, the condensation of the moisture
and the haze, and We see that the
early maker of history In this county
may not have been 90 far of the track
In his theory of this, the most marked
feature Of the Indian summer, after all.
DIR. Bulls Cough Syrup will cure
& Cough or Cold st once. Conquer Groups
Whoo2ing Cough and Messle Cough without