The daily Republican., 1902-10-27
NATURE IN HER
AUTUMN DRESS.
Beauty Of the Woods Where
Leaves Flash Gorgeous
Color,
MOST PLEASANT SEASON.
Rarely Have the Suburbs
Been More Beautifully
Framed in the Rich
Anarchy of Hues.
The generous earth spreads out her fruitful

The generous earth spreads out her fruitfu
And all the fields are deckcd with ripene
sheavcs,
| While in the woods, at Guumn's STEP
The naples blush through all their trcmblin
leaves.
Each of the seasons that togethe
make up the cycle of The year ha
those who cry sts merit but, per
haps, no one OF them has the follow
ing of this-the autumn. There is
a strain of sadness in al! but few
! lives that finds at this season--a!
in no other-a harmony for their
| melancholy, that comes with all the
force aud tenderness of human svm.
pa.hy.
There is in the wild blending Of
the coors OF the woods, a lawless
ness that appeals to still another
class. who lind ro thoughts of sad
ness iu the glorious beauty of the
death-time OF the year. Woods are
a ringing symphony of rarest hue.
The monotones that everywhere
mellow the effect are not seen.
Eyes light aud feast on the anarchy
OF the blazing reds. that bush 70.
seate on all the hiisides.
Not death, but life. is the mess are
that they read in the signs OF the
autumn. But whether is olaugh
or sigh, the season has for each a
charm ard, perhaps, the differing
emoliols that give it its envlabIe
place in the hearts OF so many who
stop awhile to see her beauties.
Whatever the spirit that prompts
those who love to see Nature in all
her varying moods, and wno may
have q peculiarly tender spot for
the charms of the autumn, these
ideal days offer an opportunity for
the qualifications rarely enjoyed.
The suburbs of the city are ablaze
with the beauty rivaling that of
the early spring, and excelling that
of any other of the seasons. Heav-
ier foliage has rarely remlined to
catch tho killing breath of the sea-
son, and e.ul aid itional leaf has
added charm to the wealth of color
dashed without rhyme or reason
through the woods. Grays. browns.
in a sullen flood, have swept through
the woods, Mellow puppies and a
score of varing tints of rcd have been
flashed over the whole with careless
waste of pigment. There is no
scheme: no design to be studied
nothing to tire just an endless
wealth of beautiful contrast and
harmo ny, that varies with every
glance about and changes face with
every phase of daylight, until all is
lost in the somber chill Of the night.
There is one saddening thought |
that comes to all who stop to see
and admire, for a few weeks, a few |
days, indeed, and the curtain will be
drawn on the spectacle. The leaves
long since began to drift down
through the barring branches, and
lie IN scared heaps where the whim
OF the breeze has hurled them. Soon
too soon-the last will have join
ed the epyre Of tho summer, and the
branches they have Adorned will
rise bare above them.
SCIENTIFIC INTEREST
Aside from the sentiment that is
e yer aroused by this season of sea-
sons, there is more than usual
degree OF scientific interest in the fall
Of the leaves. The phenomenon is
itself an indication that Nature has
felt tho change in the season, and
recognizes that her period Of recejs
lftcr the busy spring and summ,r
has come.
The falling Of the leaves indicates
hat she no lonyeris putting olt her
strength, bnt is wthdra awing her
"ondrous forces, in appreciation of
he greater need that there will be
or them when the life OF tho tree
must be nourished, despite the cold
md blister Of threatening winter.
t is interesting, and ncc$ssary to
ully understand This. to know some. !
hing Of the functions Of the leaves.
Mankind generally, in the all but -.
Universal impression that everything ,.
n nature was designed for his cs- !,
'ecial good, has hit upon the con- :.
Illus on that the aisaves were designed '
TO provide shade for his y
greater comfort when the hot sum. ,,
ner sun blazes from the sky. -
Tnis is. to be sure, something of :.
heir duty, but not by aay means q, .
he chief Tneir most important u
NJ ctlon is to b., the gastroa omc d.. y :,
'artment Of the tree. The fool OF "
he trees cones from the air, blt the y
aw material as in the air Is by no y
neans in shape to become part Of the =,
rce's complex organism. Spread !.
ut on the leaf these raw materials; q
ats of the soil dissolved in water,
nd the gases free in the air, these =
re spread out, as it were. while l..
wondrous eLamorphoiis. induced "
mong these materials by the suns u y,
avs, and by the chemical compounds u u
! lhe delicate cells of the leaf itself. ~ ~
vsnlualy prepare for the tree y :" -.
roper diet that Is slowly absorbed W
hrOl.h twlg and branch and trunk o'
ITO the trees yitals. "