Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-02
MORE BAD WEATHER
GROUND HOG ENERGIES ONLY TO
RETURN TO HIS BED.
Real Cold Experienced This Morning,
but Mercury Rises LATER Bit
card in the West, d

Promptly at O'Clock this morning the
ground hog. which has the destinies of
Washington in the hollow of his foot, APP
peared on the surface of a log within which
he had been sleeping since last fall, ana
cast his prophetic eye about MIN. The re-
suit was disheartening, for plain and dis
tinct, as he turned his head from east to
west. he saw his shadow outlined from the
log toward the point of the setting sun.
With sigh that was half groan he tuck
ed his tail between his little legs, turned
down his ears and crept moodily back into
his log, there to remain for six long weeks
while the wintry winds howl ana shrlek
above him and the snow covers his warm
retreat. His mission had been temporarily
filed he had seen his shadow, ana accord
ing to all precedent he was que Tor a SIX
weeks sleep while the cold weather lasts
If he had been so fortunate as to nave met
with cloudy day he would have uttered
cry of delight that might have Deeh nkened
to song of joy, for he would nave been
assured by that token that the cold was
about over and the springtime soon due
with no bad weather Intervening.
This superstition dates back many gener-
ations and it would be wrong to say IT mas
died out. 1t seems to hold good today as
it did century ago, and there are tnou-
sands who depend upon the ground hog Tor
their spring weather indications With much
greater satisfaction than upon the PAD
weather department OF the government
The hog knows his business and the gov
eminent does not always hit the correct
prediction. Besides, the ground hog has
been in the business for a much longer time
than the weather bureau, and ne ought TO
have better opportunity for guessing. even
If it is a guess, than the experts of the de-
partment, who deny that they guess, but
insist that they figure out the prospects
from actual conditions that are sent to
frnr oil hn N o
the weather.
Mercury Goes Up.
The mercury in the thermometer is grad
ually rising, but that does not indicate that
the hog is wrong in his prognosis of the
weather that We are in for Changes are
apt to come pretty quickly in this climate,
and that we are due for one or several be-
fore those six weeks are up is a certainty,
or all previous predictions Of the little an
imal have been given for naught.
At o'clock this morning the thermom-
eter registered 2 degrees above zero; at
noon it had reached 26 degrees, and at 2
o'clock it managed to touch 81, the warm
est part of the day. From that time 1t be-
gan to fall again, and the indications are
that we will have some more ice tonight.
There were several inches of ice formed
last night, and the sleighing was better On
the unfrequented roads of the city than it
has been at any time since the heavy snow
fall of last week. There have been more
sleighs seen on the streets of washington
this season than at any timeIin several
years, and the indications arsothat more
still will be seen from now on.
A blizzard is forming in the. west today.
and may reach Washington tomorrow. The
atmosphere is so filled with ni6isture that
it can hold but little more, and any
usual change will precipitate it in the form
of snow if the weather does not materially
warm up before the change arrives. There
to, l, 81 Ill
dcations for more snow are better than for
any time since the last storm. ieffhe cold
wind that swept the city from over the
seem even colder than it actually was, but
as the weather is what people thinksit is
and what they feel it to be from Judgment
of their own comfort discomfort, Il was
plenty cold enough today for even-the odd
est inhabitant to ,renain at~,hoIne ,and
upon opportunity presenting, to- ten his
younger brethren how cold 1t was in 40.