Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-02-02
SEES HIS SHADOW
Grounding Chased Back to His
Lair to Remain Six Weeks
Longer.
BLIZZARD FOR A RECEPTION
Most DfsagreeabIe Day of the Win
Ier-CoId Wave on
the Way.

the way.
We are in for six weeks more OF
winter weather, if we are to, accept
the old adage of the grounding and
his shadow. Between and 10 o'clock
the sun shOne spasmodicaiiy on moth
| er earth and if the little animal
around whom so much interest CEN
tiers on this date happened to be out
| of his winter nest. and the presump-
| ton is that he was, he was given a
| look at his shadow. The popular i'm
pressiCn as to the time the grounding
| sees his shadow differs somewhat
from that entertained by the Ground
| hog society. an account of the pro-
ceedings Of which appears elsewhere
and whose theory is that the little
| animal must see his shadow at sun
rise.
The grounding Is supposed to be
| afraid of his shadow. In other words.
| it i taken to indicate that it will be
too cold to be comfortable for him TO
remain on the surface with the Ordi-
nary mortals and he HES back to his
! lair to count the days until the six
weeks are passed.
The weather man and the hog APP
| pear to have had falling out. for
specially severe dose was in waiting
| for the latter when he came to the
surface this morning. 1t was the first
real blizzard of the winter, the tenn
perature beginning to fall after
o'clock. when it registered II above
zero. \ mixture of snow and dirt
business forced them to be out in the
open. for il is safe bet that none
ventured outside that were not com
PEELED. for ii was by long odds the
most Gisagreeable day of the winter
season. Further pleasant news is the
announcement of the weather bureau
that we are to be favored with anOth-
er cold wave tonight.
Colder Than Average.
The month of January opened the
year 1904 with deficiency of 149 de-
grees in temperature. an average of
IS degrees for each day Of the month.
The monthly summary issued by the
local weather bureau shows that the
average temperature for January was
10 degrees. or As below the average
for the month during the last 33 years.
However. il was not the coolest jan
uary on record. by any means. for an,
average of degrees has been attain
ed i'm two years. The highest temper
allure last month was 46 on the 10Th
and the lowest Is below on the 18th.
The greatest daily range was 24 on
the 18th and the least was , on the
Goth.
In precipitation the month exceed
ed the average by IL inches with to-
tai fall Of 30 inches. There were 10
clear days. II partly cloudy and on
which the sun did not shine at all.
Rain fell ON but seven days.
Throughout the State.
Great vicissitudeS of weather were
experienced during the month. ac
cordin" To the special crop bulletin
for the month of January, in Illinois.
The average temperature was conSid-
erabIy below normal. In the central
district the daily deficiency amounted
to nearly + degrees. The month open
ed cold with minima below zero over
a greater portion Of the state. There
was a decided rise in temperature. be-
ginning with the third decade. which
was followed by Il severe cold wave
in. the northern section on the 18th.
and the central and the southern dis
tricts were under lis influence by the
21th. Precipitation. mostly in the
form of snow. was we'll distributed,
and the measurements were in excess
of the seasonal average.
Wbaat and I.-p in l. cent r'.,l and
the northern districts are i'm q normal
midwintcr condition. Ample covering
ty Sncw wa afforded during the peri
cd of rigorous weather. In the priu-
cipal wheat growing section - the
southern III. trict the crop j. very
uneven. Expressions 81 poor pres
poets are made ny many pond
cntS. The crop i sutTcriu" from al
verso fall conditions when there was
Il prcncanced deficiency in moisture.
and the plant has not attained sea
sonable growth. During the cold
wave the fields were generally well
covered with snow.
Corn is not being marketed freely.
There J. u considerable proportion
that has not dried out well. The 'opin-
ion Is freely advanced that high grade
corn will be scarce.
Pastures and meadows have been
well protected during the season. and
are generally promising. except in the
southern district. The healthy condi-
tion e stock i generally remarked.
Conflicting reports have been re-
ceived with regard to injury by cold
JC fruit trees. Some damage has en-
sued, confined mostly to peach trees,
but reports do not Indicate a consid-
cradle loss. In some localities apples
are not keeping well.