The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1904-02-05
THE eRouNoHoe NE.
Yet kansans Won't Let 10 Their Fnncied
Prophet.


Prophet.
From Topeka Capital
Tuesday was Grounding day. Ac-
cording to the time honOred theory his
hOgship comes forth from his winters
sleep to take a look at the lay of the
land. If the sun is shining brightly and
he sees his shadow ne returns TO his
hole to sleep again, and we viii have
six weeks more of winter. If on the
contrary, it IS cloudy and he fails to
see his shadow he remains out, and the
ides of spring are close at hand. While
Grounding day is not a Kansas event,
it receives more attention in the Sun
flower state than in any other portion of
the United States. This is probably
largely due to the incessant campaign
waged by old Sol Miller in behalf of the
event. Old Sol edited the Troy Chief
for forty years and never a winter
passed during that time that he failed
to make Grounding day as important
an occasion as Christmas. His readers
came to look upon the second day of
-
Grounding day is a myth pure and
simple The tradition originated among
the Dutch COlOnists who settled in the
far New England states a century and
The grounding belongs to the order Of
marmots and IN the eastern states IS
known as the woOdchuch. 1t is found
in the old world in the region of the
Himalayas. At the cape of Good Hope
the Dutch call the animal hardware. -
The tradition in regard to the animal
seeing its shadow undoubtedly arose
from the fact that his hogship only ap-
pears above ground on days when the
sun is shining brightly. The mere fact
that the second Of February is selected
rs the day for him to appear to settle
the question of winter skaters the
theory. The grounding IS the most
thorough alternating of mammals
They become very fat in the early au-
tumn and retire for their winter sleep,
no matter what the temperature or
state of the weather, about the equinox.
from which they do not awake until
about the middle or latter part of
March. Another remarkable thing is
that the animal often retires when the
weather is genial and food abundant
and at the time of is temperance the
ground is frequently deep with snow
The unalterable laws of nature would
20 10 III
to appear on the second of February.
The belief is quite popular among ma
tive born Kansans that the grounding
IS an imaginative animal This is due
to the fact that there are no genuine
groundOgs in Kansas. The nearest ap-
prOach to It IS the prairie dog, which is
a distinct and distant species of the
marmOt- The prairie marmOt is
smaller animal than the grounding.
The former measures about eighteen
inches from nose to tip of tail, while
the grounding reaches a length of
about twenty-eight inches. In some
parts of the east, particularly New
Hampshire, grOundhogs are so numer-
convenience and q bounty is paid for
their scalps, the same as for coyotes in
Kansas. But Notwithstanding that 1t Is
the veriest of myths, Grounding day
has come to stay in Kansas. Knockers
may rise up in every township and
shout their heresies from the hOusetops,
but when the second of February rolls
around each year, the oldest settler and
the old settlers son and even unto the
third and fourth generation, will go out
into the back yard and watch the course
of the sun all day, and when it has
dropped behind the western horizon at
the close they will go back into the
house and make their plans for the
next two months accordingly, For if
the theory happens to 90 amiss the par
tisan of Grounding day always has
this argument to fall back on: If we
have six weeks more of winter the
grounding saw his shadow; If we don't.
he didn't see It. So there YOU are.