The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-25
HERE is a subtle witehery in the
 rain. At times it's influence Is soporific, languorous and sleep

Tdln. Al times It's 1nflnence IS
 soporific. languorous and sleep compelling; it is refreshing and chilling inspiring and depressing; gentle and vicious, whispering and storming. but all ways it brings dreams. It's cool breath revives man, beast and withered flower in summer, yet 1t beats down pitilessly on the widow and orphan in winter for the rain has it's moods and caprices. and is as f1tful and changeable as a spoiled woman. There is a soothing quality about rain, whether it falls gently, like the batter of chlldren's feet. or beats noisily upon the earth. Safely sheltered, we grow retrospective and meditative; we think of the past more than the future and often times the clouds without brighten by contrast the thoughts that troop through our minds, or invest our reveries with a tender, half sad, half sentimental atmos- phere that units us for practical affairs. People who laugh when 1t rains and they are left alone are few compared to those who become silent and thoughtful Brain workers have found rainy days conducive to successful labor. The melancholy of a damp day has been of service to poets and noveli$ts. Thus it is. that the rain serves another and more psychologist pur- pose than that of simply watering the earth. giving life to all living and growing l things. It exerts control over the mind it makes people think and then when they are tired of thought, lulls them to slum- ber
 Of all rain that which falls in spring appeals most to the heart of poet. It is then that nature is dressing herself in | green. that the world is being clothed anew with verdure and decked with flow | CTS. Mother Earth is in her most joyful mood, the sun beams indulgently and the | gently falling rain is all aglitter with rainbows. The world is seen through a purple mist, flowers drink the moisture eagerly and the tides of life are running so full that one can scarcely restrain his desire to rush out and lift his face to the warm caressing drops Rain comes sweet scented in spring, breathing a promise of fecundity and prosperity to be fulfilled in the autumn. It is brought by a breeze and is laden with the odor of green fields. In summer the rain visits us less fre- | quently and is therefore all the more vel come. It relieves parched humanity, re- stores the color and perfume to flowers and lays the dust With the rain beating steadily on his roof, an idler seated Iii an easy chair, book in his hand, finds himself slowly drifting away, through the halls of revery and into the palace where dreams are made. At night one 4ft,y fc .Ail1 taA there is tin roof near he is luled to slumber by the sweetest monody that hu- man ears have ever heard. At this sea son the rain is loved and feared more than at any other time of the year, for the whims of Jupiter Pluvius mean much to growing crops. Too much or toe little moisture Is apt to bring losses tc the farmer, and through him to every one else.
 With a chill suggestion of winter the autumn rain falls drearily Yellow leaves are beaten down from the trees and lie upon the ground in soggy drifts The landscape assumes a peculiarly sad ana misty appearance that depresses the be holder and drives him to the comfort oi the seasons first fire. Cottage smoke plays strange freaks and there is him of colds and lung complaints One shiv- CTS involutarily at every fresh gust oi wind and wonders if 1t would not be ad visable to have additional blankets put or his bed He is not in a mood for levity- although autumn may shower him iron her golden cornucopia he stand. and looks out at the rain.
 With threat and buster winter rair beats on the roof driven by the winC and flooding the gutters. 1t has lost its gentleness now and behaves rudely, smit Ing the tourist, with an icy breath, be numbing unfortunates who have no place