The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-31

uds AL III ulouLu. 1SI IiIcTG are Dl6QIy
who will believe in these fake wealth
er prophets, and will pay twenty-five
cents a year for their gazettes, telling
exactly what the weather will be. OF
course if these fellows really knew
what they claim they would not both
er with a lot of jays in the country,
but would go on Wall street and work
the n there to a stand-still. as Of
course they would, according TO what
they claim, know about the weather
and hence it would corner the cotton
crops any time. Yet their long range
predictions are believed implicitly by
thousands Of people, and they live on
the ignorance Of farmers. There are
plenty of the latter who still pin their
faith in the moon. The moon has a
slight effect on the atmosphere be-
cause the latter is mobile, that is o
able, and Of course it has effects On the
water where the latter is in large
masses, causing the tides, SO there
are 10Th water and atmospheric
tides, daily, due TO the moon, but the
latter has no specific effect on upon
the rain, the sunshine or the tempera-
ture. The belief in the moon is large
~ duC ~ tAo Otu - IL o~b SIoSs q
relic of the olden days. People be-
lieye in the moons influences before
they learn the facts as t the tides.
Another thing which has spread the
belief in the moons power is the fact
that so many people have gone inland
from the coast, where they saw the
tides. People were heard to say yes
terday that there would be no settled
weather until the moon changed 1t
has been changing a good deal this
summer, but it hasn't settled things
yet. One cOlOred farmer was heard
to say that it had begun to rain on
the anniversary on the day when Moan
entered the ark, and it was bound to
rain 40 days. Another said the rain
really set in on Saint Swithin's day,
and that CT course it was bound to
rain 40 days afterward and it has truly
done so. But to get back to real facts
and figures and out Of the realm of
weather prophets and all that sort of
thing. Mr.. Thiessen was asked about
the weather for the past five months
and gave the following figures which
tell the story of the spring and sum-
mer:
March was normal. April was a
very dry month, the drOuth beginning
at its first and only rs of an inch Of
rain falling, this being $50 below nor
NAL. There was rain on only six days.
The average temperature was 81 de-
grees the highest 80 degrees and the
lowest 80, and there was only "A per
cent of sunshine out of a possible
hundred. May was very dry also, the
rainfall being only f.73 inches, 2.75
below normal. Rain fell on ten days.
The mean temperature was SO de-
grees. the highest %, the lowest SO,
the sunshine being only Il per cent.
June was a vastly different month, for
then the very first week, the a be-
gan, the rainfall being 4.96 inches,
which is 1.12 above normal. There
were Is rainy days. The mean tenn
perature was II degrees the highest 81,
the lowest 81. The percentage Of
sunshine was only G3. July gave a
rainfall of 5.35 inches, which is So OF
an inch above normal. There was 16
rainy days. The mean temperature
was II degrees, the highest 81, the
lowest GA and there was only Al per
cent of sunshine, which is quite re-
m~arkable record. August to date
shows a rainfall of GAG, an excess OF
90 of an inch. There have been IS
rainy days, not counting days on
which there was merely sprinkles Of
rain. The mean temperature was 80
degrees, the highest 95, the lowest 70.
There has been ga per cent of sunshine
during the month.
Mr.. Thiessen says there are not
enough stations for rainfall observa-
tons now in this state, the number
being only 6S. The rainfall is quite
cratic. 1t is especially important to
have many stations for summer reports
when the local conditions SO affect
rainfall. In winter when the heavy
rains are due to c%yclon1c storms,
there is less Importance Of a multiple
ity Of stations. There are enough sta
tons for temperature observations.