Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-25
NATURE WARNS HER CHILDREN
Signals of All Kinds for Men who
Know and VIII Use
Their Eyes.

For those who have eyes 10 see them
kindly nature hangs out signals OF all
kinds. She only asks that men will use
their eyes. II they can, and do so, she will
never betray them She has both good and
bad signs, which are as plain in their way
as red or green lights to railway engine
driver.
For instance, what is called the low coun-
try of the Northern Transvaai is partly
healthy, partly feverish. In one spot you
may camp in safety for a month, in another
not a mile away the dreaded fever will
seize you in a single night.
Yet to uneducated there seems little or
40 difference in the outward aspect of the
two places. But your old prospector is
never caught camping on fever ground.
He knows the fever tree too we'll The
fever tree is an odd and sinister-looking
piece of vegetation, with twisted greenish
trunk and branches. and grows only in
those spots where fever mist hangs at
nightfall.
SO, too, in Florida, when hunter Is
traversing the immense swamps-'ham-
mocks," as they are called-which cover
huge tracts in the southern part of that
state, he searches for spot where pine
presses and gums. There he can camp and
sleep in safety though to spend night
but a few hundred yards away from the
pines might mean bone racking dose of
ague.
Many an Australian explorer has been
saved from a horrible death by thirst be-
cause he has known the water malice. This
| tree, though 1t may stand in the midst OF
a burning desert. invariably tells OF water
below the surface. III tho traveller be not
| too far gone to dig, he will find the pre-
cious fluid below the mallee's roots.
| The old shepherd crossing Dartmoor or
one OF the Scottish moors travels with dry
feet, while the stranger is perfectly certain
TO tumble knee, perhaps waist deep into
horrible black compound Of mud and water
The shepherd avoids the boys because ne
has learned to read natures danger signal
He does not walk on places where the
sphagnum covers the surface. and so avoids
the pitfalls hidden beneath its pale green
fronds.
Most of us know something Of weather
signs, those warnings which are hung out
for all to read in the sky. and yet how
many never notice them at all, so that
when there comes a really great CONFUSION
Of nature they are caught unprepared.
! That awful cyclone which overwhelmed
the great seaport OF Galveston three years
| ago drowning thousands OF people, was
heralded by an immense ground SWEET, which
was seen forty-eight hours before the tenn
! pest broke.
The Mississippi storm of 1884, which f.
generally supposed to have been the worst
! gale that has ever been recorded, and the
result OF which was to wipe out nearly
twenty settlements, flooded 10000 square
miles OF land and permanently changed the
course of the great river. was preceded by
strange and at the time inexplicable
moaning sound, which went on for three
days and seemed to come from the upper
air. although below all was still. The In
| dams heard II and left for the high
ground: the whites heard It, stayed where
they were and were drowned.
AS strange a danger signal may be
found on the surface of this planet is the
so-called "Quesbrada Encantada," the en-
chanted ravine OF the .Uloa valley. in Hon
duras. of which an account, written by
George Byron Gordon, who visited the place
is to be found in the memoirs OF the Pea
body museum.
When rain is approaching there comes
from this ravine a melodious whistling
sound, which varies In intensity accord
ing as to whether the coming storm will
be heavy or light Before one OF the
| terrific tropical thunderstorms which at
times devastate that part OF the world the
sound is a deep organ note, which is heard
many miles away In every direction.
Even earthquakes and volcanic eruptions,
most terrible of all natures visitatIons. do
not come without due warning Sir Nor
man Lockyer has stated that the most
disastrous volcanic eruptions and earth
quakes occur. like the rain pulses OF In
dls, at the dates OF the sun spot maxima
and minima At the minimum in 1867
Mauna. Loa. Vesuvius South America and
Formosa were involved At the maximum
In 1872 Martinique and ST. Vincent; in 1883
came the frightful explosion OF Krakatoa,
and, to give a recent instance, the Mar
tinaue eruption came at a maximum Of
solar disturbance
Also Just before an earthquake there are
other and palmer warning signs. Just be-
/ fore the catastrophe at St. Pierre came
news that the Martinique cable was broken.
This sort Of thing has happened more than
once before similar visitations.
On the west coast of South America
where earth tremoPs are constant, severe
shocks are usually heralded by disturb
ances OF the sea. Such heavy quakes also
almost invariably happen at high tide. In
Hawaii, another volcanic center, certain
springs stop flowing before an outburst In
the crater OF Mauna Loa the lava always
rises steadily for some weeks before an
| eruption
Indeed. 1t may truly be said that 70 those
who have eyes TO see. nature invariably
gives due warning before a coming cat
Astrophs of any kind whatsoever.-Pear-
sons Weekly.
Make Your wand Known Throu.h The