Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-24
So Say Pennsylvania Weather
Prophets in Convention.
ANIMALS GETTING READY
Squirrels Are Filling Their Larders
and Woodchucks Dig Deep.
TALL WEEDS INDICATE SNOW
They Grow High, Farmers Say, So
That Birds May Get
Seeds.

| kUTzTOWN. Pa. October a.-The an
| nual convention of weather prophets
| OF Berks county was held at Maxatawny.
ABOUT mile from here, when fifty farm
ers met to make the annual predictions
| Tor the coming winter. Some declared
that the winter will be long and severe,
while others maintained that it will be
| mild
several declared that they are prepar-
ing for hard and long winter because
the red squirrels and chipmunks have
become very busy laying in their winter
food store. even going to the extent of
collecting green chestnut burrs. breaking
them open and hiding away for future
use the unripe chestnuts The farmers
declared that they never before knew the
squirrels to open green chestnut burrs
or to begin storing food so early in the
fall The fact that the chestnut crop
was an unusually large one this year is
said to be a good reason why the winter
Will be long and severe. as plenty of
nuts were prepared for the tiny forest
animals to tide them over until spring
Others said that ground hogs have bur
roWed their way into the earth earlier
than usual. which indicates cold win
since the ground hogs hibernated so
| early. Other prophets argue that thin
corn husks mean mild winter.
Tall Weeds Indicate Snow.
Some OF the farmers contended that the
weeds nave grown to an unusual height
| this year. and tina, this indicates a Sc
we're winter and lots of snow. since ma
ture causes the weeds to grow tall so
| that birds can feed upon the seeds when
the ground Is covered with snow A
close observer of weather conditions said:
a dry summer is invariably followed by
winter with lots Of snow. The aver
age rainfall each year is about six
inches We arc still far from the mark.
and We can expect lots of snow to make
up for 1t. \ wet fall always means an
early winter. This is accounted for by
the fact that the rain has already cooled
the earth and the cold has a good start
a few years ago people OF this vicinity
We're guided solely by the teachings Of
the goose bone" rs read by k,as liartz.
the venerable goose-bone" weather
prophet. For upward of a half century
this pioneer Of weather prosnOsticators
foretold the weather. and his advice was
sought for by farmers living in all sec
lions of eastern Pennsylvania
Hartz never attempted to make his cal
culations until Thanksgiving day For
this purpose he usually secured goose
which born in early spring. and he
enjoyed it for his Thanksgiving day meal
Taking the breast bone, he would make
a close study OF it. and his predictions
for the winter followed promptly If the
bone was covered with dark spots it indi-
Gated a hard winter: il not the weather
was to be mild.
Hornets Ready for Cold.
Two-thrds Of the farmers at the con-
Rismiller Of Bern township said that the
winter will be n hard one and that the
ice trust will get a severe bump next year,
az there will be plenty of natural ice. He
bases his prophecy on the hornets, be-
cause they built their nests in the trunks
of the trees instead of on the tree tops.
Azariah Weaver of Pricetown presided
at the meeting. He will not make his
prophecy before November "a. He said:
For nearly half century have been
making my predictions on this day. II
this day is cold and stormy there is a
cold rain prevailing, YOU can make up
your mind that the remainder of the
ing my prediction on this day ever since
1853 and have seldom missed it,.
Adam II. Ortiz Of Mount Pleasant said:
Last year at this time there We're hun
This year there are few. This means a
cold winter. Besides. the caterpillars
We're covered with a dark instead Of a
light fur this year and that indicates
severe winter"
Anthony Rupert. eightyseven years
old. of Basket, says that while the winter
will be severe ono. we will have an
early spring He says that reptiles. in
sects, etc. of all kinds have buried them
selves earlier than usual.
Sees Mild Winter.
Daniel Faust of Berne said: IF the
instincts OF insects can be taken as an
indication of the weather conditions this
winter. mildness will prevail. My reason
for saying this is that while blowing in
my field l noticed that the worms and
beetles are lying close to the surface and
have been late in depositing their eggs
and other indications point to a mild
winter
1.-The people don't have to worry about
having their cellars stocked with wood
and COAL declared Henry c.. Musser Of
Hyde Park. "One can go into the fields
and see hundreds of worms lying around.
II the winter was to be severe. these
worms would have buried themselves long
ago February will be the worst month
OF the winter season, but the other
| months will be OPEN
Elijah Stieff of Bally said: The to-
mato vines tell the story, and my predic
| ton is that the winter will be mild To-
| ward the last Of September 1 always up
| root a tomato vine and hang ii In the
cellar. After two weeks l take my obser-
vations. II the tomatoes are still hard
the winter will be severe. If the tomatoes
are rather soft and little wrinkled the
winter will be mild. This year the to-
matoes were soft and Wrinked.
Il