Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-02-01
OLD MAN JANUARY
DIES; NOBODY SORRY
His 81 Days of Existence One
Long Crime Against the
Shivering Public.

January. all hct up about something
or other. rose on its hind logs. kicked
the stuf out OF tho dashboard and
generally smashed up records, past per-
forrnances and old man Usual Procedure
In most frightful manner. When the
thing was all over and January had eX-
pircd without tear Mt midnight last
night. enough had been done to make the
uamo n word of reproach among all self
respecting months.
At ono time and for considerable
Period March had the blue ribto on for
being the most generally mast, and I'M
necessary month, but, compared to the
ca-ousa, that January has been on the
past 81 day, merely coming n Ike
hon and sneakipg out like the well known
lamb is absolutely nothing TO get criti-
cal about.
In the first place in chroniclng the
things that this January has foolishly
went and done, there's a straight charge
Of IL days of snow and one extra day of
pure. unadulteratcd, spiteful rain. In
theso u DAYS something like 1876 inches
of snow have been contributed and
there's nothing very genteel about that
when one considers that 81 inches is
what any Ordinary, average. intelligent
and honest January would have done.
At no other time since 1910 has there been
any such cXtravagance IN snow.
NASTY ABOUT COLD WEATHER.
It's 10 the matter of plain cold that
tho month should be ccnsured and cTIti-
ciScd most severely. Now, since 1871,
when the local Weather Bureau was or
ganized. 80 degrees above zero has been
the usual mean temperature for Janu-
ary. But do YOU suppose for one Soc
ond that this wild month that we Nc
Just got rid Of was satisfied with any such
tame figure rs that F.? You should GET
vou-a-Iun, not, for starting out with
the coldest January day in Is wears the
month struck n general average of II
degrees above zero. or nine degrees lower
than the usual mean temperature tor
the past s. Januarics. This proud tg-
,lrc of II degrees mean temperature was
also two degrees below the coldest past
January. that of 1910 holding the cham
p,nnship belt with the record of y de
crCeS m>an.
All this cold weather ambition, II should
be Understood. was started. fostered,
abcttcd. and assisted ~ none other than
New Years day itself, which cracked
all past records with q great drive that
sent the urproparcd mercury to tyc be
low zero the coldost individual January
dsv within the memory of the WeathGT
Bureau or the oldest living iphabitant
of these parts.
POOR DECEMBER BLAMED
Ru, .; that, maybe January shouldn (
n blamed TOO much Ii was really
Miss Dcccmher's fault. for Just take
SUNDAY December so. as an example:
there she Eot all excited and let her tenn
peraturc dron m I3 degrees below zero,
- she could have the reputation Of hsvin
had the vcr~ coldest day IN century,
Il amt right for nice young female
month TO act thst way, even If the women
can vote in New York State this wear.
Just why Miss December ard Mr. Jan
uaTv-who IS recognized these DAYS as
being straight out and out the north
should have forg item all thcIy manners
because we are st war, ts hest explaired
~ the simple fact that recently there
aas been an unusual solar activity in tho
torrld zone. and tins unusual solar radla-
ton causes the atmosphere about the
cquaty 70 become buoyant ard rise
like the price Of Scotch-thus drawing in
cooler air-like temperance falkland
causing n decided drop in temperature
in the temperate zones, particularly in
the vicinity of Berlin and such.