Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-03

serious ana the other trivial.
The serious cause was the
rainy spell which some creduIous per-
sons ana many humorous writer's
blamed on st. 6within. the good old
Bishop OF Winchester. who died more
than . thousand years ago. who. In
his life. was careful to do harm to no
man. and who could not possibly have
wished forty days OF rain to fall upon
the Just and the unjust alike. Besides,
even though he may have wished It,
1t IL somewhat unlikely that any mans
authority over the weather could
continue so long after his death.
Our own weather bureau. with the
aid OF instruments which st. Swithin
never used, seems not to be able to
produce rain when the crops need it.
nor to stop rain when the crops do
not need 1t. Indeed. 1t sometimes
forecasteth rain which falleth not,
and sometimes rain cometh unfore-
casteth. II there be any Swithinites
or 6withinonions or Swithinacs in
Washington-and with so many new
cults and isms it would seem that
there might be even some Of these
tho Rambler challenges them to
produce one bit OF evidence which
would have any weight with that
highly intellectual species of man
called q juryman. that the good old
saint had any desire TO turn the
world into a mud puddle for forty
days.
It. seems incredible that he could
have wished 20 much rain on the Dis
trfct Of Columbia. Maryland and vir-
ginia, because it is thought likely
that st. Swithin had not heard Of
these. That was no fault Of his. and
the Rambler regrets that st. Swithin
passed to celestial spheres without
becoming acquainted with the most
important, the most beautiful and the
most renowned parts Of the world.
Neither was 1t the fault Of the Dis
trict Of Columbia. Maryland and vir-
ginia that their fame had not spread
to England by the year 500. 1t was
due to Noah's oversight in having but
three sons. Noah gave Asia to Shem.
Africa to Ham and Europe to Japhet.
And 10 the District of Columbia,
Maryland and Virginia had to strug-
gle along for several years before
coming to be generally known.
The Rambler has no doubt that IL
Noah had had one more son. to whom
he could have given the District of
/ Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, the
fame Of America would have been
greater and brighter than that of
Greece and Rome. Egypt. Mesopo-
tamia, Babylonia. Chaldea. Persia, Sar-
malta, Scythia, Arianna. Sogdiana.
Bactriana, Ethiopia, Libya. Dacia,
Thraee and all the other places which
the Rambler can And on an old map
Of the ancient world.
II the District Of Columbia, Mary
land ana Virginia mad been better
known to the ancients. the Rambler.
because OF his acquaintance with this
region and also because OF his pro-
found familiarity with classic litera-
ture (proofreader. please do not cut
S's0S VNSSs ACCA0 ouEc kH6S OLU
friends Herodotus Of Halicarnassus,
Thucydides and xenophon. Homer.
Hesiod. Simonides of Coos. Virgil,
Horace and Catullus would have writ
ten less of Athens. Thehes. Memphis.
Abydos. Troy. Cyrene and Syracuse,
Tarentum. Sardis. Rhodes and Mem
non. and would have given more
space to Rockville, Bethesda. Gail
thersburg. GAINESVILLE. Jamestown.
Cherrydale. Clarendon. Falls Church.
Fairfax, Sterling. Ashburn, Leesburg.
Leonardtown, Port Tobacco. Marlboro.
Piscataway. Surrattsville and Silver
Hill. They would have more often
praised the ber ties of the Potomac,
Patuxent, Shenandoah. Monocacy.
Rappahannock. Goose creek, Sugar.
land run, Cabin John, Rock creek.
Pimmet run. Watts branch. Seneca,
Mattawoman. Oxon run and Aqua. than
the Tiber, Nile. Heiiespont. fropoptis.
Bosporus. the lister, Tigris. Eu-
pirates. Strymon, Thermodon or Alps.
II those classic writer's had been
blessed with a more extensive knowl-
edge Of geography they would. no
doubt have written just as eloquent