Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1920-07-27
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"srnED THE pLow."
Reign Of the Great Dog Star.

Reign of the Great Dog Star.
About this time of year there begins q
hot, sticky, cloudy, showery and gener-
ally disagreeable period of summer,
known as "dog days." 1t is supposed
the great white star, known as SIRIUS, OF
the dog star, in the constellation of CAMS
Major, which comes into the heavens at
about this time, is responsible for this
disturbance; but we have no particular
reason, so far ss the writer can see, to
accuse this brilliant neighbor of ours,
l23 billion miles away, of having q tenn
per so like cross-cut saw.
1t is the dog star, however, and the
old saying is, as everybody knows, give
dog bad name and you can accuse
him of anything and get away with 1t.
The Egyptians began 1t Il guess). The
"Heliacal Rising" of this star, they be-
lieved, was responsible for the rising and
overfiowing of the Nile, the swarms of
mosquitoes, fieas, frogs and other pests
which visited the land of the Pharaohs
Yes, the Egyptians gave the dog, Sirius,
his bad name and 1t has continued down
through the centuries. The Romans
took It up and set apart forty days,
known as Csnicular Days, or to be more
particular, Dies Coniculares, beginning
twenty days before the Heliacal Rising
and continuing twenty days thereafter.
Coming down to our times, our Eng
lish forbears angliczed the name and
thereby took all the poetry out of 1t, but
left the weather as they found it. II
seems they must have had crouch at
the time and liked it, for they added
three more days-that is they arbitrarily
set the limits from July % to September
5, making forty-three days in all.
The probabilities are, Sirius ia unfor-
runate in timing his visits. So far, he
has persisted in visiting Oxford County
farmers at the same time as city cousins,
which may add something to the disa.
greeableness and perspiration; but IL is
fact that he comes a little later each
year, 30 in time he may and probably
will come in the middle of winter. II
be does come attended by any such
weather and blizzards as we had las'
year, will dog days In the winter be any
pleas autei?
If any ytbing should happen to'Sirius-
il he should get mixed mp in flirting with
a comet, or become mired In nebule, 80
his light fails to reach us during August
land astronomers tell US IL this should
occur 1t would take twenty Two years for
his light to again reach US, even If 1t
travelled by air plane) should we not
have the same kind of weather at the
usual time? don't know, but would be
willing to bet doughnuts to grasshop-
pers that we should!
1t is not Sirius that Is making such a
serious time for US, but old Mother Earth
itself. / don't know what the gender of
earth Is, but will bet 1t is feminine. In
spring time she laughs and cries like a
girl; in midsummer she has Mysteries
and in winter she shows the vindic
tiveness of a woman who has lost her
charm-a woman spurned. 1t is the hys-
terra that is troubling US now-the hot
sunshine and the thunder showers, with
the mistiness between.
Poor old Mother Earth. You can't
help it any more than any other. female
can, and the madness of midsummer Is
good deal better than the hopelessness
Of winter. At any rate it has some ad-
vantage on farm, especially to the help.
The only way in which farm hand can
profiteer is in his resting time-that Is
when it rains-and fate has way OF
having It rain on Sundays; SO August
weather, with its clouds and showers,
evens things up for him bit
AQUARIUs.