New-York tribune., 1921-01-30
MONG the perennial debates
: holding high favor with the

JEW Va ttiC A~NSnss' .
at the matter impartially, year in
and year out, how much of wealth
er prophet is the grounding?
According to the groundhog' S
theories. if February 2 is a dull.
gray day. winter is over; if not,
not. There are no qualifying
phrases-not probably" nor even
a perhaps"
On the face of it, this seems
rather an arbitrary position for any
animal to assume. And where-if
a timid soul may ask-does the
grounding get all his authority?
Wakes on February 2
Weather lore says, and 1t is vio-
lating no confidence to repeat the
rumor, that the grounding wakes
from his long alternating sleep on
February 2 and comes out of his
den. If he sees his shadow on the
snow, back he goes for another
sleep, condemning the world to six
weeks more of winter. But if he
does not see his shadow, he knows
that winter practically is over and
wanders off looking for food to break
his long winter fast.
That's the prose of it. The poets
really do much better with the
Idea. In couplet form they pre-
sent:
If Candlemas be bright and clear,
WeW haze taUo Winters in the year.
Then there are more elaborate
versions which translate into the
same general prophecy, such as:
~ Candlemas Day be fair and
= bright,
Winter will hare another flight;
But il Candle1nas Day brings
clouds and rain,
Winters gone and wom't come
again.
For the moment no one is asked
to consider the poetic value of these
little gems-that will all be taken up
later in the story. The present con-
Germ should be for the message be-
hind the epic.
It's Candlemas Day, Too
While it may appear odd to drop
the grounding legend abruptly and
drift into this loose talk of Candle
mas Day, technically they are one
and the same article Groundhog
Day and Candlemas Day coincide, as
it were, on February 2.
Naturally, the poets grasped
greedily at this fortunate coinci-
dence. No legitimate poet could be
expected to go the term ground
hog" 1t would spoil any effort at q
Rhythmic line. But, however widely
the versifiers and the prose writers
differ in terminology, their intent is
the same. They maintain February
g as the Judgment Day for winter
with the grounding directing the
ceremonies.
Both by casual contributions and
the almanacs the superstition has
been given such terrific impetus that
there seems little hope that scen.
tific reasoning can sway the discus
sion one way or another. Still, we
are. willing to have try.
From an old volume compiled by
the United States Weather Bureau
we have unearthed some rather in.
eliminating testimony against the
grounding.
Flou,ctl by Weather Bureau
"There is mistaken belief" says
the report, "that some animals pos.
sess a faculty that permits them tt
anticipate the character of the
weather for the coming season. The
faculty POSSESSED by animals to in,
terpret the signs Of coming weathe,
changes is limited to an instructive
appreciation of present atmospheric
conditions, which are indicative o.
certain weather changes from pc
'-riods Of probably one to twelve
hours in advance.
"The character of weather" add
the report, "on church and saints
days. when the mass Of the peopl,
7 have forsaken their usual occupa
tiops in favor of out-of door recrea
fions, or the donning Of their bes
wearing apparel, has naturally beel
subject Of unusual interest an,
speculative note. And it has fol
lowed that these days have been l.
greater extent than ordinary work
ing Gays a basis for weather specu
iation."
Although this should dispose def
nite!y Of both the Candlemas Da
and the grounding legends, certai