, 1922-06-15
Poor
rognostica
BY r. RAY BAKER

Nopuuy hau any faith In the weather
man. Nobody even has faith in any
weather man, unless it is negative. 81
see by the paper tomorrow will be
fair; that means rain sure" SAYS the
cynical dear public, and the dear pub
nc iaughs and co~ngratulates itself on
being witty. But the joke is as an
cient as Mount Ararat. You will re-
member that Noah's prediction of rain
was treated with the same lack OF
respect.
But his story is no discussion of
the merits or dement's of weather men
IN general. II deals with one partic-
ular prognosticator, by name Hiram
Lake. As has been said, nobody had
faith in him; that is, nobody except
julia Collins, and even she was begin.
ming to weaken.
Julia had lived all her life In Wes-
ley except for the time spent in board
Ing school, and. having finished her
course in that institution, she
had come home and settled down.
ready to get marrled-when some suit
able, marriageable man should happen
along.
There was Jacob Hanaford. who's
father owned a Irvine factory and had
tied up more than his share of wealth
with his product. Jacob was "willln'"
h Julia was concerned, but there
were things about him she didn't like.
Hiram happened along, and he seemed
to suit in every particular until he
lost caste by his professional record.
wesley hun iuGf hnnn dngionataI
weather headquarters for that part of
the state and the government sent
Hiram to preside at the prophesying.
He met julia and n romance started
to bud-until she suddenly discovered
he had become the joke of the town,
and her friends, by mean of derlsion
and sarcasm, began 10 undermine her
regard for Hiram.
Julia struggled against this, but the
friends persisted, aided and abetted
by jacob. and she weakened. Jacob
was invited to all the parties, and no.
body would have anything to do with
Hiram n the young woman enjoyed
parties. so the rich mans son finally
worked his way into her favor to some
extent. although the weather man still
called occasionally-when there was
no social activity to require her at
tention.
Wesley folk were very exacting.
The grocer who mixed sand In sugar
was ~ostracized, as was the dairyman
who put water In milk-that is, more
than a reasonable amount. A jewelel
who sold paste for diamonds woult
| 1n-a nnnnIurftr and tho tamncNnnpI
could not make an exception In the
case Of a prophet who had 1t ralr
when he promised sunshine. Hiram
scanned his daily reports with metic
ulous care and made his deductions
with scrupulOus caution, but when q
low pressure area seemed headed fol
certain In the direction of Wesley and
he predicted a storm on the strength
of 1t. mild weather was inevitable.
The Sunday of the big picnic hike
dawned as fair as the most hopeful
could wish, and when h walking
club stopped for Julia every member
was in high spirits. Still. Julia in
sisted on taking an umbrella until
they laughed her ont Of the idea.
"Rain?" said Jacob. "Why, look at
that sky-clear as a bell"
But" Julia faltered, "the paper last
night predicted rain for today"
The uproar produced by this remark
made her feel very sheepish, while
Jacobs eyuberance prompted him to
a Witty remark TO the effect that the
prediction Of rain vas n positive as
surance Of continued sunshine. Julia
,,.,- 1.n-p.nut ~ har Ar~p aa,nrn n-
well as Hiram's. She JUST coulGn't
help having some faith In her weather
man. acknowledgements, she do
care for him. even though he was the
joke Of the town.
But she went without the umbrella.
ON on n country road, through the
woods. turning green under the breath
of spring. the mixers liked, carrying
lunch baskets and creating SHARP APP
p~e'ites for their contents. Their blood
was warmed by the spirit Of the
season and they made merry.
Lunch was eaten at the edge Of the
woods far from any %habitation, with
the sun shining brightly. But while
the dishes were being gathered Into
the baskets preparatory TO returning
n black cloud ~unfurled from the West
and spread across the hitherto blue
sky. In the heavens thunder began
and flashes Of lightning became
more frequent as time passed.
The party looked askance at the
sky and worried frowns crept across
their fnces. although n smile mingled
with the troubled look on Julia's coun-
tenance.
"They will scoff Mt my weather man,
will they?' she said to herself and felt
n sense of satisfaction.
Suddenly. without further prelim-
i%naries, the black cloud split and n
torrent descended. sheets of rain cut
ting through the branches of the trees
under which the party sought safety.