Evening star., 1926-01-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES +. TRACEHELL,

IL bear soeS into his den early. il
means a hard Winter. The trouble
with this Is that we have no bears.
When cat washes it, face, the al
ma nae said 1t is sign OF rain.
IT this were true, II would be raining
all the time because your average
We'll bred house cat industriously lick $
itself after each and every meal
All these "ways of telling the wealth
er. however, ere of value as showing
mans natural interest in the weather.
Many people believe they have Sc
cret methods of intallibiy predicting
when 1t Is going to rain. II is too ba d
t he Government does not give them
jobs, for if their method; are correct
they would be able to ave Uncle Sam
from purchasing any amount Of e~-
penSiNe equipment.
The amateur Wea ther Ioreca ter gen
orally rails TO check w on himself.
only remembering when he hits il
right" Usually he fails To note the
many times he misses II entirely.
This same spirit accounts for one of
he favorite city sports "pannins" the
Weather Bureau. II, on some impor.
tant occasion. the official forecast
misses il, thou5an nda are never tired
OF recalling the awful mistake.
II the bureau predicts the wea thel
u the hour. no one thinks anything
Of II ii all; it is simply accept ed in tho
normal run OF thinSs.
Statistical check ups a the Weather
! Bureau reveal that there Is about Il 10
per cent error in predictions-that is,
10 per cent OF the time the bureau
either hits it, or come So close that
| II IS much the same thine.
rrha ,.,,,.,.. ,Lo r..:,,
! euualed in normal weather conditions.
| There may be other manifestations
! more hlu1terN. mure shuTy, but. fur
! solid. satisfying romance. nothing in
The weather line quite equal rain.
Take the patisr Of a gentle GriZZle
/ upon the root. iiour after hour il
! keeps ~. A. an! time one Nak ems
( he hear ii smackin- the window
! pane.
Some - here there is = soft drip.
driu. drip. |, Grip4. dripS drips
Win marvellous persistence. Through
/ leepv ewes one may Ioo1, out into
! the night. and see. under III. dim lGht
/ Of the street lsmp, sudden walks,
/ hedra c2led lawns. trees dripping with
! moisture.
! Du such Il morning YOU Sympa thiZe
| with the milkm4n. who can be heard
! going his rounds. his honest horse
| stopping and starting almost without
/ Il word of command
AS the light creepa into rhe sky,
/ log settles down over the cityscdpe,
! Now il Is impossible 10 see the corner
| down there. The lamp there CLEANS
! haZilv. throwing out d strange glare
| if almost unable TO beat its WaN
| through the thick mist.
Steadily the water tails. A. We sir
| down 10 breakfast it lets up' hit
md We congratulate ourselves. On
! eCond thought. however. We realize
! hat Just st rhe moment "e start out
| The house III sill begin 10 pour
! again.
sure -nouGh--He have finished don
! ming our rubhers and grasp the truatN
! umbrella in th" LETT hand and the
! iuork mob in The rieht--Vhen the skies
| ssem 10 let looae their contents. ana
| he rain pours down.
Better Wait until il stops.
lut We, being red-hlooded indi
| .idual boldly sally out. We stand
| ,or 10 minutes waiting Tor the bus
While the deluse falls. At last the
=, hicle draws up. We step in-and
| 7 stops raining