The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-09-08
Official City, State and County
Newspaper)
Foreign Representatives
SMALL. SPENCER, LEv1NGS
& BREWER
(Incorporated)
CHICAGO NEW YORK BCo~Ol
Not That Deep

4NVV xlt0C OCCY
Add to Bismarck's other claims to
fame the peculiarities Of its wea-
ther-or so some folks would have us
believe.
A gentleman in Washington who
keeps the wolf away from the door
by writing pieces for publication,
glanced at the government weather
report a while back and decided that
here was something about which to
wax facetious.
The thing which seemed to startle
him most was the fact that Bis
marck, N. D., on the day in question,
was the second warmest city in the
country. AS a result, he opened his
article, dated August Is, as follows:
1.-THE digging Of potato cellars
and wells and Of foundations for
dwellings ought to be we'll along
in the SteppeS Of North Dakota
for just the other day Bismarck
was next to the hottest place in
the United States. The ther-
mometer registered LOG degrees.
In the winter the ground freezes
fourteen feet deep in North Da-
kota and the task of digging down
through that crust is one which
tries the most heroically welded
pick or the hardest steam shovel
that ever came out of Marion or
BucyruS."
There followed, to the extent of
some thousand words, a dissertation
on the vagaries OF the weather In
general, both far and near, with Bis
marck as the focal point in the dis
cussion.
On the day in question, Phoenix,
Ariz., had the high mark with ITO
degrees but the writer would have us
infer that no is nothing whatever to
q truly patriotic citizen Of that COM
munity. One gathers that they shtver
in Phoenix If the temperature skids
below 100 and at 80 degrees they be-
gin watching for frost-bitten fingers
and noses.
It appears that Phoenix is just ac
Tar north Of the tropics as Bismarck
Is south Of Greenland; that Bismarck
Is far south of the dusty streets of
"Dear Old London" and all Of Eng
land, for that matter, but is north of
vladivostok, which is frozen up many
months in the year.
Phoenix, on the other hand, Is on
p line with steaming Port Said and
the burning sands Of Arabia.
All in all, Bismarck got q lot of
publicity and the fact is borne home,
along toward the tail end of the ar
ticle In question, that the "steppes"
Of North Dakota are inhabited by
white folks rather than fur-clad Es.
kimos.
But that statement about It freez-
Ing Il feet deep in these parts is
just . little bit uncalled for. He
couldn't have got that information
from the weather bureau. As one ma
tive put it, the ground couldn't freeze
that deep in North Dakota because
the moisture doesn't get that far
down.
It would seem that this glittering
bit Of misinformation came from one
Of those members Of the Ananias
club who have travelled through North
Dakota, perhaps in summer, and
been RECALLED with the tales Of cold
weather which sometimes are related
to tenderfeet. The story probably
grew taller as 1t went eastward UNI
til, when 1t reached Washington, the
surprising thing Is that the depth Of
the freeze wa put at so modest a
figure as IA feet.
North Dakota has been suffering
Misrepresentation about It's weather,
facetious and otherwise. for many
years and probably the trend will con-
tiuue. Those pioneers who told har-
rowing tales about the severity Of
the billiards. in these parts set a
precedent and created an idea in the
mind Of the nation which 1t is hard
to eradicate.
But this does not alter the fact
that the residents of North Dakota
are privileged to live in one OF the
best all-year climates which the
world knows, even II some folks do
harbor the idea that 1t doesn't thaw
out until August.
They Do Come Back
When Francis Ouimet captured the
American amateur golf championship
IN ~ GhinoNn 0of,,rdo~, tn ~,,A ~..lxo !.