The Weather Problem

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 131, 29 April 1890, Page 3

The Weather Problem

|We are not responsible for the opttfcdns «f our correspondents.] TO THE :E*>r«POß OF T«*! STAB. Sib. — My letter on the above subject, published in the Star of the 15th April, instant, will, I Relieve, be found, to contain the basis of calculations made by the ■scientist who predicted a wet season to be , -followed by a severe in northern Australia. There are, btewever-, influences "to be taken into consideration also in relation with the sun, such as the periodical ■extension of those spots, causing wet and stormy seasons, has gone by only a few seasons back, and are -not likely to occur «gain for some years, which is so much in favour of the foregoing prediction. But, -although the sun has by far the greatest

influence on the weather, the changes oi * the moon has also* some influence difficult •to make out exactly; and whether the -moon acts in concert with or counteracts in some degree the effect of the sun's influence on the weather J don't think has .yet been determined. Local effects, howk ever, such as the state of the atmosphere -in some region bordering on Australia, -may modify the great drought predicted above ; but taking, everything into consideration the chanoeß are in favour of the My remarks upon the purifying effect of the south wind, in my last letter, may lead individuals to suppose -that little or no moisture should come from that direction. This conclusion would be wrong, as occasionally in certain localities •a quantity of impure atmosphere and a .heavy fall of rain for a short interval may -te driven iv front of that wind, and from the same cause may be injurious to health, .giving rise to sudden chills, rheumatism, >&c. This does not, however, disprove, ■the ultimate purifying effect of the south wind in counteracting the effect of the Wind from other quarters wafting the ..germs of fevers and other diseases from the low lying marshy regions of tropi- ■ -«al countries. I may point out here that by the above theory New Zealand should -always be with efficient drainage one of the most healthy of countries on account . of the great extent of ocean surrounding it on all sides. The purifying effect of -the north wind as regards the northern hemisphere is referred to by the Bible, in . •Job, c 37, verses 9, 10, 21 and 22, especially the latter two verses: "The bright light in the clouds that the wind cleans- ; -«th," mentioned in verse 21st evidently -alludes to electricity; and the words in the following verse, namely, ""that fair 'weather cometh out o£ the north" is very significant. Other parts of this chapter, and also the following chapter from the 22nd verse alludes to the treasures of the ' snow and hail and the -weather generally, i 'The foregoing remarks will show how, ; "well ordained this earth is for the wellbeing of its inhabitants, and the effect of the great masses of ice at the north and south poles in .modifying the injurious of impure atmosphere gendered by the sun's heat in tropical countries. In ■conclusion, I may mention that my convictions -upon the weather problem had been focmed before reading the above quotations from the Bible, which quotations of -course greatly confirmed.— l am, Ac., ■'..■■.... A Colonist, Feilding, April 26th, 1890.