When Our Cup of Coffee Becomes a Barometer.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 1 May 1914, Page 2

When Our Cup of Coffee Becomes a Barometer.

Stir the sugar in the bottom of your cup of coffee and see if it melts quickly, or seems as if it were not gokig to melt at all. j If you find a lot of- gritty, unmelted substance striking the spoon, do not conclude at once there is sand in the sugar, but begin to lay your plans for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, for the quantity of unmelted sugar in your cup indicates the sort of weather we are apt to have during the coming day or two. i You cannot make the weather brighten up by putting more sugar in your cup, but you may be able ' to so arrange your business or pleasure that you may avoid some very unpleasant conditions. If the weather is dull and threatening, and the sugar melts quickly, and you cannot feel any grit with the spoon, and you had expected the weather to brighten up and be bet- | ter, you might as well watch the i weather a little more closely, for in nine cases out of ten the stormy conditions will continue, or increase in energy. It is not safe to disregard the warning. If the sugar melts slowly, and you have to stir several moments to cause the grit to dissolve, you may depend upon it that the weather will improve. A higher barometric condition is at hand or approching, and the dull, dismal conditions accompanied by a low barometer will soon disappear. If the sugar seoms to resist the power of the hot coffee, and the frequent stirring with the spoon, and you find grit in the bottom of the cup after you have drank a portion of the contents, you may expect a sudden change in the weather conditions. Colder or much warmer weather may be expected. This depends upon the season. A cooler period in hot weather will sometimes be indicated by the sugar remaining' unmelted, but in Summer the increase in temperature without any immediate danger of rainfall is indicated by the very stubborn resistance the su; #ir shows to the melting power of the contents of the cup. In summer, storms of a rather violent nature are indicated by the immediate melting of the sugar. Many careful observations have revealed the above facts. It was at first thought it was due to the different conditions in sugar, or the manner in which the crystals were formed, or in different grades of sugar. The temperature of the coffee was thought to regulate the melting of the sugar, and it may to a certain degree, but in most cases the tern! perature has but little to do with i itCertain temperatures and the same grade of sugar used at different times settled the matter conclusiveiy.

The best grade of granulated sugar made from cane is the only reliable test. Cube sugar may be used, but it is not always reliable, as the substance used to hold the particles of sugar in a block may have some effect on it after it is |in the coffee. Begin your observations at once. It will be one of the most . interesting studies you ever indulged in, and one that will be of real value to you as well as your friends. After you conduct a. few experiments you will have such confidence in your ability to predict the weather that you will stake your reputation on it. Consult the weather predictions ea:ch morning and see if your cup I tells you the same, watch carefully, and see just how many times you can hit it correctly, while the signal service man may miss it slightly. The cup will indicate locally better than it will show general conditions are indicated by the sugar in the cup, because the atmosphere is lighter at that season than at most any other time of year, unless it be at a time when there is a very sudden" and marked rise in barometer. Those residing on a level not far above the sea will notice this rather curious condition of the contents of tho cup more than those living on a higher level. Mountain residents will have more difficulty in making observations, as the atmospheric pressure is lighter at higher altitudes. With the weight of the atmosphere during a low barometric period there is a greater pressure on the water in the cup, and the sugar melts more slowly as the atmospheric pressure decreases. Air pressure does much to make comfort or discomfort, and it is the atmospheric pressure that regulates the weather, and it is the weight of the air that causes the solution of the particles of sugar in the cup to take place rapidly or more slowly, according to the pressure oni the surface of the coffee. I