.
16 Conservative.
THE CHANGED CLIMATE.
One of fcho reasons why diaries and
memoranda , kept by the early settlers in
the west should be preserved with the
utmost care , is that they often contain
data as to the climate of a period , before
any scientific records at all wore made.
Cold winters , wet seasons , unusual
snowfalls and such things , made an im
pression on the pioneers , and they were
very likely to moke a note of them.
There is a common belief that the cli
mate of the plains region has undergone
a marked change in quite recent years ;
and there seems to be a question
7 ! whether this change has been brought
/ about by the novelties , introduced by
the white man , or whether it is a geolo
gic process , under way before the white
man came , and therefore still in pro
gress ; and pointing to still further de
velopments in our climate , which it
would be most interesting to be able to
forecast.
Of the fact that things ore not now as
the first settlers found them , there can
be no doubt. Major Hiram P. Downs ,
the first owner of the Nebraska City
town-site , was positive from personal
knowledge that the land west of Salt
Creek wouldn't raise white beans ; nor
presumably , anything else. Yet those
vegetables , and many others , are culti
vated with success for some distance
beyond that water course. Mr. G. W.
Martin , of Topeka , addressing an audi
ence of Kansas pioneers , reminded them
how , in the early days , they used to
euro meat by simply hanging it in the
open air ; which could not be done now ;
and also for how many years , it was a
constant struggle to make trees grow at
all , which is now a matter of course.
The buffalo-grass , curing on its roots in
the summer months , has died out ; the
Salt Lake of Utah has risen , it is said ,
some nineteen feet ; the desert of East
ern Colorado is made to raise anything
that is called for ; and so the catalog
goes.
Common report gives the credit for
this improvement to the advance of
civilization. The Indians say the white
man brought the rain. Agassiz , it is
said , predicted in 18G7 , that the build
ing of railroads would cause electrical
disturbances , that would increase the
rainfall to a marked degree. Others
call attention to the additional storage
of moisture in the soil , as the iron sur
face of the plains , baked in the summer
sun and burned over regularly every
year , is converted into plowed fields ;
and to the gradual extension westward
of trees.
On the other hand , a previously oper
ating cause is indicated by such passages
as the following , from the notes of
Alexander Mackenzie , who crossed the
Canadian Rookies in 1792-3 :
"An Indian in some measure explain
ed his age to me , by relating that he re
membered the opposite hills and plains ,
i.
*
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OMAHA , NEBRASKA ,
CAPITAL AND SURPLUS , $1,150,000
DEPOSITS , 6,300,000
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS :
J. H. MILLARD , Prest. E. W. NASH.
EUASTUS YOUNG. GUY O. BARTON.
N. W. WELLS. A. J. SIMPSON.
O. W. MINK. W. WALLACE , Cashier.
E. E. BALOH. Asst. Cashier.
now interspersed with groves of poplars ,
when they were covered with moss , and
without any animal inhabitant but- the
reindeer. By degrees , he said , the face
of the country changed to its present
appearance , when the elk came from the
east , and was followed by the buffalo ;
the reindeer then retired to the high
lauds. "
Another remark of this explorer's ,
closely following , has no reference to
climate , but is interesting as showing
the right name of ursuslorribilis , com
monly called the grizzly bear : "We ,
this day , saw two grisly and hideous
bears , " says Sir Alexander ; and he
identifies the beast by stating that its
tracks were nine inches wide and of
proportionate length , and that the In
dians "entertained great apprehension"
of this kind of bear , and never ventured
to attack it , unless in force.
Now , grisly is an old German adjec
tive , and means much the same as
hideous ; it is also very well rendered by
the Latin appellative cited above. The I
ferocious animal in question may well
be called grisly , but he is no more griz
zly than he is gristly. Grizzly means
grizzledand would have reference to the
color of the creature's coat : and this ap
pears to be not at all uniform. Natural
ists , no doubt , have specific character
istics by which he is identified to them :
but these are not known to the people
who actually have to do with him. The
inhabitants of the mountain region ,
who kill bears , and the taxidermists
who mount them , do not , by any means ,
always agree among themselves as to
whether a given specimen is a grizzly or
not. A. T. R.
THE
AMERICAN TRUST
AND
SAVINGS BANK ,
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:
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RECEIVES ACCOUNTS
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'
Banks , Corporations , Firms and Individuals ,
and pays interest thereon.
OFFICERS :
EDWIN A. POTTER , JOHN JAY ABBOTT ,
President. Ass't Cashier.
G. B. SHAW , O. 0. DECKER ,
Vice-President. Ass't Cashier.
JOY MORTON , FRANK H. JONES ,
Vloe-President. Secretary.
J. R. CHAPMAN , W. P. KOPP ,
Cashier. Asa't Secretary.
- /
