A glass is good, and a lass is good, And a pipe to smoke in cold weather; The world is good, and the people are good, And we 're all good fellows together.
In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy. -- Mark Twain
Fantine earned too little. Her debts had increased. The Thenardiers, who were not promptly paid, wrote to her constantly letters whose contents drove her to despair, and whose carriage ruined her. One day they wrote to her that her little Cosette was entirely naked in that cold weather, that she needed a woollen skirt, and that her mother must send at least ten francs for this. She received the letter, and crushed it in her hands all day long. That evening she went into a barber's shop at the corner of the street, and pulled out her comb. Her admirable golden hair fell to her knees.
Eight or ten months, then, after that which is related in the preceding pages, towards the first of January, 1823, on a snowy evening, one of these dandies, one of these unemployed, a "right thinker," for he wore a morillo, and was, moreover, warmly enveloped in one of those large cloaks which completed the fashionable costume in cold weather, was amusing himself by tormenting a creature who was prowling about in a ball-dress, with neck uncovered and flowers in her hair, in front of the officers' cafe. This dandy was smoking, for he was decidedly fashionable.
In one of those southern whalesmen, on a long three or four years' voyage, as often happens, the sum of the various hours you spend at the mast-head would amount to several entire months. And it is much to be deplored that the place to which you devote so considerable a portion of the whole term of your natural life, should be so sadly destitute of anything approaching to a cosy inhabitiveness, or adapted to breed a comfortable localness of feeling, such as pertains to a bed, a hammock, a hearse, a sentry box, a pulpit, a coach, or any other of those small and snug contrivances in which men temporarily isolate themselves. Your most usual point of perch is the head of the t' gallant-mast, where you stand upon two thin parallel sticks (almost peculiar to whalemen) called the t' gallant cross-trees. Here, tossed about by the sea, the beginner feels about as cosy as he would standing on a bull's horns. To be sure, in cold weather you may carry your house aloft with you, in the shape of a watch-coat; but properly speaking the thickest watch-coat is no more of a house than the unclad body; for as the soul is glued inside of its fleshy tabernacle, and cannot freely move about in it, nor even move out of it, without running great risk of perishing (like an ignorant pilgrim crossing the snowy Alps in winter); so a watch-coat is not so much of a house as it is a mere envelope, or additional skin encasing you. You cannot put a shelf or chest of drawers in your body, and no more can you make a convenient closet of your watch-coat.
"One by one, her brothers and sister died; and her mother, with the exception of her neglected daughter, was left childless. The conscience of the woman was troubled; she began to think that the deaths of her favourites was a judgement from heaven to chastise her partiality. She was a Roman Catholic; and I believe her confessor confirmed the idea which she had conceived. Accordingly, a few months after your departure for Ingolstadt, Justine was called home by her repentant mother. Poor girl! She wept when she quitted our house; she was much altered since the death of my aunt; grief had given softness and a winning mildness to her manners, which had before been remarkable for vivacity. Nor was her residence at her mother's house of a nature to restore her gaiety. The poor woman was very vacillating in her repentance. She sometimes begged Justine to forgive her unkindness, but much oftener accused her of having caused the deaths of her brothers and sister. Perpetual fretting at length threw Madame Moritz into a decline, which at first increased her irritability, but she is now at peace for ever. She died on the first approach of cold weather, at the beginning of this last winter. Justine has just returned to us; and I assure you I love her tenderly. She is very clever and gentle, and extremely pretty; as I mentioned before, her mien and her expression continually remind me of my dear aunt.
At last it struck eleven and he made up his mind, once for all, that if that "damned" Agafya did not come back within ten minutes he should go out without waiting for her, making "the kids" promise, of course, to be brave when he was away, not to be naughty, not to cry from fright. With this idea he put on his wadded winter overcoat with its catskin fur collar, slung his satchel round his shoulder, and, regardless of his mother's constantly reiterated entreaties that he would always put on goloshes in such cold weather, he looked at them contemptuously as he crossed the hall and went out with only his boots on. Perezvon, seeing him in his outdoor clothes, began tapping nervously, yet vigorously, on the floor with his tail. Twitching all over, he even uttered a plaintive whine. But Kolya, seeing his dog's passionate excitement, decided that it was a breach of discipline, kept him for another minute under the bench, and only when he had opened the door into the passage, whistled for him. The dog leapt up like a mad creature and rushed bounding before him rapturously.
unfathomable to the most experienced prophets in Maycomb County, autumn turned to winter that year. We had two weeks of the coldest >weather since 1885, Atticus said. Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.
This cashier occupied a room situated directly under M. Madeleine's chamber. He paid no heed to the portress's words, but went to bed and to sleep. Towards midnight he woke up with a start; in his sleep he had heard a noise above his head. He listened; it was a footstep pacing back and forth, as though some one were walking in the room above him. He listened more attentively, and recognized M. Madeleine's step. This struck him as strange; usually, there was no noise in M. Madeleine's chamber until he rose in the morning. A moment later the cashier heard a noise which resembled that of a cupboard being opened, and then shut again; then a piece of furniture was disarranged; then a pause ensued; then the step began again. The cashier sat up in bed, quite awake now, and staring; and through his window-panes he saw the reddish gleam of a lighted window reflected on the opposite wall; from the direction of the rays, it could only come from the window of M. Madeleine's chamber. The reflection wavered, as though it came rather from a fire which had been lighted than from a candle. The shadow of the window-frame was not shown, which indicated that the window was wide open. The fact that this window was open in such cold weather was surprising. The cashier fell asleep again. An hour or two later he waked again. The same step was still passing slowly and regularly back and forth overhead.
Let charity be warm if the weather be cold.
At first I hated the school, but by and by I got so I could stand it. Whenever I got uncommon tired I played hookey, and the hiding I got next day done me good and cheered me up. So the longer I went to school the easier it got to be. I was getting sort of used to the widow's ways, too, and they warn't so raspy on me. Living in a house and sleeping in a bed pulled on me pretty tight mostly, but before the cold weather I used to slide out and sleep in the woods sometimes, and so that was a rest to me. I liked the old ways best, but I was getting so I liked the new ones, too, a little bit. The widow said I was coming along slow but sure, and doing very satisfactory. She said she warn't ashamed of me.
You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.
25:20. And one that looseth his garment in cold weather. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a very evil heart. As a moth doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood: so the sadness of a man consumeth the heart.
One day he remained still longer than usual. On the following day he observed that there was no fire on the hearth.--"Hello!" he thought. "No fire."--And he furnished the explanation for himself.--"It is perfectly simple. It is April. The cold weather has ceased."
A lighter garment was the [Greek: chlamys], chlamys, a mantle worn by young men, usually over a short chiton girt at the waist, and fastened on the right shoulder (cf. the figure of Hermes in GREEK ART, fig. 2). The [Greek: chlaina] was a heavy woollen cloak worn in cold weather. Peasants wore sheepskins or garments of hide called [Greek: baitê] or [Greek: sisura]; slaves, who were required by custom to conceal their limbs as much as possible, wore a sleeved chiton and long hose. Entry: A
In the United States, barbed wire for fencing was originally suggested to meet conditions existing in the western states, by reason of the large cattle-raising industry in sections where timber was scarce. Prior to its introduction, a No. 9 round or oval iron wire was popular on the frontier of the United States and in South America, as a fencing material. Large amounts were used annually for this purpose, but iron lacked strength, and single wire strand was not fully satisfactory on account of stretching in warm and contracting in cold weather, and of thus being broken. Cattle would rub against a smooth fence, and this constant pressure loosened the posts and broke the wire. To overcome this defect, ingenious people--the most successful being farmers--set themselves to find a way by which wire could be used and at the same time be free from destruction by the animals it was intended to confine. This investigation resulted in the invention of barbed wire. Soon after, automatic machinery was invented for rapidly and cheaply placing the barb upon the smooth wire, so that the cost of barbed wire is much less than the cost of smooth wire when it was in general use. So immediately did barbed wire find favour with the farmers of the United States, and, in fact, all over the world, that the manufacture of wire was revolutionized. Entry: BARBED
_Agriculture and Industries._--Nearly seven-tenths of the total area is under cultivation (an amount below the average of English counties) and of this area about two-fifths is in permanent pasture. The acreage under oats is roughly equal to that under wheat and barley. Small quantities of rye and hops are cultivated. Barley is usually sown after turnips, and is more grown in the uplands than in the lower levels. Beans, pease and potatoes are only grown to a small extent. On account of the number of sheep pastured on the uplands a large acreage of turnips is grown. Rotation grasses are grown chiefly in the uplands, and their acreage is greater than in any other of the southern counties of England. Sanfoin is the grass most largely grown, as it is best adapted to land with a calcareous subsoil. In the lower levels no sanfoin and scarcely any clover is grown, the hay being supplied from the rich water meadows, which are managed with great skill and attention, and give the best money return of any lands in the county. Where a rapid stream of water can be passed over them during the winter it seldom becomes frozen, and the grasses grow during the cold weather so as to be fit for pasture before any traces of vegetation appear in the surrounding fields. Hops are grown in the eastern part of the county bordering on Surrey. Farming is generally conducted on the best modern principles, but owing to the varieties of soil there is perhaps no county in England in which the rotation observed is more diversified, or the processes and methods more varied. Most of the farms are large, and there are a number of model farms. The waste land has been mostly brought under tillage, but a very large acreage of the ancient forests is still occupied by wood. In addition to the New Forest there are in the east Woolmer Forest and Alice Holt, in the south-east the Forest of Bere and Waltham Chase, and in the Isle of Wight Parkhurst Forest. The honey of the county is especially celebrated. Much attention is paid to the rearing of sheep and cattle. The original breed of sheep was white-faced with horns, but most of the flocks are now of a Southdown variety which have acquired certain distinct peculiarities, and are known as "short wools" or "Hampshire downs." Cattle are of no distinctive breed, and are kept largely for dairy purposes, especially for the supply of milk. The breeding and rearing of horses is widely practised, and the fattening of pigs has long been an important industry. The original breed of pigs is crossed with Berkshire, Essex and Chinese pigs. In the vicinity of the forest the pigs are fed on acorns and beechmast, and the flesh of those so reared is considered the best, though the reputation of Hampshire bacon depends chiefly on the skilful manner in which it is cured. Entry: HAMPSHIRE
GADWALL, a word of obscure origin,[1] the common English name of the duck, called by Linnaeus _Anas strepera_, but considered by many modern ornithologists to require removal from the genus _Anas_ to that of _Chaulelasmus_ or _Ctenorhynchus_, of either of which it is almost the sole species. Its geographical distribution is almost identical with that of the common wild duck or mallard (see DUCK), since it is found over the greater part of the northern hemisphere; but, save in India, where it is one of the most abundant species of duck during the cold weather, it is hardly anywhere so numerous, and both in the eastern parts of the United States and in the British Islands it is rather rare than otherwise. Its habits also, so far as they have been observed, greatly resemble those of the wild duck; but its appearance on the water is very different, its small head, flat back, elongated form and elevated stern rendering it recognizable by the fowler even at such a distance as hinders him from seeing its very distinct plumage. In coloration the two sexes appear almost equally sombre; but on closer inspection the drake exhibits a pencilled grey coloration and upper wing-coverts of a deep chestnut, which are almost wanting in his soberly clad partner. She closely resembles the female of the mallard in colour, but has, like her own male, some of the secondary quills of a pure white, presenting a patch of that colour which forms one of the most readily perceived distinctive characters of the species. The gadwall is a bird of some interest in England, since it is one of the few that have been induced, by the protection afforded them in certain localities, to resume the indigenous position they once filled, but had, through the draining and reclaiming of marshy lands, long since abandoned. In regard to the present species, this fact was due to the efforts of Andrew Fountaine, on whose property, in West Norfolk and its immediate neighbourhood, the gadwall, from 1850, annually bred in increasing numbers. It has been always esteemed one of the best of wild fowl for the table. (A. N.) Entry: GADWALL
The winter monsoon is off-shore and the summer monsoon on-shore under typical conditions, as in India. But exceptional cases are found where the opposite is true. In higher latitudes the seasonal changes of the winds, although not truly monsoonal, involve differences in temperature and in other climatic elements. The only well-developed monsoons on the coast of the continents of higher latitudes are those of eastern Asia. These are off-shore during the winter, giving dry, clear and cold weather; while the on-shore movement in summer gives cool, damp and cloudy weather. Entry: TEMPERATURE
The Upper Engadine is far better known to foreign visitors than the Lower Engadine, and is consequently much richer and more prosperous. The mineral waters of St Moritz (q.v.) were known and employed in the 16th century, and long formed the great attraction of the region. But about the middle of the 19th century the Upper Engadine came into fashion as a great "air-cure," and now Maloja, Sils, Silvaplana, Campfer and St Moritz are all well known; those who desire to explore the glaciers of the Bernina group mostly resort to Pontresina, on the Flatzbach, the stream descending from the Bernina Pass. Yet, owing to its great elevation, the scenery of the Upper Engadine has a bleak, northern aspect. Pines and larches alone flourish, garden vegetables are grown only in sunny spots, and there is no tillage. The Alpine flora is very rich and varied. But snow falls even in August, and the climate is well described in the proverb, "nine months winter, and three months cold weather." The villages are built entirely of stone (as also in the Lower Engadine), chiefly to guard against destructive fires that were formerly frequent in this narrow, wind-swept valley. The wealth of the inhabitants consists in their hay meadows and pastures. The lower pastures support large herds of cows, while the higher are let out (in both parts of the valley) to Bergamasque shepherds, who come thither every summer with their flocks. In the Lower Engadine the chief attraction is formed by the mineral springs at Schuls below Tarasp, which are much frequented during the summer. The wild gorge of Finstermünz separates the last Swiss village, Martinsbruck, from the first Tirolese village, Pfunds, the gorge being passable only on foot, while the carriage road makes a great detour by way of Nauders, so that the two villages named are 13 m. by road from each other. The earliest full description of the country by an English traveller is that by Archdeacon W. Coxe, in _Travels in Switzerland_ (London, 1789). Entry: ENGADINE
An excellent pit for wintering bedding-out plants or young greenhouse stock is shown at fig. 10. It is built upon the pigeon-hole principle as high as the ground level a, a, and above that in 9-in. brickwork. At a distance of 9 in. retaining walls b, b are built up to the ground level, and the spaces between the two are covered by thick boarding, which is to be shut down as shown at c in cold weather to exclude frost, and opened as shown at d in mild weather to promote a free circulation of air through the pit. The height of the pit might be reduced according to the size of the plants; and, to secure the interior against frost, flow and return hot-water pipe e should pass along beneath the staging, which should be a strong wooden trellis supported by projections in the brickwork. The water which drains from the plants or is spilt in watering would fall on the bottom, which should be made porous to carry it away. For many plants this under current of ventilation would be exceedingly beneficial, especially when cold winds prevented the sashes from being opened. A pit of this character may be sunk into the ground deeper than is indicated in the figure if the subsoil is dry and gravelly, bat in the case of a damp subsoil it should rather be more elevated, as the soil could easily be sloped up to meet the retaining wall. Entry: A
The solar year is also divided into six seasons, the Sanskrit names of which are Vasanta, spring; Grishma, the hot weather; Varsha, the rainy season; Sarad, autumn; Hemanta, the cold weather; and Sisira, the dewy season. Vasanta begins at the Mina-samkranti; the other seasons begin at each successive second _samkranti_ from that. Originally, this scheme was laid out with reference to the true course of the sun, and the starting-point of it was the real winter solstice, with Sisira, as the first season, beginning then; now, owing partly to the disregard of precession, partly to our introduction of New Style, each season comes about three weeks too late; Vasanta begins on or about 12th March, instead of 19th or 20th February, and so on with the rest. It may be added that in early times the year was also divided into three or four, and even into five or seven, seasons; and there appears to have been also a practice of reckoning the seasons according to the lunar months, which, however, would only give a very varying arrangement, in addition to neglecting the point that the seasons are naturally determined by the course of the sun, not of the moon. But there is now recognized only the division into six seasons, determined as stated above. Entry: I
Reptiles in which the body-temperature falls with that of the surrounding medium pass the winter in temperate countries in a state of lethargy; and specimens exported from the tropics into northern latitudes become dormant when exposed to cold in virtue of their inability to maintain their temperature at a higher level than that of the atmosphere. The common land tortoise (_Testudo graeca_) of South Europe buries itself in the soil during the winter in its natural habitat, and even when imported to England is able, in some cases at least, to withstand the more rigorous winter by practising the same habit, as Gilbert White originally recorded. In Pennsylvania the box-tortoise (_Cistudo carolina_) passes the winter in a burrow; and _Testudo elegans_, which inhabits dry hilly districts in north India, takes shelter beneath tufts of grass or bushes as the cold weather approaches and remains in a semi-lethargic state until the return of the warmth. The European pond tortoise (_Emys orbicularis_) also hibernates buried in the soil; and the North American salt-water terrapin (_Malacoclemmys concentrica_), abundant in the salt-marshes round Charleston, S. Carolina, retires into the muddy banks to spend the cold months of the year. In certain parts of the tropics tortoises protect themselves from the excessive heat by burrowing into the soil which afterwards becomes indurated. When drought sets in with the dry season and the tanks become exhausted and food unobtainable, crocodiles and alligators sometimes wander across country in search of water, but more commonly bury themselves in the mud and remain in a state of quiescence until the return of the rains; and according to Humboldt, large snakes, anacondas or boa constrictors are often found by the Indians in South America buried in the same lethargic state. Snakes and lizards in all countries where there is any considerable seasonal variation in temperature become dormant or semi-dormant during the colder months. Entry: II
The DISTRICT OF BHAMO lies wholly in the basin of the Irrawaddy, which, as well as its tributaries, runs through the heart of it. On the east of the river is the Shan plateau, running almost due north and south. West of the Irrawaddy there is a regular series of ranges, enclosing the basins of the Kaukkwe, Mosit, Indaw and other streams, down which much timber is floated. Beyond the Kaukkwe there is a ridge of hills, which starts at Leka, near Mogaung, and diverges to the south, the eastern ridge dividing the Kaukkwe from the Mosit, and the western forming the eastern watershed of the Nam Yin and running south into Katha. It is an offshoot from the latter of these ridges that forms the third defile of the Irrawaddy between Bhamo and Sinbo. The district covers an area of 4146 sq. m., and the population in 1901 was 79,515. It is mainly composed of Shan-Burmese and Kachins. The Shan-Burmese inhabit the valleys and alluvial plains on each side of the river. The Kachins, who probably came from the sub-regions of the Himalayas, occupy the hills throughout the district. There are also settlements of Shans, Shan-Chinese, Chinese and Assamese. There are extensive fisheries in the Shwegu and Mo-hnyin circles, and in the Indaw, a chain of lakes just behind the Mosit, opposite Shwegu. The district abounds in rich teak forests, and there are reserves representing 60,000 acres of teak plantation. The whole of the country along the banks of the Irrawaddy, the Mole, Taiping and Kaukkwe, is generally in a water-logged condition during the rains. The climate in the district is therefore decidedly malarious, especially at the beginning and end of the rains. From November to March there is very bracing cold weather. The highest temperatures range a few degrees over 100° F. up to 106°, and the lowest a few degrees under 40°. The average maximum for the year is about 87°, the average minimum about 62°. The rainfall averages 72 in. a year. (J. G. Sc.) Entry: BHAMO