THE KANSAS WEATHER SERVICE. 339 



if Marquette, and Joliet, and LaSalle, and Bienville, and St. Ange, and others 

 are not as dim and shadowy forms, it is not the primitive population of the valley 

 that has revealed them to us as realities. If we look abroad over the face of our 

 earth where men congregating have formed towns and cities, what is there that 

 witnesses to the presence of the race, either collectively or individually, that once 

 possessed the land and still hves in its descendants. Their memorials may be 

 counted upon less than the fingers of one hand. With not one single important 

 work of education, art, science, culture, benevolence, or religion are they asso- 

 ciated. Rich or poor they acknowledge no claim upon them as citizens in regard 

 to such works, and pass them by with indifference as matters in which they have 

 no concern. 



Franco-Canadians discovered the Valley of the Mississippi, missionaries of 

 the cross of their race led the vanguard of civilization into its savage wilds to dis- 

 pense the blessings of religion to the red man and the white, and nature offered 

 the advantages of a fertile soil, genial and diversified climate, and suitable water- 

 ways for commerce, with a lavish hand. An energetic population and good gov- 

 ernment were all that were needed that a grand empire should arise in the midst 

 of the wilderness. But the rule of the Bourbon weighed heavy upon the land, 

 and those that came to make it their home seem not to have brought with them, 

 the native qualities which characterize their race on the other side of the sea. 



St. Louis, Mo., September, 1884. 



METEOROLOGY. 



REPORT FROM OBSERVATIONS TAKEN AT CENTRAL STATION, 

 WASHBURN COLLEGE, TOPEKA, KANSAS. 



BY PROF. J. T. LOVEWELL, DIRECTOR. 



The record of meteorological observations for the month ending September 

 20th shows a continuance of conditions very favorable to agriculture. The last 

 decade of August and the first of September were comparatively dry and by the 

 19th of September the streets in this vicinity were more dusty than at any pre- 

 vious time this year. A heavy shower on the morning of the 19th gave 2.29 in. 

 of water. It is interesting to note that nearly all the heavy rains have occurred 

 in the periods from midnight to sunrise this year and have come from northerly 

 directions. At this date the foliage retains nearly all the freshness of midsummer, 

 and the grass and weeds of late growth have had a remarkable development, ow- 

 ing to the long-continued abundance of rain. 



The usual summary by decades is given below. 



