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The NEW BERN
FUBLI8HID WBIKLY
IN THI HIART OF
lASTBRN NORTH
V, JVjr,
VOLUME 9
NEW BERN, N. C. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1966
NUMBER 37
God's miraculous handiwork
is never more apparent to New
Bernians than on those rare
occasions when the town isvis>
Ited by a blanket of snow.
No one in his right mind can
fail to feel a sense of awe,
as flakes fall from heaven to
enhance the beauty that is ours,
while transforming ugliness in
to breath taking splendor.
Dead trees, gnarled and
twisted, respond in Cinderella
fashion to the cloak of white that
hides their defects; for awhile
they look more beautiful than
younger and shapelier trunks
and branches, that still possess
the surge of life.
Everything—houses, streets,
lamp posts, smoke stacks, gar
bage cans—becomes a magical
work of art. What we see with the
naked eye is miracle enou^, but
under the microscope a snow
flake becomes a magnificent
masterpiece that dwarfs all hu
man endeavor into insignifi
cance.
Snow, the scientist tells us,
consists of water crystals that
are formed in infinite variety.
Some crystals are flat or tab
ular, some are columnar need
les, and some are compound
structures. The variations of
these three classes are end
less.
Flat crystals are the mdst
beautiful, and God in His great
generosity has seen fit to make
them more plentiful than all the
rest. Some of them are flower
ed rosettes, while others within
the plain six-sided outline con
tain marvelous inlaid designs
formed by air tubes within the
crystal structure.
Our favorite encyclopedia
says that the most curious are
perhaps the “cuff-button"
doublets composed of a large
and a small tabular crystal
connected by a columnar need
le. Crystals formed in the low
clouds are usually large and
branching, while those from
the hl^ clouds are small and
compact.
Search though you may for du
plicate snowfiakes among the
billions that tumbie from the
sky, and you would find no two
alike. The Great Artist above
never runs out of new designs.
Photographing a flake before
it melts is a challenging un
dertaking, but a Vermont
camera enthusiast, W. A.Bent-
ley, has managed to record
more than one thousand differ
ent forms on film.
An atheist or agnostic would
have a tough time convincing
Bentley that there isn’t a Su
preme Being responsible for
these intricate designs. It didn’t
“Just happen.”
one of the reasons that snow
seldom comes to Now Bern is
the fact that we are only nine
feet above sea level. In all
latitudes, snow forms out of the
moisture in the upper air, but
melts as it falls throui^ the
lower air, if this is warm.
From the Equator to latitude
30, snow is almost unknown at
sea level. From latitude 30 de
grees to about 40 degrees, it
pays an occasional visit, while
from 40 degrees to 75 degrees
It covers the earth frequently
during winter months.
These are scientific aspects
of snow. Of more interest, of
course, to kids and to grown
ups who are still young at heart
is the fact that the stuff makes
wonderful snow balls, snow
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