 Firewood
It was approaching October and the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Unfortunately however, being a Chief from a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. Consequently when he looked at the sky he didn't have a clue what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should start to collect firewood in preparation.
But being a practical leader and more conversant with the ways of the modern world, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked whether the coming Winter was predicted to be cold or not. "It definately looks like this winter is going to be quite cold," the meteorologist at the weather service responded. Heartened by this justification of his own prediction the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be even better prepared.
A week later he called the National Weather Service again for further confirmation of the predicted cold winter. "Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's definately going to be a very cold winter." So the Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again and asked "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever."
"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "Havent you seen? The Indians are collecting firewood like crazy."
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“Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days" | 
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