The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1881-02-01 00:00:00

THE " SNOW ' WEEK.

We question whether in the annals of our wicket t iwo
the tremendous fali an I drift of snow during the past
week is totally unequalled. A few silver•haired inbaiii-
tants recall very vividly a somewh.t wailer visitation in
1814, but even they aver, that whilst the fall in that year
was Un'to as heavy 111 the present, yet the peculiar drift.
log of the snow, which renders the 1881 fall so retnerkable,
was not experienced at the feltusnint of the current
century. Others again quote falls during the winters of
1847 and 1861 as nompareole to the present, but with the
greatest respect for their judgment, we beg reepractfully In
differ from them Even on the Sunday preceding the
downfall, a few wiseacres interests I in atmospherical
phenomena, told Us " we war. to have snow" but no
doubt this opinions wer3 more or less biassed by the
cruel tran.-ailsntic properey, which has only been too
accurately fulfilled. Oa Ilmlay the atmosphere, which
belong had been perfectly clear, became in ire or less den.'
and gradually colder, the borizan wearing that heavy gray
upset which .l says precedes a snowfall. A brisk deter-
mined breeze, winch penetrated the very marrow-bones,
rushing upon and around us from the N. 8., cam*
-irnultao•maly cloods of blinding snow—not sensible
flakes, an Inch long and so't as gome-feethers, but
millions little lumps, striking one'a face like tiny marble..
The fixes of the violent gale ;mot edifying these (roue
particl-s into most inconvaniant places—the eyes, ears.
and pockets of every pedeaulan or driver whom fate it
was to be exposed. The storm, commencing late on
Mouthy night, oon,inued without slitting till early
on Wednesdey morning. when 44 the wind lulled,
the snow owed to fall. What was the surprise
of many who had wiiiely kept close at home,
to find, as the morning broke, the whole district
covered with a thick sheet of snow about a foot in
depth in the streets, whilst the singular drifts at y
nook and corner, like Siberian hills, stood several feet in
holeht Those who ventured to the confines of the town
bad the satisfaction of knowing en expanse of white de I.i
—white, in some places to the verge oi the horizon. We
do not exaggerate when we state that on level and rising
grounds the average depth was nine Mena., whilst in
ravines and abrupt sicled•r .11sys, within a few miles of the
town, the snow lay above 9) feet in depth. Of course in
Ike tow• pedeeiranirm was attended with imminent
danger, and until sissnoal labour was employed, vehicular
trade was impossible. People were bu.y at work clearing
the pavements in front of the shops, and gangs of men
•ere employed and forming something like a road-way
through the centre of the roads. The snow thus removed
. . . . . .

formed foreign-looking hillocks all .long the sides of the
street., and this material was freely utilised for the
manufacture of snow-balls, • delicious external applica-
tion to the cheeks of an Saglishrnan, when the
tbermo.notor marks two degrees below (memo( point.
Unfortunately another fall set in early on Thursday
morning. causing renewei aorta on the roads and rail-
way,. Traffic on the Bridport line, in common with others
throughout the country, became impossible until mums of
navvies and others had cleared the way, and to make
matters worse, the second fall undid all their previous
work. But under the efficient control of Kr. Henry
Bond, the stationmaster, who put fruit hands at work,
the line was again cleered by four p.m. So that • train
was sent to Maiden Newton to meet the London "down,"
and on its return bringing with it the daily papers, for
which readers had been sighing in vain for &couple of days
But even darker shades minzled with the prospects of the
railroad traffic, for we could not but feel sure that our
airrieultural friends were not only instated and mowed up,
but that the sheep and cattle would be atupided with cold
if left exposed at peewee, or even during their transit to
Pim is of shelter they might be overtaken by the blinding
it win, or become suffocated in the &savorous drifts which
even yet abound almost everywhere. For three days our
country (melds were cut off from all communicat.on with
the town with the reception of • few stout-hearted
I rbourers, who fought their way breart.h,eh through the
snow to the town, either for in. dieal assistance or tor the
necersaries of life. 8 we fon 184 whir* did not bargain
for the snow bad net bid up • store of proviston..
Happily the lora,* sustain rd 1., farmer, ere few, tor in °se
or
two instances may wr to c.t Is att,eked by the cold.
Lite in the week the cieaie.i 4.841-84y4 is t.Mis
afforded • Isle facility for .leigh-driving, end the ex-Wrry.r
has been indulging is p'easine gliding. over the hardened
surface. Up ii fionday I.st there were no indications
of a thorough awl sudden th re% and, althou.b the
son shed wee >me rays daily since the storm, the
atmosphere continued so sharp that his influence
was not permitted to exert itself. On Sunday attir-
soon the temperature WU much warmer, the effects
of which will be long rernemie red by a c 'opt, of the
gentler sex. A deep laver of snow which hail sectimulited
on Mr. Wnite's (china merchant) root , IlipPed Ileley during
the afternoon awl came down bodily like an avalanche,
half burying • couple ot women who were priming at the
time. A little later a rp'endid ridge it drilling i !mbar
depending from Ile Guppy's premises, at the corset. of
Barrackotreet, came down upon the nevem-at with •
startling drub. A great deal of the snow ha, by thir time
dissopsaredl 'the only thing dreaded bat 81 sudden thaw,
for the land being much too bard tor the absorption of se
much bud& the rivers and streams will overflow, and a
demisting flood will be the result.
Our readers will not • rally forget the snowstorm of 1881.

tip.uih

There is not much of a joke, Mr. Editor, scribbling
when the temperature is two degrees below zero, end
the thermometer indicating a Norway or Sweden
temperature. 'lt is not, to say the least of it, encourag-
ing. My livery-servant (ahem) has just returned,
hearing two disagreeablecommixiities, viz., unpleasant
information, and a nose like a washerwoman's blue.
He says " the telegraphic wires are broken,
and the train snowed up, and its no use my thinking
about ' Wirings' this week, that a pot id mulled port
sent down to the pantry for himself and the butler
would do much more goo and would be more 'Sensihifer'
and "z•eizsonafiter.''' but I am hard to hear when the
weather is cold, so I only heard about the telegraphic
disaster. Servants, Mr. FAitor, will ruin you if you
allow them. As I say, I only heard about the die ger ;
but I continue writing, hoping this may reach you
next week I cannot help thinking to-day that it's no
wonder Englishmen are always grumbling, or that
their tempers undergo s ,ch rapid and marked changes.
After all their tempers do no.. change oftener than the
temperature, for if anybody has to experience
atmospheric changes it is an Englophman. Not long
ago we were nearly IV, degrees Fahreneit in the sun,
and now the thermometer marking just a couple of
degrees below freezing. And yet the miserable
Yankees, who cut and dry the weather for us, grin in
their sleeves and "reckon we're happy." It's all
humbug. We ought as freeborn Englishmen to strike
out against the Yankee rule. But oh, it makes one
shudder that we have to
" Feel by turns the h tier change
Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce,
• From beds of raging tire, to starve in ice,
Our soft ethers& warineth, and there to pine
Immovable infixed, and frosen round,
Periods of time, then hurried lock to are"
—and the worst of it all is the amusement disappeared
with the coming of the snow. All the skaters are
all either underneath the ice or the snow, for all we know
of them, and not more than a dozen ladies are to be
seen in the streets, indee I it is highly dangerous to
perambulate the streets at all. for whole bundles of
weighty. icicles are shifting their moorings in the sue
and failing • n nesse from the eaves, and avalanches
snow wart till a crowd of chatterboxes congregate
beneath, when they come down softly but beautifully,
producing screams, and ruining artificial flowers. Old
gentlemen are cautiously tripping along with list-
covered boots, and yesterday I pared a venerable
dame who was wisely wearing a rough pair of worsted
stockings outside her boots, and this reminds me of
their adventures. The poor old gentleman, whilst
daintily migrating from one side of the road to the
other, slipped and fell, sustaining no other injury than
a scrape of the knuckles. Just as the old gentleman
had regained Serra firma, and was hastening to the
nearest chemist's in search of court•plaster, the old
lady, with a huge bottle-green umbrella, arrived on
the soene. " Lor a massy; do 'ee tick cars how 'ee da
goo," exclaimed the old lady : but the gentleman with
the list-boots reminded her that "her advice came too
late, and she had better rapid herself." The idd
gentleman had scarcely received his change for the
plaster, ere a shrill scream caused us to hasten to a
fat-looking grave in a pile of snow, the aperature
being about five foot by three foot and four foot deep,
and crowning the whole was the bottle-green umbrella.
We had hardly with difficulty rescued the old lady,
enjoying a hearty buttazith her about a green
umbrella crevnring • less catastrophe, ere we
found ourselves in a similar nadiguified position.
Altogether It was a weird and one-sided week—no
London papers for two days. but, worst of all, no
Wh
" Penny istle, or Mirror of local Science"; but this
latter may be accounted for by the fact that the
transit of all convenient local papers was unfortunately
delayed. What the result' -Why news a month old,
and already fusty, in short—chaos. But, there, you
can't feed a fire without fuel, and if you can get other
people's fuel without paying for it, why so much the
better, I suppose

/in,
. of

A sad calamity through the severity of the weather,
but fortunately the only one I have yet hey,' of The
mishap may be summed up in a brief
" One tender lamb has been nipped by the biting
frost." I hope its injuries may be overcome, that it
will not have the misfortune to die, or be led to the
slaughter.

_
ntakiment.