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

0, • a._

THE SNOW AND FROST.

General paralysis lif business followed opm the
almost unprecedented weather id ht week, and the
principal occupations arose eitin.r out of the necessity
of meeting the abnormal atate of the roads and paths,
or from praiseworthy efforts to relieve the poor. The
Soup Committee promptly announced a large Increase
in their benevolent operations, app 'toting f mr days a.
week instead of two for distriontion of their excellent

food at a nominal price, and, as it was so miserable,
and in some cases so difficult to get about the town,
they very wisely entranced another place, namely,
Mr. Royal's. on the Weymouth side, for the poor to
get their supplies, thus they mire than doubled their
benevolent work. The Town Council, by no means
too soon, announced Wednesday as the day for getting
tickets for Mrs. Ellary's bread, while the Mayor's
committee, for disposing of Mr. Edwards's munificent
gift of £lOO, were called for Monday morning. Mean-
while it was proposed, we believe by Mr. Councillor
Nangle, to make Mr. Edwarde's £lOO the nucleus of a
public subscriklUon for the town, to be distributed by
a broad committee, in order t , ensure systematic relief
in every district. With • committee sufficiently
representative of all sections, this would probably be
an excellent plan, for the most pushing of the poor are
not always the most necessitous, yet they try to
get a large share of gifts for themselves, and of
course this is unfair and hurtful to the really suffer.
lag poor, who are less forward to make their
wants known. Private charity must always be partial
In its extent, and great risk boron through its irregular
operations that many deserving eases are left us-
relieved because unknown, while a general oollection
from the whole town and equally general distribution
where required would aff nd substantial relief. On
Sunday the harbour was visited by numerous large
cakes of Ice, of which many congregated above the
temporary bridge; but the partial thaw of that day
followed. It brought fresh troubles, for the melted
snow found its way into some of the buildings, and the
congregations of Gloucester-street and Bank-buildings
chapels met in their schoolrooms. In the afternoon
slips of snow from the school roof destroyed a number
of windows at Hope Chapel and splashed into the
building, so that the worshippers met in the vestry at
night. On Monday the committee for Mr. Edwards's
£lOO met, and for some hours were occupied in going
, through the lists of applicants furnished by the various
ministers, the result being that the numbers were
reduced about one-half, and the committee resolved to
meet again next day, not having yet decided whether
they would give away money or grocery tickets, or
whether they would sell coal at about half-price to the
poor. By the way, it may be noticed that the supplies
of coal in the town were by no means large, no vessels
having arrived for some time, while of course the
bitter weather caused an increased demand, and this
It was difficult to supply, not only on account a the
lowness of the stocks in cellar, but also (rem
the state of the streets. The work of clawing went
on without intermission, and, to remove the slipperi-
ness of the cleared streets, Legge quantities of beach
gravel was sprinkled over teem, and greatly improved
the state ef things, though making the walking on the
pavements very rough. Sawdust, sand, cinders, ashes,
chaff, and most barbarous and short-sighted of all—
salt—strewed on the footways showed the anxiety of
the residents to avoid slipping down, and these efforts
appeared to be euccessful, for we did not hear of any
accidents up to Monday night. The cold is, however,
too intense for the supposed melting power of call to
have much effect, and the mixture of salt and snow
when it does melt only increatet the cold. In the
harbour the first loads of snow melted it is true; but
an Monday it was too cold, and at the north end of
the temporary bridge, where large quantities have been
thrown in, a great pile of spongy-looking ice reached
from the bottom of the harbour to the top of the water,
and thence the snow remained unaltered to the level
of the Quay, and it is the same at other parts where
it hal been sought thus to get riii of masses of snow.
Just above the temporary bridge the ice-floes that
looked like giant water-lilies on Saturday had reached
two or three yards in diameter on Sunday, and on
Monday this part was train across. go it was in the
Backwater, with only a few water-holes; and in the
bay near Radipole-road skating was briskly going on
to about 50 yards from the shore, the skaters generally
finding Lodmoor too wind-swept and too obstructed by
snow. The swans were divided, about three dozen
having come down from the Swannery, and, by con-
tinual swimming about, kept a large spice open near
Alexandra-terrace, where they were fed, Brewer and
his boy feeding the rest at the island, to which it was
easy and safe to walk across the lee. Opposite the
railway engine chef, and where the swans were swim-
ming were the only clear spaces we saw in the Back-
water. The railway gangs had cleared the lines, so
that not only the passenger traffic was going on, but
the goods traffic had on Monday been resumed, and
the locomotive oas busy on the harbour tramway. In
the town the principal streets had either been cleared
or wide roads cut through the snow in them, and the
warveyor a men were attacking the smaller streets, the
inhabitmill were throwing the weirht from their roofs,
and the picturesque appearance of the snow-decked
churches and chapels was fast being sacrificed for dry-
near' sake. One of the prettiesi-looking churches was
St. John'e, while of chapels the palm must be given
to Gloucester-street—both of these looked very beauti-
ful with their architectural details set off by additions
of pure white. In the shubberies the white mantle
wonderfully added to the variety and beauty of the
scenes, ennead& imbricate looking stranger than ever,
snow-lined. But quite the most lovely picture we set
eyes on this time was at Radipole cottages, where a
long row of garden-fronted houses are approached
under trellises covered with leafy climbing plants. In
the thaw these had been decked with uncovered icicles,
hanging regularly as bunches of white grapes in a
fruitful hothouse, but all pure white and ghat
when the sun shone. Beneath them the )alf-to
snow had slipped, and was piled in fantastic forms,
far swimming the beauties of • stalactite cave; it was
quite a fairy sane.
WIDNIRDIT.
This morning the temperature is higher, the manses
of snow by the quay-side have disappeared in the sea-
water, and at the high tide the great sheet of ice had
apparently been melted hack to some hundred yards
from the Temporary-bridge towards the Backwater,
while the Harbour is comparatively free from Ice.
cakes. The streets are also become much safer, except
where the snow was allowed to remain and be trodden
down hard. In these cases, as for instance in George-
street, it had become a coating of hard ice three or
four inches thick, and very dangerow. The owners or
occupiers of the premises adjoining should be
admonished, for their own sakes, as well as that of the
public, for these places are the most daagerous parts
of the town, although much used in going (rota the
central streets to the railway station, since it is too
cold on the front.
It behoves every one to be exceedingly careful with
regard to fire at these times, on account of the difficulty
of getting at some of the hydrants. This morning It
was discovered that a main water pipe had burst in
consequence of the frost, and the water now caught is
of • brown hue.

THE mcrsoaotoolcm. REPORT.
1 Sumatra. Thermometer. Wind. Weather.
1 8 4 mid- 8 4 mid- 4 •
1 ie. inep. m. nt a p night p.m. Be p.t.
I— -- -
828 8318 7 28.90 31 81 32 ESE 8 Cloudy
3 28.8649.1 29 50 32 80 23 l'a 7 now
D. 2138824 7 2880 28 32 !30 BS 2 loudy
129 88,30 02 3012 80 29 1 2.5 15 6 Clear
23002300M30.03 20 25 27 NNE 4 Cloudy
33o0o30:130.131 20 33 , 33 ENE 2 rams'
440.14-30 0629.971 32 29 26 NE 1 Clem