The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-31 00:00:00

THE WEATHER AND THE PARKS.-

N UMEROUS ACCIDEN IS.

On Saturday the ornamental water in St. James's
and It.imat'aparka was cuund with ice, and during the
day, hundreds of meu and lads ventured on it, notwith-
Moiling they were told it was extremely dangerous. The
lloyal Humane Society had is in attendance, provided
with vs necessary apparatus to mate penons who might
become immersed, and daring the day sevenl persons ve, o
broke through were rxtricatcd and conveyed to the society's
tent, where fifty received tvery attention; one or two bad
narrow escapes, but fortunately there was tio fatal accident.
The ice, though covering tin Serpentine, Ilyde.park, and
the long pond and round water, Kensington-geruens, was
o tragi e that few had the temerity to venture on it.
Cautiuns„were istned by the Royal Humane Society—"
That
in the event of accident on the me, the puolie an requested
not to crowd round the spot, nor to interfere with the ice-
men on duty.—Signed, J. Charlicr, secretary." A number
of icemen, under the direction of Mr. Superintendent Wil-
liams, were in attendance, bat. fortunately, their services
were not required. At l'eckliam fields, the Hackney-
marches, and surrey-canal, the ice was from 4 to 5 inches
in thickness, sad all plum were thtungtd with skaters and

sliders.
The frost continued nearly the:whole of yesterday (Sunday),
and at tie o'clock in the . venom the thermometer at the
It. Humane Sod ty'sre-eiving-boune stood at 30 degree..
Prom soon thl nearly tour o'clock, however, the sun shone
most brilliantly, when the MereUM rose at high se 37 in
Hyde. park, which caused the edges of the ice in the various
pare, to thaw rapidly, rendering it emcee. ingly dangerous.
Tee R...yal Humane Society, thcrlcre, anopted every pre-
caution that wae_poesible to prevent accidents.
Se. James's YAWL. —About 2,000 skaters and sliders
ventured upon the ice in the incloeure of this park, whiles
the hanks wen Morally crowded with persons witnessing
the sport The ice was only an inch in thickness, erd many
parts were broken to deter people from going 00, out with-
out sumose. In the early part of the day tress ponces were
lammed, but were immediately rescued by the Humane
ftemety's imam. About 3 in the afternoon DI. Boyer, the
cook of the Reform Club, had a narrow escape of losing his
life. He was leading a young tri. ad who had expressed a
wi-b to walk on the ice, when he fell through into
16 feet ot water opposite the Horse Guards. Icemen Mentz
got him out Se on as poreitie, and conveyed him to the
tent, where he was met by the sureeeti to the society, who
immediately placed him in a hot bath, and administered •
glass of whisky, which be considers one of the beet sti-
mulants on such oceasions. After the lapse of a few heart
hi. SJyer was sole to be removed to his own residence in •
cab. lets xtty after en accident occurred which caueed • most
painful exeitinasnL Mr. Butler. of 8, Theobelu'e-road,
Gray's-inn law, was in the act of crossing the ice, in the I
company of his wife, when they bsh fell into 11 feet of
water. The man tried to pull his wife out, and save him-
self, but the more he tried the greater danger bock were
placed in by the breaking of the ice. The icemen suceeeded
rescuil g bath parties, but they were so muca exhausted
that it was feared both were dead, they having beenimmediin the
water upwards of four minutes. They wereimmediately
removed to the tent, and won recovered sufticiently ta be
removed. Whilst these persons were being &tweed to •
cry .111.4 raised that a boy bad tante through the ice and had
disappeared. The icemen went to the spot pointed out, but
no one could be semi ; the bubbling of the eater, however,
satisfied them that some person mud be below. They
dragged the spot for some minutes, and at length they got
t
hold of what appeared the lifeless body of a boy abou
fourteen years ot age. The ;mud means to restore sus-
pended aoimation ware resorted to Ly the medical gentle-
wan, and after two holies the toy was able to Rive his
name end address, which were Wm. Egan, 9, Any -court,
King-street, St. James's.
Tins Starewring, lITIMPAIL.--The average thickens
of the ice on this river was not more than one
rsons Web,
v en-
and
owing to the advice given, nut more Otte 300 pe
turd upon the at any period. Several accidents oc-
curred, which however were unattended by seri us conee-
ouences.
Tess Logo WATER, including
fiseterernrow-oaaDaNe.
skating club had their tent fixed yeste:day, and
the otinben of the club, there were ab .11; 2,000 persons on
the The ice here is much firmer th..'n in the other
parks, sod n reddest took pls.*.
Ole
very thin.
Tun ILWan Poish.—Tae ice oa this pond 4
end only .1,200 persona yea d on, but no ark idente
carted.
Tun liersitte'e-esau.—The thermometer at this elms
'stied from si .:eg. to 40 deg. during the day. The ice ;Won
enteetey te„-tere was exceedingly rotten. Boards in.
genies and both eel's
thdiecatoiru.g each were (seek up at the hanks, notwithstand-
ing, however, about 10,000 terms of all
vent ured epos the Los. At oi:e One aboat 14 lads sad boysdaubs
broke
through into elan lest of Witted. For some time the