The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-08 00:00:00

THE WEATHER,

On Wednesday night the temperature indicated
by the thermometer in Hyde Park was 1530 deg.
—that is to say, 4 deg. below that of the previous
night. Yesterday morning, at 9 o'clock, however,
the mercury had risen to 1930 deg., a temperature
31 deg. higher than that of the preceding day. The
wind was from the N,N.E., and in the morning the
atmosphere was dry, but foggy. Towards evening
the temperature rose several degrees.
The sheets of water in the Parks presented yes-
terday a scene more animated than on any preced-
ing day. The crowd and the assemblage of car-
riages in Hyde Park and Rotten Row are said to
have been larger than any seen there since the
opening of the Great Exhibition in 1851. At one
time, it was computed by Mr. Young, the secretary,
and Mr. Williams, the superintendent of the Royal
Humane Society, there were not fewer than 7,000
persons upon the Serpentine. A great many per-
sons were received into the house of the Royal Hu-
mane Society with heads cut. Their wounds were
dressed by Mr. Young and Dr. Christian. Two
serious accidents happened—in particular one to
Mr. Hudson, of Newcastle-court, Strand, and another
to Mr. John Edwards, of Barnet. These were also
attended to at the Royal Humane Society's receiv-
ing-house. When night fell, skating and sliding by
torchlight commenced. In St. James's Park, had
it not been for the exertions rendered by Deputy
Superintendent Perry and the men under him, it is
quite probable :hat several lives would have been
lost, for at one period no less than 3,500 persons
were skating or sliding upon the ice, which towards
the after part of the evening began to part. Seve-
ral persons fell in. Five persons had wounds
dressed by Dr. M'Cann, of Parliament-street, and
Mr. Laughnan, who assisted him. In the Victoria
Park yesterday about ten or eleven thousand per-
sons were either sliding or skating upon the ice.
No accident beyond a few cut heads occured during
the day.
At Chatham on Wednesday night the thermo-
meter fell to 10 deg. The whole of the canals and
ponds in the neighbourhood were covered with ice
several inches in thickness, allowing vast numbers
to skate and slide. The canal leading from Roches-
ter to Gravesend was yesterday visited by some
thousands of persons. The water in the docks at
Chatham dockyard was yesterday frozen over, but
in consequence of the rise and fall of the tide the
ice was not of sufficient thickness to allow of per-
sons venturing upon it. There was yesterday a
quantity of ice in the harbour which had been
floated down the stream, showing that the upper
portions of the river were frozen. On bath the
South-Eastern and the London, Chatham, and
Dover railways every precaution is taken to pre-
vent accidents during the frost, by a constant exa
mination of the tires of the carriages and engines,
which in consequence of the intense cold are more
than ever liable to become fractured.
The weather since Friday has been bitterly cold
in the Eastern Counties. The rivers and water-
courses were yesterday covered in some places with
ice of more or less thickness. In one country dis-
trict the thermometer has descended as low as 22
deg. below the freezing point, but the variations of
the instrument at the Norfolk and Norwich Literary
Institution have been as follows since the com-
mencement of the new year:—Jan. I—Highest,
33 cieg. ; lowest, 30 deg. Jan. 2—Highest, 34 deg. ;
lowest, 29 deg. Jan.4—Highest, 3 i deg. ; lowest,
25 deg. Jan. s—Highest, 31 deg. ; lowest, 25 deg.
Jan. 6—Highest, 27 deg.; lowest, 19 deg. Jan.
7—Lowest, 18 deg.
Oa Wednesday the frost continued with unabated
severity in the neighbourhood of Nottingham.
Yesterday a dense fog prevailed. The canals were
all frozen over, and transit was entirely stopped.
Upon the river Trent masses of ice had formed, and
in some places it was said the river was frozen over
—a circumstance of rare occurrence.
In the Midland Counties the frost of Wednesday
night was remarkably severe. In the country round
‘Vorcester the thermometer fell as low as 10 deg.,
and was 12 deg. at daybreak yesterday. The day
was cloudy, and it rose very little all day. The
ground, being unprotected by snow, is frozen to a
considerable depth, and the earth is white with hoar
frost, which the sun when it shines has not the
power to melt. The wind went round from E. to S.
on Wednesday evening, but yesterday the weather
cock pointed N.E. There is every present indica-
tion of protracted cold weather.
The severe frost still continues in Yorkshire. The
lowest temperature marked at Talton on Tuesday
night was 24 deg. The keenest frost of the season
occurred on Wednesday night, when the mercury
receded to 12 deg. The highs st temperature in the
shade on Thursday was 25 deg. The effects of the
severe weather upon the wheat crops are beginning
to cause anxiety to farmers, who all wish for a
covering of snow. The lakes at Castle Howard and
Welham are daily crowded with skaters. Oa the
latter, on 'W
ednesday afternoon, some alarm was
caused by a young man having a severe fit on the
ce. There is every prospect of a continuance of the
frost.

The weather in Keswick is intensely cold, and
the whole of the Derwentwater, from the Landings
to the entrance of Grange, is ono mass of thick ice,
probably presenting the finest skating ground in
England, being three miles long, one mile and a
half at its greatest breadth, and about nine miles in
circumference. The rivers Greta and Derwent are
partially frozen over.
Since Monday the pools and ponds in the neigh-
bourhood of Liverpool have been covered with a
thick coating of ice, and sliding and skating have
been favourite amusements all through the week.
On Wednesday the ornamental water in Prince's
and Wavertree parks, and the flooded portions of
Sefton meadows, were crowded with skaters, and
yesterday, the frost having gained rather than lost
in intensity, the different fields of ice presented a
still more animated and gay spectacle. The ornae•
mental lakeain Birkenhead Park have been thronged
by skaters, not a few of whom were ladies. On
Tuesday a match at curling took place at the Bir-
kenhead Park, between Mr. T. H. Galloway and
Mr. Dempster, who between them mustered 18
channel stones. After a well•contested game of 21
shots, victory rested with Mr. Dempster, the game
having been witnessed by a numerous concourse of
spectators. The cold is still growing in intensity,
and yesterday morning a thermometer placed in a
garden at Oaten indicated a temperature of 15 deg.;
near the ground, on the Liverpool side of the Mersey,
the indication was 14.5 deg.
The Scotsman of yesterday says—" During the
whole of yesterday the frost continued, but it was
hardly so severe as on the previous day. A thick
mist prevailed throughout the day, and it was feared
that this would be followed by snow, but the prog-
nostications in this respect proved fallaciou.. The
lochs were, from morning till evening, crowded
with curlers and skaters, all of whom seemed to
enjoy their sport to the greatest extent. Prince
Alfred visited Duddingston Loch shortly after
11 o'clock, and had two hours' skating, a pastime in
which his Royal Highness proved himself very pro-
ficient. The ice was of course in a worse condition
than on Tuesday, the surface being covered with the
powdered ice which had been scraped off by the
skating, as also by large quantities of orange peel
and reeds, which rendered skating to a u.rtain extent
both unpleasant and dangerous. Seeing that so many
of the inhabitants turn out to have a day's recreation
on the lochs, it would be a vast improvement were
the Town Council to send out a staff of scavengers or
policemen at daybreak to sweep up at least Dud-
din gston Loch, so that the ice might be made keener
and the skaters might have a better opportunity of
observing the ruts and breaks which are so fre-
quently a cause of those unpleasant falls to whieh
skaters are peculiarly liable. A correspondent,
referring to the rare opportunity which the present
frosty weather presents to skaters for enjoying their
exhilarating pastime, and the comparatively slight
trouble which it would cost to keep tl.e ice clean and
in good condition, suggests that the Edinburgh
Skating Club or the police authorities should cut
holes of three inches in diameter in the ice, and
pump up the water till it overspread the loch a few
inches. By adopting this simple expedient, which
is almost universally practised in Canada, the loch
would be covered each morning with fresh keen ice
1 that would add immeasurabiy to the comfort and
enjoyment of the •.)lat.;tel.s,"