The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-21 00:00:00

GREAT SNOW STORM AND LOSS OF LIFE.

The recent severe weather, which has continued for
nearly a week with all the intensity of an extremely cold
' winter, has not been equalled, at least in this country,
for many years. The wind still prevails from the piercing
quarter of N.N.E., and there is every indication of the
frost continuing with increased severity. In the course
of Saturday accounts were received at the General Post-
office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, of a very heavy fall of snow
having taken place on Thursday evening and Friday
morning in almost all part of the country, which ren-
dered many of the important lines of railway perfectly
impassable. The mail trains were blocked up, and in
several instances they were not extricated for 12 or more
hours, and even then the bags had to be conveyed by
cross-roads to their destination. Scarcely a county
seems to have escaped the storm, and in may places
where the snow has drifted its depth is enormous, such
as cuttings and cross-roads, to the extent of some twenty
feet. In the northern districts the storm was accom-
panied by thunder and lightning, while the aurora borea-
lis shone luminously in the heavens, all prognosticating
more severe weather. The fall on Thursday visited the
counties bordering on the eastern and northern coast to
such an extent as to cause an obstruction to all traffic.
Stretching from Essex through Suffolk, Norfolk, Lin-
colnshire, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, &c., the
snow came down in a 'general mass. Communications
with villages were cut off, and much mischief arose.
In the vicinity of Norwich, the fall was very considera-
ble ; and snow lay in the streets several feet in depth,
and the mail train; which should have reached
that city from London at half-past two on Friday morn-
ing, did not arrive till late in 'the afternoon,
more than twelve hours behind its time. It appears
that the snow drifted on the Eastern Counties line, in
the neighbourhood of Bandon, to a great depth. After
numerous efforts to get along, the engine was brought
to a complete block, the carriages being embedded al-
most half their height in the drift. In this position the
train could not proceed for many hours. Gangs of navi-
gators were procured as soon as possible to cut a pas-
sage, and it was only after the above detention that the
mail could proceed. The inhabitants of the fen country
are in a most distressing condition. The ground is
covered with several feet of snow, which obscuring the
tracks to the main roads, renders an attempt to travel
very dangerous. A respectable baker, named George
Lamb, living at Whittlesey, lost his life in that way.
He mistook his road, and fell into a river with his horse
and cart, and was drowned. Several vessels were lost
off Wisbeach during the snow storm. They were un-
able to distinguish the bearings, and went ashore and
were wrecked.

Throughout Lincolnshire and far extending into the
Midland Counties, the snow appears to have fallen
heavily, and, as in other parts, the railways and cross
roads were for a time impassable. Further northward
the fall seems to have been more severe, and all commu-
nication with York by means of its various railways was
discovered on Friday morning to be blocked up by huge
driftings of snow. The mail train, which should leave
that city for London at two, did not get away until
eight o'clock, and even then could make but small pro-
gress. Numerous gangs of men were employed in clear-
ing the lines, and much inconvenience was occasioned to
the traffic.

The Hull and Scarborough line and the Market Weigh-
ton line were rendered impassable. Towards Durham
the weather was, if anything, worse, and great inconve-
nience has been experienced in the neighbourhood.
Some of the trains near Newcastle required four or five
engines to get them along. Should the frost continue
the numerous fleet of colliers in the Lyne will be frozen
in. From all parts of the country similar accounts have
been received. The intelligence from the French coast
announces the snow to be falling fast, and the line of
railway from Calais to Boulogne to be much obstructed.

THE WEATHER AND THE PARKS.-LOSS OF
THREE LIVES.

The scenes which occurred yesterday in the various
royal parks were such as can with difficulty be described
—for scarcely ten minutes elapsed without the ice break-
ing and precipitating several persons into the water be-
neath. From the time the Royal Humane Society's
men were called off duty on Saturday evening, a large
number of sliders and skaters continued to amuse them-
selves upon the ice until nearly two o'clock a.m. The
thermometer at the Royal Humane Society's Receiving
House, Hyde-park, fell in the course of Saturday night
to 24, being three degrees warmer than on the previous
night, but during the middle of yesterday it rose to 32.
Bills were posted in each park warning the public of the
danger they exposed themselves to if they ventured upon
the ice, which was described as being exceedingly rotten
and fast thawing.
On the canal which is called after Sir John Duckett,
and skirts the east side of Victoria Park, three persons
lost their lives. Between 4 and 5 o'clock two boys were
walking on the ice near Watson's lock, and were heard
to express their intention of trying how far it would
bear. They had scarcely passed the lock-house when
the ice gave way, and they fell into the water. A man
unknown, dressed in the garb of a butcher, went from
the bank on the ice with the intention of rescuing them,
but the ice broke under him, and he was immersed. A
youth next made an attempt, and he also unfortunately
met a similar fate. He was followed by another boy,
who put out a stick, in the act of doing which the ice
gave way by his weight, and he fell in the midst of the
four who were already in the water, and who were
clinging to each other. At the moment there was
neither a rope nor a drag with which to assist them while
on the banks were the brothers of the two lads, who
could with difficulty be kept out of the water. Some
persons tied several silk handkerchiefs together, which
were thrown to the spot, by which and other means two
were got out. A man named Johnson, who lets boats
on the canal, brought up one of his boats, by which time,
the drags having been obtained from the City of Paris
and the lock-house, a search was made, and in about 15
minutes the bodies of the youths were found. One was
taken to the lock-house, where it was undressed and
placed on a sofa before the fire. The second youth was
conveyed to the City of Paris public-house. Surgeons,
were soon in attendance, exhausted every resource of
their art on the two lads, but in vain ; both were be-
yond mortal aid. The body of the man has not yet
been found.