The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

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With the departure of the strong easterly winds
on Monday night the frost set in with more severity
than on the two previous days, and during the
whole of yesterday, up to 8 o'clock last evening,
the thermometer at the Receiving-house reg;stered
24 deg. In the Regent's-park yesterday there were
about 6,000 persons on the ice, which, although
bad, was about 4in. thick. On the Round Pond,
Kensington, the ice, sin. thick, was in good condi-
tion, and about 4,000 persons were on it during the
day. At the Long Water, Kensington Gardens,
the ice was 4,lin. thick and very good. About 6,000
persons were on it during the day, and among them
a number of the members of the Skating Club,
whose evolutions attracted a large number of spec-
tators. On the Serpentine the ice was 41in. thick.
Upwards of 30,000 persons visited the ice during
the day. No immersions took place, but six per-
son-, were severely cat about the head from falls.
At 8 o'clock last night there were fully 2,000
on the ice skating and sliding by torclili,;ll‘.,. There
were ten bathers in the Serpentine yesterday morn-
ing. On the lake in St. James's Park the ice in
many parts is very dangerous. About 7,000 per-
sons were on it during the day. There were seven
immersions and several persons injured by falls.
Last night between 7 and 8 a slight shower of
rain fell, with hail and sleet, which seemed to have
frozen immediately on reaching the ground. The
effect was most remarkable. The whole surface of
the streets and pavement, every object on which the
rain had fallen, was coated with a sheet of ice of
uniform thickness, which glistened like a film of
glass or varnish. The snow which fell last week had
almost entirely disappeared in the streets, but in a
few minutes they were once more impassable. It
was painful. to see the omnibuses and cab horses
stumbling in all directions on a sheet of ice as
hard and , smooth as a slide and much more
treacherous from its uneven surface. Innumerable
accidents happened to foot passengers on the
doorsteps and footpaths, and in some places, parti-
cularly where the streets are paved, it was not pos-
sible to walk without stumbling. The footpaths
over the temporary bridge at Blackfriars, which are
approached by a steep ascent on each side, were
rendered for a time quite impassable, but prompt
steps were taken t 3 cover the surface with ashes,
which supplied a firm footing. The appearance
presented by the streets wh;le covered by the sheet
of ice was most striking, and unlike anything in the
recollection of the oldest Londoner. Fortunately it
was not of long duration. From the fall of rain it
was supposed that a thaw was about to set in, al-
though the ground remained frozen, and this ex-
pectation was realised. Rain began to fall about
10 o'clock, accompanied by a higher temperature,
which rapidly melted the ice.
Yesterday, in consequence of the immense quan-
tity of ice in the Thames, the tier of vessels off the
Custom-house gave way. The schooners went first.
'ley were followed by the General Steam Naviga-
tion Company's steamship City of Hamburg, which
carried away the company's hulk lying off the Cus-
tom-house. The immense pressure then caused the
barge tiers likewise to go off the Tower, and all
ships and steamers lying below were carried away,
some driving athwart each other, breaking adrift
all that came in their way, and crushing and break-
ing masts and rigging in all directions. One craft
belonging to Mr. H. Grey, loaded with silks, &c.,
has been sunk.

At Portsmouth and on the south coast yesterday

the wind veered to E. by S. and E.S.E., and was
accompanied by a rise in the temperature and a
slight tha;v through the day. The wind continued
strong off in the Chznnel.

We learn from Falmouth that the Dutch schooner
Zorg en Vlyt (Mulder, master), from Nantes for
Rotterdam, with a cargo of buckwheat, was run
into off the Portleven pier on Monday eveu;ng. She
sown after sank. ller cargo is being discharged.
The long continuance of easterly winds is telling
with mischievous effect on the already serious dis-
tress in Liverpool. There are whole fleets of vessels

in the Channel vainly trying to make the port, and
their absence has thrown the very large body of dock
labourer:, out of employ. The building and other
outdoor trades are also suspended. It is estimated
that there were yesterday 22,000 persons entirely
dependent on public charity. • The Mayor has had
a conference with the parish authorities, and both
they and the corporate officers are trying in every
possible way to find employment for the men out of
work, and large numbers are in this way being pro-
vided for. Yesterday the wind veered round mare
to the south-east, but was accompanied with a keen,
cutting wind, which made the weather still colder.

On the north-eastern coast yesterday the weather
continued cold and severe. The brig Ark, of Sun-
derland, which was lately stranded at Gorleston,
after being in collision with the brig Sarah, has be-
come a total wreck, and her remains are strewed for
a considerable distance along Cortou and Hopton
beach. Nothing has yet been ascertained which is
calculated to establish the identity of a large brig
which has been discovered sunk near the Scroby
Sands, and there is little or no doubt that her crew
perished. Two men are reported lost from smacks
belonging to Mr. Todd, of Great Yarmouth. The
master of the Rainbow, Lowestoft tug, has reported
passing a topgallant yard, supposed to be that of a
schooner, on the Ness Point. The brig Oak, of Sun-
derland, is on shore on the south beach, Lowestoft.
The smack Resolute, of Lowestoft, has arrived at
that port. The master reports various damages sus-
t Lined by the smack, and also the loss of one of her
crew, W. Bennett, of Lowestoft, who was washed
overboard by a heavy sea. Yesterday the Mayor of
Great Yarmouth convened a meeting for the purpose
of considering the best means of providing for the
distress prevailing among the poorer classes of that
town. Traffic was resumed on Monday on the West
Norfolk Junction Ra'lway. It had heen blocked
since the previous Wednesday by a great accumu-
lation of snow at Sedgeford.
The Scotsman of yesterday says :—" The snow-
storm, of which people are now getting so heartily
tired, not only maintains but augments its severity.
During Saturday and Sunday, and in some places
yesterday, there was over the east of Scotland, from
the Moray Firth to the Cheviots, a considerable
addition to the previous heavy deposit of snow, and
our correspondents inform us of many locomotive
inconveniences and other consequences of the incle-
ment weather."