The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-04 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

Since the snow storm of Wednesday a keen frost
has set in, and the snow which then fell remains on
the ground. On Wednesday night the thermometer
fell in London to 17 deg., and at noon yesterday it
stood at 26 deg., and nearly all day it remained be-
low freezing point. The roads in consequence were
crisp and slippery ; sodangerous were they to horses
that the London General Omnibus Company ceased
to ply their conveyances. The 'other omnibuses
which continued to run did so with the greatest dif-
ficulty, and, in steep places, to the manifest risk of
the horses. The authorised fares for hackney car-
riages were totally disregarded by cab-drivers, who
fixed their own charges on taking up a fare. The
conductors of omnibuses had iu a similar manner
doubled or even tripled their usual charges. At the
railway stations yesterday the trains were' again late,
but not so much behind time as they were on Wed-
nesday.
The very bad condition of the streets gave rise to
many complaints among tradesmen, and some efforts
made to remedy the evil. At a meeting of the vestry
of St. James, at Westminster, the subject was dis-
cussed, and an explanation was offered of the reason
why so little had been done. Some time since the
-vestry outhorised Mr. Howell, their surveyor, to
engage men in case of a fall of snow, and make ar-
rangements to have it carted away. Mr. Howell
reported that he had been unable to carry out these
instructions, notwithstanding the efforts that had
been made to engage men and carts. He had
offered to engage almost any number, but not one
appeared. A rough calculation he had made would
he said, show that any number of men, horses, and
carts would have produced no effect on the great
accumulation of snow. In Sackville-stroet alone
there were fully 80 loads of snow to be removed,
and each load would have required three horses;
thus 80 carts would require 240 horses, and at the
lowest computation 100 men, to fill in anything like
time. In Great Marlborough-street there would
have been 500 loads at least to be removed. Then
the question arose, where it was to be removed to.
The distance it would have to be taken would render
it almost impossible to come back for another load
the same day. They would require to give high wages.
A man earning ss. per day could now easily earn 10s.
a day or more in the suburbs, and from private in-
dividuals he would receive hospitable treatment in
the shape of meat and drink. He
,regretted they
could not make the attempt to clear the streets, but
with such men as they had (and their own contrac-
tors, he had reason to believe, were deserted by their
men, or nearly so) what could be done was done, in
clearing such portions of the-footways as were not
before private houses, and in clearing crossings,
channels, &c. That morning they were spreading
ballast, the contractors having no small difficulty in
supplying it.

On many parts of the London, Chatham, and
Dover and the North Kent section of the South-
Eastern Railways the lines throughout nearly the
whole of Wednesday, and occasionally yesterday,
were partially blocked, notwithstanding the exer-
tions used by the officials. All the trains running
were out of time, while in the early part of the day
some of the trains were as much as three hours late
at the several stations, consequent on the difficulty
experienced by the engines in ploughing their way
through the accumulated drifts. Between Roches-
ter and Farninghain the snow on some parts of the
line had drifted to a depth of six feet, completely
stopping the traffic of the trains until the lines had
been partially cleared. On the Sevenoaks branch
the snow in many places completely barred the
passage of engines and carriages, and, as a con
sequence, all the trains in the early part of Wednes-
day were some hours late. On South-Eastern Rail-
way large gangs of labourers were employed up to
last night in clearing the line of the snow where the
accumulations were deepest. On both the Lon-
don, Chatham, and Dover and South-Eastern
Railways the continental traffic was partially inter-
rupted ; but yesterday, under the energetic exertions
used by the officials, it was carried on with but com-
paratively little delay. Every precaution was adopted
by the officers of both companies to have the tires of
the wheels of the carriages carefully examined, in
order to prevent any accident arising ou account of
the frost. During the whole of yesterday, owing
to the streets at Chatham and Rochester being par-
tially blocked with the snow, locomotion was at-
tended with great difficulty, and several accidents,
fortunately none of them very serious, occurred. In
the country districts around the snow is described
as having fallen to a considerable depth, with deep
drifts. In one instance, a flock of about 100 sheep,
was discovered to have been buried beneath a snow-
drift, but with some trouble they were all rescued.
Yesterday the frost was very severe, the thermo-
meter in the afternoon marking 24 deg. From the
appearance of the clouds a further fall of snow yes-
terday evening appeared imminent.
The heavy fall of snow which took place yester-
day caused a very serious delay to the passenger
and goods trains on the Reading and Reigate branch
of the South-Eastern Railway. The 6 a.m. train
from Charing-cross, which calls at stations on the
Reigate branch, completed its journey in reasonable
time considering the weather which prevailed, but
the case was widely different with the 9 5 from
Charing-cross, which left Red-hill juncture for
Reading between 10 and 11, being due at the latter
town at 12 30. Asjthe morning advanced a brisk
wind arose and drifted the snow, which lay in huge
masses on the line, and completely biocked up seve-
ral of the cuttings. In the Dorking cutting, par-
ticularly, the snow was so deep that the second
down-train was brought to a stand, the engine
being literally imbedded in the snow. A large
number of men were set to work, engines were
sent off from Red-hill Junction, and the officials
used every exertion to clear the metals sufficiently
to allow of the progress of the train ; but such was
the unavoidable delay that it was about six hours
late, the journey from Charing-cross to Reading
having actually occupied more than nine hours.
The traffic on the main line and branches of the
South-Western Railway was also seriously inter-
rupted, and on the Great Western Railway most
of the trains throughout the day were delayed. In
the morning the traffic below Didcot was seriously
checked, the snow having drifted in such a manner
that considerable labour was necessary to clear the
line. The engine-drivers and stokers not only had
to contend with the driving snow and the exposure
to cold, but were greatly perplexed by the difficulty
to keep their fires going, the snow having extin-
guished them in several instances.

In the district round Shields yesterday the snow-
storm had ceased, and a keen frost, with a clear
sky, had set in. The weather was intensely cold,
and more snow is lying in Northumberland than
there has been for some years. The weather was
extremely inclement yesterday, the snowstorm and
high wind being accompanied by thunder and light-
ning. The sea was very tempestuous, and the
vessels that are arriving in the Tyne, report having
encountered stormy weather. The bark British
Banner, belonging to this port, went ashore at
Hartlepool yesterday, and the brig Augusta, from
Stilton, was taken into Hartlepool dismasted.
Of the weather in Scotland the Scotsman of yes.
terday says :—" On Wednesday the severe weather
with which the New Year was ushered in continued.
The frost continued with unabated intensity through-
out the?orenoon and greater part of the day. To-
wards evening showers of snow, drifted by a piercing
wind from the north-east, followed one another in
close succession, the whole sky presenting the appear-
"ance of what weatherwise people called a ' feeding
storm.' Our skaters and curlers have not had an
opportunity of enjoying their favourite winter sports,
the ice on the lochs in the neighbourhood of the city
not being in a safe condition. A considerable portion
of St. Margaret's was bearing yesterday, and also
the southern parts of Dunsappio ; but D uddingston,
which was covered with a thin coating of ice, has
been so overlaid with drifted snow as to present but
unfavourable prospects of being fit for either curling
or skating purposes for a day or two at least. Both
on St. Margaret's and Dunsappie skaters were busily
enjoying the exhilarating sport. As indicating the
severity of the storm in the south, it may be men-
tioned that the train from Carlisle due hero about
half-past 5 o'clock in the evening did not arrive until
about a quarter past 9, having by the way stuck fast
in some oft. of snow near Fountainhall. The train

due by the Caledonian Railway about 9 o'clock last
night was also detained by the snow, and did not ar-
rive until about half-past 1 this morning. Oar
Galashiels correspondent writes :—" This district
has been visited by the heaviest fall of snow expe-
rienced for many years, and at 8 p.m. on Wednesday
the fall still continued. It was impossible to say
what depth of snow had fallen, as the wind was
blowing strong, and the snow is drifted in immense
wreaths. The country post-runners could not reach
their districts yesterday owing to the fury of the
storm. The main line of railway has been kept
open with great exertion, but some of the trains
have been late by one hour. On the line to Peebles
by Las,waile matters are worse.' "