Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1861-07-23
The London Fog.

Now let me speak of the London fog. That
Is 10 be seen III London aud nowhere else
1T IS s"t gc'.er,S. believe they call II. Dick
ems, In LIs description of Il London fog. La.
failed lo convey an idea of its true aud udi-
ous nature. 1t gels into your throat it gets
mo your eyes; II Is down in the cellar it
IS up IN the garret; If you shut the door, it
comes shIyerinS and cold through the VIII
dow; aud If you shut the window il comes
yeilox aud smoky down the chimney. You
can get 1t ont. remember. when speaking.
one day, In 1893, III Exeter Hail all OF a sud
den lie fog came III, and twenty minutes
from the time We first saw 1t, | could not see
the people in the gallery and they said it
was u queer sensation to hear somebody
speaking somewhere but |" see him nowhere
| have seeu 1t standing like a wall in the
middle OF the street, all brightness upon one
side and thick fog upon the other | lave
Known the gas 10 be lighted up in one part of
the city, while III another tie people were
congratulatiug themselves on the beautiful
dav.
pom foggy morning you wake late. and
You think I is early. 1t is cold, dark, damp
ana dreary The streets are very quiet. for
the log IS poor conductor OF sound You get
up and every hing goes wrong. You ATTEMPT
20 wash your hands, and away goes the soap
under The table. You Undertake TO shave. and
you can get up lalher, and when you try
your razor you feel as Sheridan did when he
said t" his son-" Tom, If you open oysters
any more with my razor IN XIII youl"
have heard of a man who was taken up by an
elephant and chucked through barn door ::
ana, sad he went all ends Eastward ="
lhe servants are behludhand the eggs are
half boIled. You look out of the window. and
the fog seems to get thicker and thicker.
The best thing you can do is 10 close the shut
ter> and light tire gas
Then, If your business calls you to town,
don 90 IN a bus go ;foot. Erervbodv has
Il cold. dlsagreeable look-the cheeks are lilv.
the eyes rosy, the nose ditto and running.
You proceed and find everything in danger.
Cabs run into each other, omnibus drivers
shout 10 one another IN language not the most
p"tlle, and chaos seems to have come again
Your office Is dIugy ana dark. You light The
gas and are reiuigded of Timothy Tucomh's
description OF 9dsm and the sooner YOU take
Yourself TO the bosom of your afectionate
faHHIy = -lf YOU have got one - the better
But low will you get there a? The steamers
have stopped running. there is not n cab to be
found II Is like wadInG through illuminated
I'ea-eoup and how will vou find your way :?
nave gone out IN fog for curiosity and fun,
khoWlnS every street around. and in two or
three squares have lost uvself | have seen
the tog SO thick that ] had TO scutf with my
leet 10 md the curbstune. Get under a
lamp post and yen can see 40 light-onlv 4
" glory. AS you 90, how the nIshaps of the
morning are repeated on an exaggerated scale
Ihen come around you tile boys WI II links
or torches crying" penny a light" and If
you wont give them a penny they will singe
your trowsers tor you. And when at last YOU
get home You have little desire to venture out
agaiL IN London fog
II Is said the London fog is caused by the
granite PARTICLES "f dust arising from the
traffic on the streets and the million b,tumm-
"us coal fires, the smoky matter of which
mIngits with the yapor from the river, and
when the barometer tails ii comes down upon
the city. When the barometer arises it Will
ascend. and perhaps wholly disappear But
these fogs never rise more than two or three
hundred feet. They come principally in
November. aud are seldom seen after Fcbru-
ary.-JoL1t Is. Go"qh's Lecture on london.