Delaware State journal and statesman., 1863-10-13
A Year Without a Summer.

IL ChnHOl We Sulu OF lSb9 tnat IL was a
year without summer, for the hot weather
has been the subject of remark every
where There have been frosts, however,
in the West which have blasted the corn,
aud vegetation has been injured by the
same cause elsewhere, yet as whole the
husbandman has been highly favored by
Providence, who has given him abundance
Of rain, heat in plenty. nnd spared him
the vistations Of frost until his crops are
nearly or quite out Of danger from any
cause Those who are not content with
the blessings of 1868, should read the fol-
lowing account, from an exchange, of the
cold summer Of 1916, when there wns ice
in every month of the ycar-in fact, it was
truly said to be year without a sum
mcr
The summer of lSlG is frequently re-
fcrrcd to as the coolest ever known
throughout America and Europe. The
subjoined facts will revive the recollection
Of those who remember the year mithom
Samm,r ., also to furnish correct information
for such us feel any interest in matters of
the sort. The following facts are cx-
tracied in part from "Picrce on the
Weather y
January was mild, so much so that fires
were almost needless in sitting rooms -
December, the month Immediately prccc-
ding this, was very cold.
February was not very cold With the
exception of few days, it was mild, like
its predecessor
March was cold and boistcrous, the first
half Of it; the remainder was miIder. II
great ircshet on the Ohio and Kentucky
rivers, causing great destruction of pro-
perty.
April began warm and grew colder as
the month advanced, and ended with snow
and ice, with II temperature more like
winter than spring an nundation on the
Mississippi, laying the suburbs of New
Orleans under water, rendering the roads
passablc only by boats.
May was more remarkable for lrOwns
than smiles. Buds and fruits were frozen,
ice formed half an inch in thickness, corn
killed, and the fields again and again re-
planted until deemed too late.
June was the coolest ever known in this
latitude Frost and ice and snow were
common Almost every green herb was
killed, and the fruit nearly all destroyed
Snow fell to the depth Of ten inches in
Vermont, several inches in Maine, and it
fell TO the depth of three inches in the in
terror ol New York it fell also in Mas
sachusetts.
July was accompanied by frost and ice.
On the morning after the lth, ice formed
of the thickness ola window glass through
out New England. New York and in
in some parts Of Pennsylvania Indian corn
are killed, some fayorably situated fields
escaped. This was true of some Of the
hill farms of Massachusetts.
i August was more chceress, if possible,
, than the Summer months already passed.
Ice was found half an inch in thickness.
; Indian corn was so frozen that the greater
part Of it was cut down and used for lud-
der. Almost every green herb was de
Stroyed both in this country and in
Europe, Papers received from England
stated, at will be remembered by the
present generation, that the 1916 was Il
year in which there was no Summer"
{ Very little corn in the New England and
{ Middle States ripened. Farmers supplied
themselves from the corn produced in
1915 for seed in the Spring OF lSl7. II
sold from four to five dollars per bushe
Q September furnished about two week,
+ Of the mildest weather Of the season. -
. Soon after the middle it became very cold
q and frosty, ice forming Il quarter of ar
! inch in thickness.
e October produced more than its usua
share of cold weather; frost and ice very
, common.
November was cold and clustering.
/ Snow fell so as to make slcighing.
t December was mild and comfortable
? Such is II brief summary of the "colC
: summer Of 1916" as it was called, il
! order to distinguish it from the cold sea
{ sons. The winter was mild. Frost ant
ice were common in every month of th,
year Very little vegetation maturcd il
the Eastern and Middle States The sum
{ rays seemed to be destitute of heal
throughout the summer All nature wa,
/ was clad in sable hue, and men cxhibi
' fed no little anxiety concerning the lutur,
e OF theirlilc