The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-02-08
p.rrpspuRa. February I, 1876!

-a-;ablenes of our climate has fur
.,.had occasion for those who are not close
of the weather for a series Of
oosrs TO come to the conclusion that the
seasons have undergone o change. This
he,;er however, can have no resi- founda-
tion 20 rest on. The most that can be said
is. that the opening of a country to cult
walton by the destruction OF dense forests
tends to diminish the amount Of rain, and
perhaps TO raise the temperature IN a
Slight degree by the freer admission OF the
SUMS rays to the earth. But to determine
the question with any exsctness would re-
quire q comparison of accurate meteoro-
logical tables, continued through at least
two centuries. The interval OF time be-
tween the vernal and autnmnal equ,noHeS
is precisely the same now as "heh the
first astronomical observation was taken !;
and therefore any change which may nave
taken place in the climate can be due
only to local causes.
II is upquestionable, however, that we
do. once in a while, have an excessively
hot summer, or a winter on the other ex-
IRENE. The writer of this has seen the
thermometer stand nearly at a hundred
for several days in succession, and three
ar four times in his lie at from twelve to
fifteen degrees below zero once as low as
eiyhteen. 1t sunk to the last named de-
gree at the time Of the famous snow storm
ofthe 18th and 18th of January, 1857
such a storm as is probably not witnessed
more than once in a mans lifetime, or even
in a century. On the other hand, we have
known winters during which there was
scarcely so much as a white frost. This
was the case in IS26-'27. Vegetation put
ont very early, and it was only arrested
on the 9th Of April by a killing frost
The greatest fresh ever known in
James river was in May, I'LL. None
other has ever approached it., except
the one which followed in IA. In 1906
there was no rain from April to Septem'
Der. These are al! occurrences out of the
usual order, and though scattered Over
nearly a century, they only prove how liza
BILE our climate is to extreme fuctuatloD
and not that it is either warmer or colder
wetter or dryer, now than formerly. The
present winter has thus far been compare.
lively mild, there having been only o fe"
cold DAYS, and little or no ice has been
housed but in the course Of time we may
expect HI tuc pHcHoiucha apo'c
to to be repeated, will the addition OF
others perhaps still more remarkable.
A most barefaced robbery was commit
ted to-day, showing on the part of the
negroes an open contempt of law ana
J.. order. Mr.. j. D. Kelley had just received
by the Southern railroad twenty cords OF
wood, designed for distribution among the
poor. Leaving it under the protection OF
guards, be went to his office to issue orders
for it's delivery; and during his absence
several hundred negroes gathered round
it, each helping himself to as much as nc
could carry, until the whole was borne oil.
The guards we're powerless to prevent the
outrage in the face of such a number. The
police was summoned, but when they
reached the ground everything was quiet,
and not a stick Of wood remained.
The Rev. Mr.. Platt formerly of Pc
tersburg, but now of Louisville arrived
here yesterday to consummate, it is said,
q matrimonial alliance. As the time is so
near at hand, and the engagement is no
secret in this community, there can be no
improperly in saying that on Tuesday next
Mr.. p. will lead to The altar Mrs. Indiana
Pannill, daughter Of the late Richard
Kidder Meade. Mrs. P. is a lady Of rare
accomplishments ard of most estimable
character. 5.