The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-09-07
9 gmt from the 2ast.
THE DARK DAY
IN NEw ENGLAND, IN 1850.
ny D. T. TAYLOR.

On the 10Th of May, 1880, the in
habitauts of New England aud the
aijaceut parts were the trembling wit,
nesses OF phenomenon never seen
before uor sinee, and which to this day
remgius unexplained The year was cele
bruted for its Numerous auroral cxhi.
bitions IN this latitude They covered
the midnight heavens with curruscations
Of red aud silver, and strcamed out
like lightning, seeming, says one wri
tor, fairly to tllsh warmth in the face.
The winter preceding was marked BY
extraordinary severity. Snow lay on
the ground from the middle Of Nuycm
Der To the middle Of April 10 Decem
ber aud January storm continued for
seven successive days, aud the snow fell
to depth Of four feet on level in
this single storm, aad with drifts eight
aud ten feet high Sheep were buried
in the drifts for many days, aud even
men and animals perished with the
cold. Long Island Sound was crossed
by heavy artillery on the ice Nara
gansett Bay iruze over 50 hard that men
traversel the ice from Providence to
Newport IN skating parties, aud from
Fall River to Newport loads of wood
were conveyed on the ice through Bris
tOl ferry,
Previous 10 the l9,h a vapor filled
the air for several days. There was u
smell OF sulphur. The morning Of the
18th was overcast with some clouds.
and rain fell over the country, with
lightning and thuuder Scarcely any
motion was iu the air, what wind there
was came from the south west. By
nluc . clock in the forenoon, without
previous warning, the darkness stole
gradually on, with luminous appear
ance near the horizon, as it the obscur
ing cloud had dropped down from over
head. There was yellowness of the
atmosphere that made clear silver as
sumo u grass green hue. Then dense,
undellnablc vapor settled rapidly and
without aerial movement over all the
land aud ocean from Pennsylvania to
the Gulf Of St Lawrence, the darkness
it caused sinking by degrees until the
sunlight was etieotually shut out Or
dinary cloud it was not. The rapidity
with which SO large au extent Of couu.
try was enveloped preclrides the posi-
bllity Of supposing his to have been u
natural cloud moving latnrally. BE
sides this, the day was too calm to
imagine such thing. Down came the
darkness thicker aud thicker. BY ten
o o'clock the air was loaded with a thick
gloom. The heaveus were tinged with
a yellowish or faint red; the lurid look
increased; few, if any, ordinary clouds
were visible. The SUI, in disappearing,
took on brassy hue The lurid
brassy color spread everywhere, above
AMI below. The grass assumed the
color OF the sky, aud all out doors wore
a sickly, weird aud melancholy aspect,
IA dusky appearance as if seen through
a smoked glass. BY eleven O'Clock it
was as night itself, and from this time
until three in the afternoon the dark.
ness was extraordinary and frightful.
The extent of the darkness was grea.
ter than is related of any other similar
phenomenon on record, not excepting
the celebrated dark days over Egypt
aud Judea. Ii reached south to the
northern half of Pennsylvania, aud from
thence along the coast northeast to the
wilds Of Maine, eastward to the Gulf Of
ST. Lawrence, aud out at sea 100 miles
southeast Of Boston, and undoubtedly
much farther; west to the valleys of
Lake Champlain aud the Hudson River,
and north Into underlined regious in
Canada Portland, Boston, Hartford,
New York, West Point and Albany
we're affected by it. But the degrees
of darkness differed in different places,
the deepest night settling over New
England. A tract Of land aud sea 500
miles in length and 400 miles 10 breadth,
embracing an area of 100000 square
miles, was known to be covered by the
cloud, aud SO far as can be ascertained,
a population OF 7O0,0 900 souls sat for a
portion Of the day aud night in gloom
more or less profound and iuexplicable.
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