Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-07-29
severe seasons.

ursS aryshinw like 1t known, Wniie lne
,.ss.-sr fnhahitant loses his memory and
v,-sa,,on,ns,s-s the weather Ia his experience
n,.vss vslleIeSi: But the annals OF history
Sgssw ina; from time to time since the an-
,s.,s ~ man into the world remarkably
sriysd winters and torrid summers have
nYe-ss the calculations and ruined the
sssnanisnifv az the inhabitants OF temper
80 ynne~ Several times the frostking
has been known 90 come down from tie
heights az Europe and seal the waters vi
IRE Adriafic. In sfv and l224 the ice
surxafzY secure bridge from Venice 10 the
o4s,,osiie Dainaassan coast In the winter
al 1881 - the flee; was ice-Dound near
The CITY IL the DogeS," and again In
l7oa the Adriasic Was completely covered
with ice
All the rivers Of France were frozen IN
the wears 1896 and 1854. the ice on the
river Rhone being in some places Ifieen
feet thick. In 1909 the cold was intense
in the south If France; most of the frult
ines wcre destroyed, and many persons
were frozen 20 death on the roads, While
Al Cetfe and Marseilles the sea was ice
bound for 4 great distance out The win
ter II 1889 was rigorous throughout
Europe The Rbone was frozen over al
LYONS and the Garonne al Toulouse. Inc
Thames was-shui as far as Grayesend, ana
al the Christmas holidays the river was
covered with booths. The AtlanRc froze
along its coasts to a distance Of several
leagues. and vessels were unable to APP
proaeh within several miles of Ostend, in
Belgium. port that ordinarily Is open
throughout the year. The birds OF the
Arctic regions descended a. far south as
France. and the fish persisted in all the
ponds from the thickness Of the Ice.
The winter of 1s12-'l3 Is memorable for
its extreme degree of cold, which began al
an early date The horrors which Ma
poleOnfs army suffered from the bitter
weather in the fatal retreat from Moscow
suffice to fix the season indelibly In the
memory. The following year the winter
was so glacial in the south OF England
that in February sheep was roasted ON
the frozen Thames, and at fair held on
the 4th of the month the space between
London and Blackfriars bridges was filled
with spectators. Snow fell in New En-
gland in every month Of the year 1916,
and the weather was so uniformly chilly
that scanty crops Of every sort were har.
vested. Little or no corn was raised, and
something like famine was threatened
for man and beast.
In Western Europe the winter Of 1910
Al was among the severest on record. The
season il notable as that in which the
body of Napoleon was transferred from
ST Helena to the Church Of the lnvalides
in Paris. The temperature was so low on
the day that the funeral procession passed
through the city that many of the specta-
tors who watched its progress from sta
tons out Of doors persisted from exposure.
The spring was early in New England in
the year 1884, but on the 18th OF May,
after the gardens were made and the veg
etables well up, and the currantbushes in
blossom, the snow fell 10 the depth Of a
foot. Nothing was injured, however, by
its burial under the thick, downy blanket,
and the summer was unusually fruitful.
Turning from winters distinguished by
excessive rigor to summers that are re-
markable for their ardor, we find that one
Of the hottest seasons ever experienced In
England and France occurred in 1893.
For fifty-one days, beginning with July !,
the thermometer ranged in London from
10 degrees TO 80 Degrees most uncom-
mon height. July ) il stood at 101, yet
the heat was more oppressive on Aug. .,
when it marked but 81, for sultry wind
blew as from furnace, and paralyzed
respiration" The drought, too, was ex-
ccssive. The waters of the Seine had not
been SO low for scyenty-four years Vege-
tation was withered and dried. The foliage
OF the vine and fruit trees was scorched
and shriveled The trees in the Palais
Royal dropped most of their leaves; no
less than $50 were stripped entirely bare,
and many Of them died. The soil in the
gardens of the Luxembourg was dry as a
bed of ashes to the depth Of three and a
half feet, and in the neighborhood OF Tou-
louise the corn crop entirely failed. Every
where the ground was baked and cracked
by the heat, and grass and heritage almost
died out,
In France, Belgium and England the
summer of 1912 was one Of the most tor
rid Of the present century. Ten years
later the summer was, in the same coun-
tries, scarcely less trying Many do
heat while laboring in the fields. The
summer, but mild winter. In Wurtem.
burg, chronicle of the times tells us, the
trees budded at Christmas. In February
the strawberries ripened and in April the
vines blossomed. But in May a change
came over the scene; snow fell and the
vines and the fruit blossoms were killed.
Yet the season was still so early that the
vines put forth new foliage and flowers,
and the usual amount Of wine was pro-
duced. Yet more remarkable for re-
verse of the seasons WAS the year 1886,
when the apple-trees blossomed in Janu-
airy and their fruit was large as hazel-nuts
in February The harvest of this extraor.
binary year was in May and the vintage
In August.
July 81, 1882, the weather suddenly
changed from intense heat to such de-
gree of cold that the potatoes and cereals
were frozen In the elevated districts of
Wurtemburg. Three years after there was
similar abrupt fall OF the temperature in
France at the close Of June, which COW
cred the mountains with snow at Bourbon
and the plains with hoarfrost in the Au.
vergne.
1t is remarked by observers that extreme
weather in any one region on the earth is
balanced by the opposite phenomenon in
some other region; thus, while a winter
or Il summer of unusual severity prevails
In one part of the world it generally hap
pens that the same season is elsewhere un-
commonly mild. While in the winter Of
1739-'40 navigation was completely closed
hy loo On thu. rivar 1'hauaa and tho Gar