The daily gazette., 1879-12-12
COid Winters IN Europe.

The weather on me continent OF Eu-
rope offers tit sequel to the exception
al storms and rains OF the spring ami
summer. Such a wet season had scarcelv
thr-a -ateping of a winter almost equally
out of the common. Gable despat" hes
report heavy snowfslls throughout Ger.
many and Austrian So ItzerlaDd, as we'll
as In France, NJ a,irid, Brussels, Florence,
Bologna, NJ ilan, Genoa, Venice, Verona,
and Rome. AT NAMES the river Loire
is frozen. Al Paris, nearly In the lati-
tude OF Philsdelth hia, the thermometer
yesterday Indicated 8 5degrees above zero,
degrees below zero. The river Seine Is,
of course, frozen, and the gay capital in
snow and ice bound, while with us, of
the same parallel, the weather is more
like that Of tall than winter. This is the
more strange since what in usual passes
IN England and Continental Europe for
"a severe winter" would be regarded III
the Northern States and Canada rs a
comparatively mild aud open season.
Memorable severe winters there have
been in winter, however, DOta few Of
which had their importance as we'll a.
their interest to history. In 40l the
Bla tx Sea is said To- have been frozen
over for twenty days, and between Octo
ber, 1863, and February, 764. such a frost
prevailed at Constantinople that the seas
| are spoken of as frozen 100 miles from
shore. 1t ~ certain that two centuries
before, In 459, z bergan, King Of the
Huns, GRO sed the Danube on the ice AM
routing the troops Of Justinian spread
over Thrace To the very walls OF Con
stantinople. In 1922 Ice covered ths
HellespOIt. In 1914 the Cattegat wa
frozen over; iD 1923 the Baltic was pas
sable to travellers tor six weeks; agaiI
in 1402 it was frozen from Pomerania 10
Denmark, and twenty four winters latel
its surface would bear rider from Lu'
beck to the shore of Prussia. In l46t
horsemen rode Denmark to Sweden
and in 1913 sledges drawn by oxen trav
elled on the sea from Rostock to Den.
mark. In 1858 Charles X, with his army
horse and foot, and his artillery train
and baggage, crossed the Little Bel
from Hostein to Denmark, IL lay sieg,
to Copenhagen. The German chronicle
contain AZ many records Of sever
storms. The binding storm on the LAX
of Geneva stopped the stesmb boat trAffic C
after the Cygne had been driven upon
sandbank near Villeneuve.
MILD WINTERS IN EUROPE.
Taking the opposite point of vew,-
of mild European winters-we NEE
with some equally interesting facts. Ii
| Jut WlDJtr Vi 100 tutITult Trees iHF EduC
we're in bloomtn December and the;vin
In February. L.. the winter Of 1888 vio
let's picked 10 the meadows on the bank
of the Rhine were sold in the streets
Cologne. Corn flowers were seen /
February, and ths vine was in blossol
upon the hill sides of the NJ osrlle in th
month of April. In 1872 the trees wei
covered with leaves in January, and tn
e young birds were hatched In Februar,
In 1921 there was a general howeridg
shrubs aud plants in February. In 1S!
5 there was neither snow nor frost.
A 1882 the heat was extraordinary in ID
cember. There were thunder storms
n in August, and everything was in bic
g som in January, In 1921 the temper
ture was singularly mild; green pc
II were in flower in Decem Der, and Il
d rye was gathered in before the oath
June. The vine harvest was one of Z
= most remarkable Of .he present centur
: The winter of:lS57 is the last which c
/. be placed on the list OF spring winter
. The people of Continental Europe 9
1, equally Interested with US in the gu,
r ton whether there may not be some 3
ious changes at work in the processi
s. OF the seasons.