Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-12-14
Memorable Cold Snaps.

We are not likely to have cold enough
weather this winter to surprise couple Of
old citizens Of Brooklyn, if tie following
from the Eagle, of that city, may be re :
lied on:
"We're havin' some pretty winterisf
weather. said old Daddy Wotherspoon tc
Uncle Sammy u onniwell, as the two gen.
tlemen met near the. city hall yesterday;
.sright for'ar weather for the season."
F ''Jist SO; jist so," conceded Uncle Sam
my. Reminds me OF the fall of 1881. II
commenced &C long the fore part of Noyem-
Der and froze stiff till March. Good
smart weather, too. remember that it
was so cold in Brooklyn that November
that bilin' water froze over hot f1re.n
Daddy Wotherspoon looked at him and
braced himself. ayes, yes," said he; 81
mind it well. That's the fall that froze
the milk in the COWS. "But the cold
season was in 1927. 1t commenced in the
middle of October andrran through, to
April. All the oil sroze in the lamps and
we didn't have light till spring set in.''
cay, ay," responded Uncle Sammy,
growing rigid. sits just like yesterday
to me. I walked a hundred and forty
miles due east from Sandy Hook, on the
ice, and slid back owing to the convexity
of the earth, you know. 1t was down hill
coming this way. But that wasn't as
cold as the winter Of 1921. That season
commenced in September, and the mer~
curry didn't rise degree till May. Don't
you remember how we used to breathe
CRAWL in for shelter? You haven't for.
Gotten that?" ....s. --......
'sNot l." said Daddy Wotherspoon,
after short pause. ''That is the winter
we used to give the horses melted lead to
drink and keep hot fire under 'em SO it
wouldn't harden till they got it down. But
that was nothin' to the spell of 1917. We
began to feel it in the latter part of Aug
ust, and she doomed stiddy till the S0th Of
June. I got through that whole spell by
living in an ice-house. 1t was too cold tC
go out doors, and 1 just camped in an
ice-house. You remember that season of
1917? That's the winter we wore UNDER
shirts of sandpaper to keep up friction y
"Well, l should say did," retorted
Uncle Sammy. "What! remember 1917?
| Deed L do. That was the time it took a
steam grindstone four days to light a
match. Ay, ay! But do you know was
Il Wdlm WiuUCI!
| Show so?n demanded Daddy Wother-
spoon breathing hard.
"Runnin' around your ice house to find
out where you got in. 1t was an awful
spell though. How long did it last? From
August till the Both Of June? L CUES:
you're right. But you mind the snap O
1918, don't you? 1t commenced on the Isl
of July and went around and Tapped over
a week. That year the smoke froze in the
chimneys and we had to blast it ont with
dynamite. think that was the worst we
ever had. All the clocks froze up so We
didn't know the time for year, and mel
used to set fire to their buildin's SOS tt
raise the rent. Yes, indeed. got $3 .00t
month for four burnin' buildin's. There
was heap of sufferin' that winter, be
cause we lived on alcohol and phosphorus
till the alcohol froze, and then we eat the
birthstone ends of matches and jumped
around till they caught fire. Say
you"
But Daddy Wotherspoon had fed. TIL,
statistics were too much for him.