San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-01-27
Cold Weather 100 Years Ago.

Albany Argus, began as the present
one did, and before the slight moder-
alton in the atmosphere on Sunday,
many of the older residents, whose
fathers and mothers had told them
many tales of that terrible winter,
were speculating as to whether the
present one would resemble it in 9th.
respects. In 1779-80 the cold set in
about the middle of November, and
continued until the middle Of Febru-
ary. During that long period there
was not warmth enough in the suns
rays to melt the snow on the ground,
nor to affect in the least the fetters
of ice that bound the creeks, ponds,
andrivers One snow storm followed
another, until finally the ground was
80 covered that it was difficult to &c
from place to place, and the ice upon
the rivers at all convenientpoints was
used by men teams and animals in
place ofroads.
The cold winds were so PIERCING that
wild turkeys were found frozen to
death in the forests and domestic
fowls fell frozen from their roosts
The deer and buffalo sought shelte,
from the blasts around the cabins
of the settlers, and all kinds OF wild
animals perished in the forests fol
want of food, which was buried be
meath the snow. The fierce vol
and panther, which usually skulked
about the boundaries Of the settle
ments only by night now came neal
in broad daylight in search of the
bones and offal thrown from the cab
ms of the settlers. No rain fell, and
the pioneers were compelled to OBJ
tain water for drinking, cooking. etc.
by melting ice and snow. The north
ern and western rivers were
tightly bound by frost, nd
even as far south as Nash
vile the Cumberland was frozen ovel
with ice thick enough for the safe pas
sage of emigrant trains.
The Delaware at Philadelphia had
ice three feet in thickness, and Ohes
peake Bay and Long Island Sound
were frozen over. Another similarity
between the present winter and
that of 1779-80 was the mild autumn
weather that preceded it. When the
cold began in 1779, the leaves hao
hardly fallen from the forest trees
and many of the forest trees and
shrubs were putting forth new growth
The same condition of things wal
witnessed last fall. The winters O.
1888, 1884, l785, 1788, 1892, 1876
and 1880. are all reported as having
been severe. 1t is stated in 'Hildrethl
Pioneer History" that on the 25th o
December, 1888, the Delaware and
Ohio rivers were both frozen over
and navigation was suspended upor
them until the 18th of the following
March.
In 1892, when soldiers were sen
to the disastrous battle field Of Gen
st. Clair, to bury the dead, they en-
camped where Cincinnati now stands
january 18th The snow was report
ed twofeet deep upon the ground
aad the Ohio was SO strongly frozei
that soldiers rode their horses acros
from Kentucky on the ice. The I'll
of February 1907 was known fo
years as cold Friday, and was tn
ground work for many q grsndfath
er's tale. On the evening of the 6tl
the weather was mild and rain begal
to fall as night set in. In a few
hours the rain changed to snow
which fell to the depth of six inches
after which q hurricane began b
sweep over the land 1t grew colde
and colder as the night progressed
and the nextmorning the trees IN tn
forest were cracking like the report
of guns and everything was bound il
fetters Of ice. There was no ther
mometer to register the cold
but the day comes down in his
tory and tradition as cold Fin
day
The St Louis Republican says
The North American Review for Feb