The Sunday herald., 1881-02-06
COLD WINTERS.
The Winter rofI7Ts.so-TheC Cold Friday y
of rebrunvy y vs0,.

INC Wfntcf OfITTB.SO-TheCOfdF OfdFrfda y
of February 7, 1907.
| The winter Of l779-so began rs the pres
ent one did, and before the slight modera.
tion In the atmosphere. Sunday many of the
elder residents, whose fathers and mothers
had told them many tales Of that terrible
winter, were specnlating whether the pre-
sent one would resemble II in other respects.
In 1779 so the cold weather set in about the
middle Of November, and continued until
the middle Of February. During that long
peroid There was not enough warmth In the
SUNS RAYS to melt The snow ON the ground,
nor TO affect M Tie least the letters of ice
that bound the creeks, ponds, and fivers.
One snow storm followed another, until
finally the ground was SO covered that II was
difficult to go from place TO place, aiit the
ice upon the rivers at all convenient points
was used by men and teams and animals in
place of roads, The cold winds were so
piercing that wild turkeys were found frozen
to death In the forest, and domestic fowls
fell frozen from their roosts. The deer and
buffalo sought shelter from the blast around
the cabins Of the settlers, and all kinds of
wild animals perished In the forests for want
of food, which Vas bttried beneath the snow.
The iefce woif and tafitliet, which usually
skulked around the bouhdaties of the settle
ments only by night, now came in broad
daylight in search lof the bones and ofial
thrown from the cabins of the settlers. No
rain fell, and the pioneers were compelled 10
obtain water by melting ice and snow. The
northern and western rivers were tightly
bound by frost, and even as far south as
Nashville the Cumberland river was frozen
with ice thick enough for the safe passage of
emigrant trains. The Delaware, at Phila-
delphia, had ice three feet In thickness, and
Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound were
frozen over. Another similarity between
the present winter and that of 17T9-sO was
the mild autumn weather. that preceded it,
When the cold weather came iii November,
l779, tie leaves had hardly fallen, and ttiany
trees and shrubs were putting forth new
growth. The saiiie condition was witnessed
last fall. The winters of 1883, 1884, 1855,
17ss, 1892, 17g6 and 1899 are all reported as
having been very severe. II is stated that
in " Hildrith's Pioneer History on the Goth
OF December, 17ss, the Delaware and Ohio
rivers were frozen over, and navigation was
suspended upon them until the 18th of the
following March. In 1892 when soldiers
were sent to the disastrous battle field of Gen.
st. Clair to bury the dead, they encamped
where Cincinnati now stands, January %.
The snow was reported two feet deep upon
the ground, and the Ohio was so strongly
frozen that the soldiers rode their horses
across from kentucky on the ice. The 7th
of February, 1907, was known for years as
cold Friday, and was the groundwork for
many grandfather tale. On the evening
of the 9th the weather was mild and rain
began to fall as night set in. In few hours
the rain changed to snow, which fell to the
depth of six inches, after which hurricane
came to sweep over the land. II grew colder
and colder as the night progressed, and the
next morning the trees in the forests were
cracking like the reports of guns and every
thing was bound in fetters of ice. There
was no thermometer to register the cold, but
the day comes down in history and tradition
as Cold Friday.