The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-01-22
An "unparaIIeled Winter.

PHILADELPHIA. Press.
The superstition that the weather chang
ing will probably outlAsi all the rest. Few
realize within " hat narrow limits the weather
works. flour January were 10 degrees COL
der on the average. civilization would be
impossible on account offhe cold; if our av-
erage July weather were 10 degrees warm
er. Philadelphia would have a climate in
which civilization has never been permanent
on account Of the lsssiinde Of heat II cur
average annual temperature were moved up
or down 10 degrees the entire character OF
our daily life would De revoIaiionized.
The lesson Of all that Is that very slight
changes in the temperature make great
chan ge in our feelings aud habits. These
alterations for month may not be enough
to alter By half degree the average temper
AZURE of gear bai, on the unihinking and
uninformed. they leave the impression that
this timeihe weather is changing for sure
Just century ago, in January 1870, Phil
adelphia had a month OF winter weather ex-
actly ike that now. For the month it aver
aged "a degrees, which is just the average OF
this month thus far, and as large city very
slightly raises the temperature, it is likely
that January. 1890. with the same reading of
the thermometer was shade warmer than
now. century ago-in that old fashioned
weather to which people are always ap-
peAling-in this month. boys were ohen
seen swimming in the Delaware and Schuyl-
kin, there was thunder and lightning, as
within the past ten days, and it was Lot IN
Ill February 9Th that cold weather began.
This Is not the only warm January of the
first half of the past 100 years. In 1873 there
was no ice in either riyer and but one dash
Of snow in January. In 1892 the weather
IVES as mild as April, the mercury ran up
TO 6s degrees on several days. and the last
week Of January trees and shrnbbery were
in bloom Ia Isl0 the frs; three weeks Of
the month had number Of days reaching
Gt degrees in the shade. In lsl6 "the sun
shone every day and such snow as came
melted while it fell. In ls2s. early trees
and shrub5ery were beginning TO put krih
their buds in this month and "ihe De,a-
vsrs was as free from ice as in June and nc,
a fake o. snow was seen, with 709 As the
maximum temperature. But the January
which throws even this in the shade was in
1858 shen rain fell on but eight DAYS, Is
we're clear and cloudy. With days Of Coz 10
e4e from noon TO ; p. m, while the sap
rose in small trees and shrnbbery 50 as to
produces buds. and some shrubbery in gar
den Of southern exposure put firth leaves
1871. 1913 and ls45 January was nearly as
warm. The warEnest Jannarys since then
have heen 1864, 1874. 1876 and 1850.
We submit that these warm facts shake
the force OF declarations that winters are
warmer than they were They have not
changed They are just as warm and just as
cold on the average We need not bother
ab0ut the Calf Stream OF the weather Is is
our memories that are unreliable
Over century ago. March 10. i7ss, Cow
per wrote TO his friend Boseri The spring
la. come. but not that spring which our Po-
cts have celebrated 3 century hence
some other poet will be complaining that
the winter IS cold or warm beyond the hab-
It's Of the past. and he viii be as far wrong
As ali are now.