The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-03-04
The Summer of 1915.

From the N. Y. Sun.
Il haven't heard much else but talk
about the weather since | came to New
York, said Nonagenarian james Winches-
ter of Vermont, who is visiting his daugh'
Ter in this city, "and you have had pretty
snug winter for here, suppose, but | re-
member the year that was winter from one
end OF it until the other, and when the
weather was so severe in June that a terri
BILE snowstorm prevailed on the 18th of that
month, and people were frozen to death in
the month of roses don't think there
are many people who have as vivid recol-
lection of the year without summer as L
have, for various reasons, one being that
there are few surviving who were as old as
was in that year, and another is because
near relative of mine was frozen to death
in Vermont on June II of that year, which
was the year 1916.
Il was IA years old then, and lived in
Verr:ont, where | have always lived, and
where that memorable season was at its
very worst, as in the other New England
states in June snow fell but inches deep,
and in New York, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey it was nowhere deeper than B inches.
In Vermont it was 10 inches on the level.
| mean the great snow of June II. Snow
fell several times during that month, and
ice froze every day in the month. In fact,
there were snow and ice in every month of
1916.
''That snowstorm of June II was one Of
the severest ones l ever saw, even in the
depth of winter in that locality of severe
SHOWS. An uncle of mine had some sheep
in back pasture lot. To get to that lot
he had to go through piece of woods for
nearly mile The weather had been very
cold all through June The big storm of
the 18th began along about noon, and my
uncle started after dinner to go to the sheep
pasture to fix up a shelter of some kind for
the sheep. No one had any idea, cold and
eccentric as the season had been up to that
time, that we could have a fall of snow
that would amount TO anything at that
time of year. was az my uncle's when
he left home to go to the sheep lot, and as
he went out of the door he said to his wife
in ocular way:
"'If I'm not back in an hour, call the
neighbors and start them after me. June
is bad month to get buried in the snow,
especially when it gets to be so near the
month Of July
Nothing more was thought Of the mat
ter. The snow increased in fury, and by
night it had drifted so that the roads were
almost impossible, but even then, and when
it grew dark, none of us felt uneasy about
uncle. The weather had become bitter
cold When night set in in earnest, and
there was no sign of my uncle's return, his
wife sent me and my cousin, who was two
years younger than me, to alarm the neigh
bors and tell them that we believed uncle
had been lost in the snow and had persisted.
ave had hard time getting to he
nearest neighbor's, less than sniie away,
and there gave the alarm, but could go no
further The neighbor summoned others,
and, in spite of the severity of the night
they searched the woods until morning,
but no sign of the missing man could be
found. The search was taken up by Others
the following day and all of the next night,
without any trace of him being discovered,
except that he reached the pasture and
built shelter of boughs in one corner Of
the lot, under which the sheep were hud-
died. On the forenoon of the third day
the searchers found my uncle buried in the
snow mile from the pasture, in almost
an opposite direction from home. He was
frozen stiff
''He had evidently become bewildered il
the binding storm and had wandered about
until he succumbed to fatigue and cold
1t seems most improbable thing that {
person ever fell victim to snowsterm il
the middle of June in this latitude, but
have this sorrowful knowledge of one in
stance, at least, where such thing wal
only too true.
aThe wind during June, July and Au
gust of 1916 was continuously from tn,
north, and it blew fercely and cold
Farmers wore heavy overcoats and mitten
while about their work every day during
those months There was but little use o
planting anything, nothing grew to speal
Of, but they did plant corn as usual, AM
planted with mittens on.
oThere was very little rain during tn
entire season. The great piles of irewoo'
that always accumulated during the sum
mer months at the farmhouse back door
in readiness for winter didn't accumulat
in 1916. They were needed for curren
use. July was colder even than June, an
August was colder than July. Ice half al