The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-31
FLORIDA'S FATAL FREEZE.
The First Reports Of the Damage Done
Confirmed.

ton Companies $780, 600 Out of
Pocket and Nursery and Vegetable
Men an Additional 81 ,ooo, ,ooo-N Next
Years Orange Crop Expected to Be
100000 Boxes Short-A Railroad
Man Estimates the Direct and Incl
dental Losses at 80, 900, 900.
Jacksonville, TIA, Dec. So.-Reports to-
day from over thirty points in the orange
growing section Of Florida confirm those
of yesterday and last night as TO the ex-
tent Of the damage caused by the cold
of Thursday and Friday nights. II any
groves escaped uninjured from the cold
Of that twenty-four hours, they must
have been caught last night for the mer-
curry dropped again to % degrees before
sunrise this morning. AS this tempera-
ture is 10 degrees below freezing, and was
not accompanied by a high wind. as on
the two previous nights, it must have
caused serious damage to untouched
fruit and trees. Nearly all well informed
orange handlers agree that the loss on
the orange crop alone is fully Sl5OO.OOO.
to which must be added 100000 lost by
the transportation companies in freights
and another 100000 for losses in young
trees, nursery stock and in vegetables
and pineapple crops.
Reports from the entire east coast
country are Of a most discouraglng char
acter relative to the damage to pineap-
pie plants and other fruits, but IT is quite
probable that in portions Of Dade, Lee
and Monroe counties pineapples. bananas
and other tender growths have escaped
damage, but the products of these sec
tions are inconsiderabie compared with
those to the north of them. Conservative
estimates place the shortage on next
years crop Of oranges consequent upon
this freeze at about 100000 boxes, which
means the loss of another million dollars
to the growers and a further one to the
transportation lines.
A prominent railroad man said tonight:
''"rhe direct and incidental losses Of this
freeze to Florida are fully S5.OO0O00 and
the loss occasioned by the checks g75f in
vestments IN the fruit industry here IL in
calculable. The only encouraging thing
about it that / see Is the good results to
follow a decreased production Of fruit,
Prices for the next two years ought 10
rule from 80 to 40 per cent. better than
this year"
There is yet tlfue Tor the winter truck
gardeners to make second crops, 80 they
are not in such bad shape as the orange
growers. who now look out upon 2.OOO,OO0
boxes of oranges frozen as hard as a can
non ball and as worthless as weeds.
At Callahan, small ponds were frozen
over so hard and thick that men could
walk across them and in every city and
town which has water supply system,
there is hardly a pipe which was not
frozen up solid. A hundred outside plum
bers could probably find employment In
Florida for the next three weeks.
To-day there has been little or no wind
and the mercury at noon rose TO above
60 degrees. At p. m, Il had fallen again
10 4S degrees and the sun was obscured
for the remainder of the day The pre-
dction is that the temperature will not
fall below freezing tonight
Many hundreds of men are thrown out
of employment at the groves and the pack
ing houses, and much desttution and suf-
fering must follow among them.
DeLand Fla, Dec. 90-The present cold
is the severest known here by the Oldest
inhabitant. The orange crop of this sec
tion was the finest in the history Of the
industry here and but about one-fourth
had been shipped. The loss in this section Is
at least 200, 900 boxes. The mercury was two
degrees lower than il went in the freeze
of Jan r. 1886 At least 200 pickers and
packers are thrown out of employment.
Brooksville, Fla, Dec. $3.50 far as can
be ascertained the freeze has severely
damaged the orange crop of this section,
though growers believe much Of the crop
viii yet be saved. Several cars OF fruit
loaded and I'm packing houses were not
frozen. The trees are not materially in
jured.
Orlando, Fla, Dec 8O.-The wind, which
up TO Friday night had been
been blowing briskly for thlrty-six
hours, abated as night came on, and
the weather settled down to quiet
cold. At o'clock the temperature stood
at 26 degrees. During the day 1t had
been up to 10 degrees, and at one time
the wind promised to shift TO the north
east, which would have ended the freeze.
But the wind vane got no further than
due north point The temperature re-
mained stationary during the night, or
nearly so, as it stood at "a degrees at
o'clock yesterday morning, and the
ground was covered with white frost.
comparison Of figures with those Of
the great freeze Of Jan. D.
1885, shows that the temperature
fell 4 degrees lower Friday morning than
il did at any time during that cold wave.
At that time the freezing point was
reached on the morning OF the 9Th. The
next morning Ice had formed IN the ilttle
pools in the street an inch in thickness.
This was Sunday. In some instances
the grass ponds In the woods were COW
cred with a thin ice a quarter Of an inch
or more in thickness. 1t was not until
the following Wednesday that the temper
ature went up enough TO thaw out this
ice. During the continuance Of the cold
wave il was the general impression that
the orange trees of the state were killed
and people took a hopeless view of the
situation. But while in most sections the
trees lost their leaves and the tender
growth at the tips of the branches, they
recovered rapidly and seemed to take on
a new life. In the spring they put on a
profuse bloom and the following winter
Florida had larger orange crop to send
out than she had ever marketed before
It is true that the tax upon the vitality Of
the trees caused first by the cold and then
bv the excessive crop Of fruit, weakened
them where they were not literally cared
for and fertilized, and for the next two
or three years they bore little fruit But
the few men who grasped the situation |
and gave their trees extra care to cOmpen- /
sate for the extra tax upon them, found |
themselves amply paid in the results |
which followed
Snow az Rome.
Rome. Ga, Dec. 20.--Two inches Of snow I