The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-30
1ACRED LITTLE OF ZERO.
Mercury Dropped TO Two Degrees in
Exposed Places.

at the Weather Bureau Il Was - Ce-
grsss, the Same Temperature as That
Of the Cold Spell in 1ss6-The ogee-
chez Canal Frozen Over and Ponds of
the LowIands Become Sheets OF Ice.
Much Damage in the City Bursted
Water Pipes Everywhere and Foun-
tains Frozen Into Mounds OF Iee-The
Florida Fruit Crop oone-Fruits and
Vegetables Killed.
The weather did exactly what the wea-
Their bureau said il would 90 yesterday
morning The temperature went 10 y
degrees above zero at the weather station
and from degrees to + degrees in OK
posed places on the Iowlands around the
city.
II is probably the severest cold spell
that Savannah has ever had. The tenn
perature during the cold spell in January,
1856. dropped to p degrees. and the cold
lasted longer. but there is no record that
the temperature went as low on the low
lands as it did yesterday morning and the
night before.
The cold spell in 1856 lasted nearly a
week, with the temperature ranging from
y to "a degrees. 1t began on the 9Th.
The temperature on that day was % de-
grees; on the 10th it was "A degrees; on
the 1lth il was - degrees, on the 18th it
reached the minimum Of y degrees. The
next day it went up to I6 degrees. and
then to p degrees. The average for the
week during which the cold spell lasted
was 1s degrees.
The cold spell now on was broken yester-
day afternoon, when mercury went up to
81 degrees. The indications last night
were that it would not go lower than p
degrees this morning. It was freezing all
Of yesterday
Observer smyth said at midnight last
night that to-day viii be fair. It will con-
tinue cold this morning, with slowly
rising temperature in the afternoon.
The cold wave will probably linger over
this section day or two, but 1t is dlmin-
ishing in energy. It is extremely cold in
the north and west. At Piusburg. Pa.
it was 4 degrees below zero yesterday
morning. Cleveland and Cincinnati, o.,
Charlotte, n. c., reported degrees above
zero; Raleigh and Augusta reported 10 de-
grees. Savannah, MONTGOMERY Ala Nor
Ioik, Va and Bismarck, n. D., had the
same temperature-l2 degrees Charles
ton, Jacksonville and Gainesville Fla,
had "a degrees; Mobile l6 degrees; Tampa,
% degrees; Jupiter, Fla. p degrees and
New Orleans p degrees. The freeze
extended as far south as extreme South
ern Florida. At S o'clock last night II
was freezing at Tampa
IN savannah everything was frozen up.
The fountains in the park and in the
squares and private fountains in yards an
over the city We're mounds Of ice ana
wherever there was a small sheet of
water the night before there was glare Of
Ice yesterday morning. The canal was
frozen over in places with a thin film Of
Ice but the sun soon thawed II out and
the boy with pair Of skates who was
waiting Tor a chance to show himself on
them Will have to wait awhile. Around
the city on the farms ponds Of water were
frozen over and iciclcs formed wherever
there was running water.
flower gardens that were not protected
We're finished up, what was left of them
aiter the freeze Of the night before. Many
people kept fires in their conservatori
an OF yesterday to protect the younger
flowers and plants. The florists suffered
---N-- 'N'Ass 1--WE Ao lldI Were grown
the open air were generally killed and
tender vegetation everywhere was en-
down. The fruit trees were badly in.
Jured, although II Will be impossible for
day OF two TO tell just what the damage
VIII De. Dr. J. b. Read has a Japan
orange tree which was filled with fruit.
Inc tree is guaranteed to stand anv cold
weather. 1t looks all right. 1t win not
De possible to tell whether il has escaDea
harm' however, until the weather turns
warm ID. Reads ferns and palms in his
greenhouse escaped harm, although there
was no lire in his greenhouse. His gar
oener, who has dollhouse on the edge of
town, lost 400 valuable plants.
The fruit dealers suffered severeIv
Every one Of the corner fruit stand deal
Is mad his stock Of bananas frozen and
mace worthless. Their oranges We're
frozen also. but these can be worked off
before the fruit thaws out. Several hun
oIea punches of bananas will probably
Ds carted out to the crematory to-day.
me wholesale fruit dealers got or nehtlv
theif stocks of bananas and other Der-
ishable fruits being kept in warmed and
NehuIated storage rooms. 1t is expected
mat shipments Of fruit in transit by rail
VIII be found to be damaged. Irish DO
tatoes where exposed 10 the cold We're
frozen and will be worthless for seed.
The truck planters win lose considerable
young cabbage, beats and turnips which
are lust out of the ground, though the
damage is not anything as heavy as it
would have been later on. Mr.. NJ. L.
Exley, secretary of the Truck Growers
Association made an investigation yes
terday and found that most all of the
young plants of these vegetables had been
entirely killed. The older cabbage. tur-
nips, beats, onions, mustard, spinach and
plants OF a like nature were not mate
rally harmed. They are quite hardy in
this latitude ana will stand the freeze.
The tops of the beets and turnips were
killed, but experience has shown that
they come out again with warmer weather
A great deal of the spring cabbage CROP
had just been put out and all of these
young plants have been killed. Most of
the planters, however. keep well supplied
with hot-oed of young plants and are
prepared for an emergency of this kind
as they usually expect some cold weather
about this time Of the year. As soon. as
the weather moderates new plants will be
put in the place of those which have been
killed. No potatoes have been planted
yet, and those which the truck farmers
have on hand are well banked or are under
shelter and so are well protected. Mr..