The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-01-07
BELOW zERO.
Everything Down In the Depths Of
Cold.
MANY INTERESTING THERMOME.
TER RECORDS.
Some Contrasts of the Recent Weather
Very Unusual State of Things.

Some Contrasts of the Recent Weather
Very Unusual State of Things.
The weather bureau predicted this
cold snap and it came. The weather this
year has certainly been unusual and adj.
nitted of remarkable happenings and
contrasts. There was the cold snap of a
month ago. when the Thermometer was
almost as low as yesterday, and ten in
ches Of ice formed in Duck Pond, and ice
was harvested there nearly month ear
lier than usual The rivers were frozen
six or eight inches then and the salt ice
at Stroudwater was SO thick that the
smelt fishermen mad some twenty or thir-
ty claims staked out for the winter, the
an nual rush occurring much earlier than
usual. Certainly there was every ap-
pearance that winter had come to stay.
Then came the extraordinary mild
weather that lasted through the holidays
and gave us nights that did not freeze at
all, and days that melted the thick ice in
the rivers so that it broke and went down
the stream as in the spring time, and the
big warm rain storm came and flooded
the streams and brooks, and on Christ
mas day young man from Portland ao-
tually took trip in canoe on the
Stroudwater, where only few days be-
fore the skaters had SKINNED securely
over eight inches of ice. Even the ten
inches of ice on the Duck Pond almost
disappeared and broad bands of open
water stretched from shore to Shore
The streets were muddy, the fields were
soft and the pillow would have found as
little frost as when 1t turns the burrows
in April.
Last, but by no means least. the salt
ice all disappeared from the bay at
Stroudwater, and the claims of the smelt
fishermen, staked with SO much watch
fitness and energy, all went out with the
tide and the field was again open for COM
petition.
| Now comes this second and severer cold
snap with TEN perature SO low that 1T
comes to this region only at long periods.
sit Is rare indeed, that it is twenty
below in Portland. 1t only happens at
long Intervals" said an aged Portland
citizen yesterday.
Yesterday morning the official report
from the Portland Weather Bureau was
thirteen below zero. Last winter the
lowest temperature was in the early part
of February. The official report was
eleven below. In February, 1894, the
local record was Is below. The colde st
on record at the Portland Weather Blu
reau was in Februsry, 1872, when it was
seventeen below and the harbor froze
over.
The various thermometers in the city
yesterday morning registered from ten to
eighteen below. The latter was on Preble
street, which Officer Merrill says is the
coolest place in the city At the West
End hotel it was fifteen bIeow at Z
O'Clock. At the Jail it was fifteen below
at just six O'Clock. At Willard near the
water it was twelve below, and at points
on the Cape farther inland it was four
teen below.
At MorrilIs Corner it was seventeen be-
! low and one thermometer farther up to-
wards the Presumpscot registered TWEEN
ty below.
At Stroudwater, thermometers reigs-
tered from fourteen to twenty below.
Deputy Sheriff Cook came in from Cas-
co, yesterday and said that at his house
it was twenty-one below, and twenty
two below at neighboring places. Seha-
go Lake was not frozen over, but was
covered with dense mist. 1t requires
great cold for longer time than two
days to freeze over such a large body OF
water. At the Weather Bureau all
through Sunday night, the mercury drop
ped degree an hour till four O'Clock
Mon day morning, when it was thirteen
below. where IL remained till sunrise, at
little after seven o'clock, when It be-
gan to go up again.
1t remained remarkably cold, however,
through the day, and did not rise over
twelve degrees even in, the sunshine.
AT the Union station at p. M, it was
only eight above in the sunshine, and
seven above in the shade.
At the poorhouse in the sun it was only
seven above at noon.
AT Woodfords at noon it was only, two
above in the shade.
AT the jail at just p. m. it was just
zero.
One of the interesting sights, yesterday
morning was man on bicycle riding
in from Deering. The lack of snow has
undoubtedly caused more damage in the
way of frozen water-pipes than would
otherwise be the case. The snow about
the buildings is great protection, as
many house owners are now unpleasantly
aware.
Officer Sylvester froze his ears yester-
day morning, and George Downs, a milk
man, froze two fingers of his right hand.
A young man il Portland froze the end
of his nose, while walking down town.
Of course the police and motornen felt
the severe weather most keenly, One OF