Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-25
WINTER ALL YEAR.
IN OLD DlARy's ACCOUNT OF SUM
MERLEse 1919.

but In june, July and August There
Wore snowstorms and Ice All over new
England.
The year 1915 was known throughout
the United States and Europe as the cold
est ever experienced by any person then
living. There ara persons In northern
New York who have been In the habit Of
keeping diaries for years, and 1t Is from
the pages Of an old diary, begun In 1910
and kept unbrokcn until 1910, that tho
following information regarding this year
without summer has been taken:
January was SO mild that most persons
allowed their fires to go out and did not
burn wood except for cooking. There were
a few cool days, but they were very few.
Most of the time the air was warm and
springlike February was not cold. Some
days were colder than any In January, but
tho weather was about the same. March,
from tho 1st to the 9th, was inclined to DO
windy. 1t came In like small lion and
went out like very innocent sheep.
April came In warm, but as the days
grew longer the dir became colder, and by
the 1st of May there was temperature
like that of winter, with plenty Of snow
and ice. In May the young buds werc
frozen dead, ice formed half an inch thick
on ponds anu rivcrs' corn was killed, ana
again, until it became too late to raise q
crop. BY the last Of May in this climate
the trees are usually In leaf and birds and
flowers arc plentiful When tho last Of
May arri'eu IN ioio' everything had Deem
killed by the cold.
June was inc cciaest month OF roses ever
experienced In tiis latitude. Frost ana Ice
were as common rs puttercups usually are.
Almost every green thing was killed. All
fruit was destroyed. snow fell ten inches
deep III Vermont There was seven inch
snowfall IN Maine, three inch TALL In the
interior OF New York state and tho Same
IN Massachusetts. There were only few
moderately warm days. Everybody looked,
longed and waited for warm weather, but
warm weather did not come. 1t was also
dry; very little rain Tell. All summer long
the wind blew steadily from the north in
blasts laden with snow and Ice. Mothers
knit socks OF double thickness for their
children and made thick mittens. Plant
ing and shivering werc done together, and
the farmers who worked out their taxes on
49, = = = >~--~~ 80
tens. On June IL there was a heavy fall OF
snow. A Vermont farmer sent flock OF
sheep TO pasture on June 10. The morning
OF the 18th dawned with tho thermometer
below the freezing point. AT about 3
O'Clock in the morning the owner OF the
sheep started to look up his flock. Before
leaving nome ne turned TO MS vile and
said jokingly:
Akpffpr START nntnhh0PS
the middle OF June, and may get lost In
the snow"
An hour after he left home q terrible
snowstorm came up. The snow Tell thick
and fast, and as there was SO much wind
the fieecy masses piled in great drifts along
the windward side OF the fences and OUT
buildings. Night came, and the farmer
had not been heard OF. His wife became
frightened and alarmed the neighborhood.
AL the neighbors Joined the searching
party. On the third day they found him.
de was lying In hollow ON side hill,
with both feet frozen. He was half covered
with snow, but alive. Most OF the sheep
were lost.
A farmer near Tewksbury, VT, owned
large Held OF corn. lie bulle nres around
the field to keep or the frost Nearly every
night he and his men took turns IN keep
ing up the fires and watching that the corn
did not freeze. The farmer was rewarded
for his tireless 'labors by having the only
crop OF corn IN the region.
July came III with ice and snow. Onl
the Fourth OF July ice as thick as window
glass formed throughout New England,
New York and in some parts OF the state
OF pennsylvania. Indian corn, which In
some parts OF the east had struggled
through May and June, gave up, froze
and died.
To the surprise OF everybody August
proved the worst month OF all. Almost
every green thing in this country and En- |
rope was blasted with frost. Snow fell at |
Barnet, 80 miles from London, on Aug 30. |
Newspapers received from England stated
that 1915 would be remembered by the ex-
isting generation as the year In which
there was no summer. Very little corn
ripened in New England. There was great
privation, and thousands OF persons would
have persisted In this country had 1t not
been for the abundance of fish and wild
game.
In dlrect contrast with 1915 appears tho |