Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-09
INCLINED TO BE- WlNTERlSH
Mercury on a Tour Toward the Bottom of
the Tube.
RECORD OF SEVENTEEN DEGREES BELOW
Weather Man Promises n Brcnk aud
Says Ia Will Grow warmer
During Next Twenty
Four Hours.

After stabbng desperately at the bottom
OF the tube for ten days the mercury beat
it's record for the winter at o'clock
Wednesday morning, when the govern
ment thermometer registered temper
ature of II degrees below zero. This
was two degrees colder than the pre-
viOus low temperature of the season
and 1T was merely a suggestion of what the
thermometers around town that are inde-
pendent OF government inspection were
made to say
The instruments that hang on suburban
residences were unanimous in pronouncing
the cold more than 20 degrees below zero
and registrations of 26 and 2S degrees below
were recorded in a number of exposed posi-
tions. 1t seemed that old Boreas realized
that the decreasing barometrcal pressure
through the west portended disaster and
he vented all of his energies in an effort to
make his last grip tight enough to make
him remembered. Even with stoves and
furnaces stocked to their limit people were
unable to entirely drive the cold out OF their
residences and comparatively few Omaha
citizens enjoyed the luxury of performing
their morning abutions in an atmosphere
that was even moderately comfortable.
Brick walls and steam heat also met their
match and most of the big town
buildings were unable to keep their tenants
thoroughly warm during the forenoon. On
the streets the cold was biting and intense
and the few pedestrians who were COM
PEELED to be abroad hurried to shelter
every few blocks to warm extremities that
were threatened with frost bite every five
minutes.
Cold at other Places.
The cold was intense all through the upper
Missouri valley. At Sioux City it was 26
degrees below zero, at Huron 50, and at
Bismarck, n. D., and Morehead, Mimi. 36
degrees. At Williston, N. D., near the site
of old Fort Beaufort, the government ther-
mometers registered the unprecedented figure
of 40 degrees below. No reports were re-
ceived from the British possessions further
north, but there is every reason to believe
that so degrees was approXimated at various
points north of the United States line. 1t
was a little warmer at North Platte, where
the comparatively moderate cold OF degrees
below was recorded, but at Valentine it
dropped to "a, OF Z degrees colder than at
Omaha.
When the western boundary of Nebraska
is passed the reports are indicative of
changed conditions. At Cheyenne it was IA
degrees above zero, a rise of 26 degrees in
the last twenty-four hours. At Denver the
temperature rose is, at Pueblo %, and in
northern Texas 20 degrees These reports,
together with the decreasing pressure, in
dicate that the backbone of the cold wave
has been broken, and in another twenty
four hours it will give way to a more mod
crate season. The influence of the present
conditions will keep the atmosphere de-
cidedly too frosty for comfort through the
night but Thursday is almost certain to
bring warmer weather.
Cold Along Railway Lines.
The Buringtons weather report from
nnety-two points along its lines in Kansas,
Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and
Montana shows continuing cold weather, but
the average is slightly warmer than the re-
port Of Tuesday.
The Elkhorn and Union Pacific both re-
ported Omaha to be the coldest point on
their Nebraska lines. General Passenger
Agent Buchanan of the Elkhorn contented
himself with the thought that the weather
is bamy at Hot Springs, which is reached
by his road
Union Pacific officials report that the loss
of cattle on the western ranges has not been
so heavy as one might suppose from the
severity Of the weather, but unless there is
a change in the temperature within short
time the losses will be enormous. The
cattle have stood the ordeal in good shape
but they have about reached the end of
their endurance, and continued cold weather,
with additional snow, will have a disastrous
effect. The report from the local weather
office that the cold snap has probably
reached its crisis was received with con-
siderable satisfaction as forteling better
conditions for the western stockmen.