Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-12

weight or the snow upon III. Az DaH'"'~
the snow was Is inches deep; at Greens
boro, 10 inches; at the White suilNuf
Springs. 10; at Bristol. Ii. and AT Gordons-
vile, IS. There were II SHOWS here tha'
winter and spring.
Rut these SHOWS were but light ones In
comparison With that of 1851. which be-
Ran on the night of January I'm ana
continued three days. The day foiiowinE
the beginning of the storm Is said 10 nave
been the most inclement ever experienced
I'm this latitude. The account Of That fear
ful visitation has taken traditional
character.
In speaking Of the terrible tempest the
Wing of January ~. 1891, said; we couin
hardly be convinced that snow-s'orm 50
violent and Undesirable has ever Deen
witnessed outside the limits of siberia. IL
was. without eXaggeration. terribly Sc
we're, and carried dsmay and forepoulhSS
Ia the hearts of those who were exposel
IN its rigor. Never before. If our memory
serves us right. did the wind howl mere
fearfullv than on Sunday night Aoout
midnight the fury of the storm aDateu'
THE nne-cut snow which had fallen nn-
remittinglv since Sunday night was plea
no i'm the streets 10 depth OF or rect
forming i'm various places impassaole pd'-
ricades. which rendered pedestrlanisW
task of great difficulty.
ITO increase the horrors OF the dread-
full night, the fire-alarmS sounded an
alarm about O'clock. several stores "'
Seventeenth and Franklin were Destroy
ed
The only vehicle which made its APP
pearance on the streets yesterday Was
the wagon in which the mails are gene
rally conveyed from the Central depot TO
the Petersburg depot II passed our
Office drawn by six powerful horses, ana
was proceeding 20 the Central depot 10
await the arrival of the mail train Due
here Sunday afternoon.
'The train referred 10 had arrived with
| i'm six miles OF the city, but on account
of the mass Of snow could not proceed
further. There were. OF course, no
sleighs out yesterday. the surface 81
the snow being too uneven
SITUATION ~ THE CITY.
The Whig Of January y. 1857. says;
Twelfth street between Main ana cary
is completely barricaded. the snow being
pied ND I'm a compact mass TO the average
height of five feet. The mix anu ole@u
wagons are prevented from going 'n'N
rounds the butchers and market garden
ers are unable 70 supply their stalls and
stands and those who were SO lucKess
and inprovident as 10 get short oil iue'
! found themselves unable 10 secure sup
/ plies ,..,.,
"The porthern mail train Of the renttal
| road Inc here on Sunday az 1cloch'
only reached the city yesterday lore
noon. having been detained by lhe sno"
M Strawberrv Plains. about hVe hlheS
from Richmond. since SUNDAY. Me9si ..
| woodward e Newman. of the st. Charles
Hotel dispatched their omnOuses 10 me
| spot on Monday. but II was iouhu IN
/ possible to penetrate the huse u'h,9'
/ and they returned. I'm the mean time tne
railroad company employer larse
of men, who succeeded III clearing '''
track. NO
"nr COX Of Chesterfield county, was
frozen to death on sunday night while
proceeding to visit pattern ~ ''o'''
! Hill VII.
baltimore. Philadelphia New fork'
o,d nther cities also suffered from this
/ great snow
The greatest general fan of snow oc-
curred i'm january. 1856. when the average
~ a single fab occurring early III we
month was IS inches. On the third sun
dav i'm April of the same year a sho"
81 10 inches fell but n did not remain
long
SOME OTHER COLD DAYS.
In 1SG6-'67 the cold spell was intense aho
of long duration. All the rivers OF tht
state and Chesapeake bay were frozen
M for weeks. and navigation was enure,
Nv suspended The thermometer hoVeroo
around zero for about month.
What IS said to have been the greoles'
sleet Of the century occurred in the EARN
portion of February lSi 900
The night OF December ~ lsV' o.,
which the Sp0tswood Hotel was p"'''''
was very cold one.
THE thermometer went as low as
decrees below zero on the "a of Febfu