The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-01

A Dangerous Feature Of an Unusual Winter
In Northern New York.

Troy, March 81. Interest in the record break.
ing weather OF March is not confined u meteo
rologists. Nearly every one in the towns along
the Hudson has watched the sky AMI consulted
the thermometer daily for the last two weeks.
A sudden thaw means much 10 hundreds whose
dwellings, or places Of business are on the banks
Of the river.
For a distance Of several miles between Rens-
selaer county on the east bank and Albany county
on the west the Hudson is damned by a huge
Ice gorge. This IL the most serious feature of
the situation. although there are smaller gorges
At other points farther north. This condition
Is the result OF peculiar phases which mark the
winter Of 1899 1900 as one Of the most unusual
In recent years, Mild, early fall weather con.
tinuei until the close Of 1899. The first cold
snap Of the winter en- mo in january AMI the first
~slrighing. which in the old fashioned seasons
was not unusual in November, WAS not enjoyed
until after New Years Day, Five times during
the winter has the &c, broken mp On the upper
Hudson In February warm rain, forced OUT
the ice from the tributaries and cleared the river
u a point below Albany, II was then that the
great gorge was formed in the Hudson between
I~aStletOn and Coeymans At the time OF it's
formauon str ,ets in Albany, Troy and other
places along the river were flooded and property
was damaged to thu amount Of thousands ~
dollars. Railroads we're blocked az II by n great
storm, For more than a month this gorge has
remained as n menac' and rivermcn have pre-
diCted one OF the greatest floods Of the century.
The warm sun of the last two weeks hhs weakened
the ice, but II ~ tn opinion Of experts that there
IL still much 10 be f'arod from a sudden thAw
Some Of the weather obs 'rvatlOnS Of the present
month are OF NOR than usual interest Below
zero tamp'ratur T. seldom rccurIod in March.
The normal empota turc Of tn month * 80 d."
grccs But on several days IN lh@ last three
weeks the mercury has d"sc"ndcd below the aero
mark aud last week IN Saratoga AMI Washington
counties IL fell ~ 20 degrees below.
The full force II winter did not Strik" the Ali
ronda'k region until the present month, The
chief activity Of the winter in the northern coun.
ties IL in the lumber r giOn but the work this
winter wa at a StandStlll owing a. n lack NJ snow
quantities that all roads were closed for a umr
From SIX 10 eight feet Of snow fell there during
March, one Of the storms being III" everest since
lSSS. An observer in Warren county has figured
that more than 100 inches II snow fell during
the winter AMI that half the quantity came IN
March. Sl"ighS are still IN use IN some pa rs II
tho STATE.
New York city trad AMI which harvest thousands
of tons blow Albnny hay" had poor luck this
season, tn" smaller dealers in northern New York
have hOusel enough for two seasons. The ICE
ON Lake Geurg' is reported 10 b. twenty inches
thick AMI t"n ~ at present cross the ice IN Sara
sOgn Lake with safety
The hoatm-n are ready for the opening Of navi-
on March 2S, but from present Indications boats
will not BE- running Tor a week or ten days. Dur
Ing the last two decades the lat,ct date for the
oppning OF navigation on the Hudson was In
1883, the blizzard year. whom the nver was open
for the frst time on April