The Washington times., 1901-06-30

Hundred and Starve to Deathv-Ice
and DesoIation fn June and judy.
There are few persons now living who
recoliect the year 1916. but European and
American data represent It as having
been phenomenal IN almost every par
ticular.
In New England the year went by tho
name OF eighteen hundred and starve TO
death" and the summer months arc
known as history as ''the cold summer OF
1876" so remarkable was the temperature.
The suns rays seemed TO be destitute
OF heat and all nature was clad in sable
hue. Men and women became frightened.
and imagined that the fire in the sun
was being rapidly extinguished and that
the world would soon come to an end
Ministers took the phenomena for the
text of their sermons. and pseudo-sci-
entihc men talked of things they knew
not OF. while fanatics took advantage OF
the occasion to form religious orsaniza-
tins.
The winter OF Isl5-16 was very cold IN
Europe but comparatively mild in this
country, and did not in any way Indicate
the severe weather that soon prevailed
Even the almanacs We're silent and. al
though the usual indications about now
q
good time for snow" were entered in the
regular portions of the books devoted to
the winter predictions. those used for
chroniciing the pleasanter months had
no such alarming warnings.
January was mild, so much so that for
days the people allowed their fires to so
out, as artificial heat made the buildings
uncomfortably warm. This pleasant wea-
ther was broken by q severe cold snap
"a February, but this low temperature
passed in a few days and a warmer con-
dition. similar to the month previous. set
in.
March came in like lion but went out
like a lamb There was nothing unusual
in the climatic conditions of the month
which differed from those generally found
in this windy season
April was the advance guard of this
strange freak in temperature The early
days were warm and bright. but as the
month drew to close the cold increased
until it ended In ice and snow and very
low temperature.
To those who delighted in balmy May
days and loved to watch the budding
flowers. the May Of 1916 was bitter dis
appointment. True. buds came. but so
did the frost, and in one night laid all
vegetation a blackened waste.
Corn was killed. and the fields had to be
made ready for another planting, but the
peoples astonishment was complete when
they found ice formed TO the thickness Of
half an inch in the pools.
June, the month of roses" was this
year a month OF Ice and desolation- The
oldest inhabitant' was surprised, for
never before had the thermometer sunk
so low In the tube in these ATTITUDES in
the last month Of spring
Frost, ice. and snow were common. Al
most every green thing that had taken
advantage of a few warm days,to develop
was killed. and various kinds Of fruit
were nearly all destroyed.
One day the beautiful snow fell to a
depth Of ten inches in Vermont. seven
inches In Maine, and three inches in
Massachusetts, and Central New York
Matters were beginning to be Interest,"
ing. People were undecided whether to
spend the summer in the South or at tbs
seashore and mountains. One day the
latter resorts were desirable, and the
next would decide in favor OF the former
but, on the whole. the Southern cline was
preferred.
July was accompanied by frost ana fee.
and those who celebrated the glorious
Fourth. mot wisely but too well" found
an abundance OF ice handy for immediate
use the next morning. Ii was not very
thick, not more than one-sixteenth Of an
inch, but It was ice. and it caused the
good people of New England, New York.
and some sections OF Pennsylvania
to look grave That month Indian corn
was destroyed in all but the most favored
locations, and but a small quantity es-
capped.
Surely August would put an end TO such
cold weather, but the farmers as well as
hotel proprfetors were doomed to disap-
pofntment The midsummer month was,
II possible more cherries than the days
already passed. Ice formed even thicker
than it had done the month before, and
corn was so badly frozen that it was cut
for fodder. and almost every green plant
in this country as wen as in Europe was
frozen
Papers received from England stated
that the year 1916 would be remembered
by the generation then living as a year in
which there was no summer
What little corn ripened in the unex-
posed States was worth almost it's weight
in silver, and farmers were compelled to
provide themselves with corn grown In
1S15 for the seed they used in the spring
of 1917. This seed never cost so much.
busheL
The last month of summer was ushered
in bright and warm, and for two weeks
the now almost frozen people began TO
thaw out. 1t was the mildest weather OF
the year, but just as the inhabitants got
fairly to appreciate it old BOreas and
Jack Frost came along and whitened and
hardened everything in their path
On the 10th ice formed a quarter Of an
inch thick, and winter clothing that had
been laid away for few days was again
brought forth and wrapped round shiver-
ing humanity
BY this time the people had given up all
hopes Of again seeing the flowers bloom
or hearing the birds sing and began to
prepare for a hard winter
October kept up the reputation OF its
predecessors. as there was scarcely a day
that the thermometer registered higher
than 30 degrees
November alse was extremely cold and
sleighing was good the first week Of the
month, but. strange to relate. December
was the miIdest and most comfortable
month of the entire year. a condition
which led many people to believe that
the seasons had changed about.
OF course. this cold spell sent bread
stuffs to an unheard OF price. and it was
impossible TO obtain for table use many
Of the common vegetables, as they were
required for seed.
Flour sold in 1917 in the cities for sl3