The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1901-07-12
WAS NO SUMMER SEASON In
1916.
COMMONLY CALLED "EIGHTEEN HUNDRED
AND-sTARVED-TO-D DEATH

AND sTARvED-To-DEATH.
There are few persons now living
who recollect the year 1916, but Euro
pean and American data represent it
as having been phenomenal in almost
every particular.
In New England the year went by
the name of eighteen-hundrcd-and-
stave to death, and the summer months
are known in history as "the cold sum-
mer of 1885," SO remarkable was the
temperature.
The suns rays seemed to be desti-
tute of heat and all nature was clad in
a sable hue. Men and women became
frightened, and imagined that the fire
of the sun was being rapidly extin-
guished, and that the world would
soon come to an end.
Ministers took the phenomena for
the text of their sermons, and pseudo
scientific men talked of things they
knew not OF, while the fanatics took
advantage of the occasion to form re-
ligious organizations.
The winter of 1856 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 were silent, and,
although the usual indications, "about
now look out for cold weather." or
"this is good time for snow" were
entered in the regular portions Of the
book devoted to the winter predictions,
those used for chronicling the pleasant
er months had no such alarming warn
ings.
January was mild, so much so that
for days the people allowed their fires
to 90 out, as artificial heat made the
buildings uncomfortably warm. This
pleasant weather was broken by Sc
we're cold snap in February, but this
low temperature passed in few days,
and warmer condition, 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 fo1ud in this windy season.
April was the advance guard of this
strange freak in temperature. The
early days were warm and blight, 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 bud
ding flowers, the May of 1916 was a
bitter disappointment. Trae, buds
came, but so did the frost, and in one
night laid all vegetation blackened
waste,
Corn was killed, and the fields had
to be made ready for another planting
but the peoples establishment was com.
plete when they found ice formed to
the thickness of half an inch in the
pools.
June, "the month of roses" was
this year month Of ice and desolation.
The "oldest inhabitant' was surprised,
for never before had the thermometer
sunk so low in the tube in these lati-
tudes in the last month of spring.
Frost, ice and snow were common.
Almost every green thing that had
taken advantage of 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, sew
en- inches in Maine and three inches
in Massachusetts and Central New
York.
Matters were beginning to be inter-
esting. People were undecided wheth-
err to spend the summer in the South
or at the 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 and
ice, and those who celebrate the glo-
rious Fourth, mot wisely but too we'll"
found an abundance of ice handy for
immediate use the next morning. 1t
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 small quantity escaped.
Surely August would put an end
to such cold weather, but the farmers
as we'll as hotel proprletors we've DOOM
ed to disappointment. The midsum-
mer month was, if possible, more
cherries than the ways already pass
ed. 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 we'll as in Europe
was frozen.
Papers received from England stated
that the year 1916 would be remem-
bered by the generation then living as