The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-28
WAS DOWN TO "a
LOWER DECEMBER TEMPERA-
TURE BUT TWICE IN 10 YEARS.
SOUTH COLDER THAN NORTH.
BROKEN WATER PIPES CAUSED
HURRY CALLS FOR PLUMBERS.

Mean Temperature Is Degrees Short
of Normal Last Night and This
Morning Expected TO Be Even
Colder, Though Weather VIII
Moderate During AfternOOn-Scnr-
city and High Price of Coal Be
ginning to Be Felt-ShOuId Cold
Wave Continue Charity Societies
VIII Have to Give Assistance to
Poor.
But twice in ten years has mercury
gone lower in December than it did
yesterday morning when it registered
"a degrees. The lower temperatures
were Dec. q, 1901, when It fell to is
degree, and Dec. %, 1894, when it
went to u degrees. In fact Savan-
nah was colder than even some of the
northernmost cities of the country.
In Boston the minimum temperature
was only &c and in Portland, Me, still
farther north, the weather was four
degrees warmer than in Savannah.
Local Forecast Official H. B. Boyer
said that the outlook was that last
night or this morning the mercury
would go even lower than "a, but that
during to-day the weather will moder-
ate slightly.
The maximum temperature, which
occurred at 3 O'Clock in the afternoon,
was SO degrees, which gave to the day
a mean of 81 degrees or IS below the
normal, reducing the accumulated ex-
cess since Dec. 1 to SO degrees, and
that since the beginning of the year to
2S1 degrees. The month shows a short
age of rainfall of so of an inch and
the year a shortage of 4.16 inches.
The indications for the state to-day
are for fair weather, not quite so cold
in the afternoon. with light to fresh
north to east winds.
Played Havoc with Water Pipes.
The very low temperature played
the usual havoc with water pipes
and complaints from all parts of the
city kept the plumbers on the move
the whole day and will furnish them
work for several days to come. On
the streets even several hours before
the mercury fell to the minimum tenn
perature all exposed water was frozen
and remained ice until thawed by the
sun.
For the first time this winter the
people ere beginning to feel the scare
ity of coal and to realize what the
high prices really mean to their pock-
cts now that coal has become almost
absolutely eceSsary-almost a me-
cessity as the great majority of houses
are fitted with CRATES for the burn
ing of coal and consequently cannot be
used for wood with satisfactory re-
suits.
should the cold weather remain for
several days there is little doubt that
1t will cause severe suffering among
the poor and that charitable organi-
Aations will be called on to alleviate
in a measure a great deal of dis
tress.
Little Damage I'm the Country.
Despite the fact that the cold wave
of the past two days was general along
the line of railroads entering Savan-
nah little damage to the crops or fruit
trees along the routes have been re-
ported. 1t is reported from the peach
belt that the trees are in excellent con-
dition to meet cold weather and so
have been unhurt. though there has
been plenty of frost and ice all over
the state. There is little truck above
ground along the line now. so that no
damage has been done to these crops.
Superintendent of Transportation w.
J. Haylow, of the Atlantic Coast Line.
said that there had been no reports
of any damage along the Atlantic
Coast Line, and that In this regard
the absence of news is always ac-
counted good news, for had any dam
age been done it would have been re-
ported. At the Seaboard Air Line Of
fee 1t was said that no damage to
crops had been reported, though even
had any happened it would have been
difficult to have learned of it as the
cold weather had knocked out the
wires in some places and information
was hard to obtain.
There is but little truck above
ground in the immediate vicinity of
Savannah, and no damage among the
planters was reported at the weather
bureau. mi q
-S-0-s-