Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-06-11
1 REMARKABLE YEAR.
THE PECULIAR WEATHER THAT
MADE 1915 A PHENOMENON.
NO SUMMER ExCERT WHAT CAME IN
DEcEMBER--CALLED EIGHTEEN
HUNDRED AND sTARvE
To DEATH.

eer hundred and starve to DEATH" and
the summer months are known In history
as ''the cold summer OF 1916" so remark
able was the temperature.
The suns rays seemed to be destitute
Of heat. and all nature was clad In a sa-
BILE hue. Men and wdmen became fright
ened 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 phenomenon for
the text OF their sermons. and pseudo sci
entifc men talked of things they knew
not of, while the fanatics took advantage
of the occasions to form religious organi-
cations.
The winter OF 1S15-f6 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. al
though 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 pleasanter months had no
such alarming warnings.
January was mild, so much so that for
days the people allowed their fires to go
out. as artificial heat made the buildings
intentionally warm. This pleasant
weather was broken by a severe cold
snap In February, but this low tempera-
ture passed In a few days, and a warmer
condition similar TO the month previous
set In. March .'came In like Il lion, but
went out like q lamb" There was moth
ing unusual In the climatic conditions of
the month which differed from those gen.
orally found in the 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 a close the cold increased until II
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 disappointment. True. buds came,
but so did the frost, and one night laid all
vegetation blackened waste. Corn was
killed, and the fields had to be made ready
for another planting. but the peoples as
constituent 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 mer-
curry sunk so low In the tube In these lat
itudes In the last month of spring. Frost,
ice and snow were common. Almost ev-
cry 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 beauti-
ful snow fell TO a depth Of ten inches in
Vermont, seven inches in Maine and
three inches in Massachusetts and cen
trail New York. Matters were beginning
to be interesting. People were undecided
whether TO spend the winter 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 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 To-
cations, and but a small quantity escaped.
Surely August would put an end to
such cold weather, but the farmers as
well as hotel proprietors were doomed to
disappointment. The midsummer month
was IL possible more cherries than the
days already passed. Ice formed even
thicker than 1t had done the month be-
fore. and corn was so badly frozen that
ii was cut for fodder, and almost every
green plant In this country as well as
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 its weight
in silver, and farmers were compelled to
provide themselves with corn grown in
1915 for the seed they used in the spring
OF 1917. This seed never cost so much,
being difficult to get even at s. per
bushel
The last month Of summer was ushered
In bright and warm, aud for two weeks
the now almost frozen people began to
thaw out. Ii was the mildest weather of
the year, and 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 quarter of an inch
thick, and winter clothing that had been
laid away for a few days was again
brought forth and wrapped round SILVER
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 day
that the thermometer registered higher
than 80 degrees. November was also ex-
tremely cold. and sleighiug was good the
first week of the month; but. strange &c
relate, December was the mildest and
most comfortable month of the entire
year. condition which led many people
to believe that the seasons had changed
about.
or course the 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 wer'
| required for seed Flour sold in 1917 il
/ tha csffns far c12 Nor barrel and the av