The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-10-26
DOWN TO So DEGREES
MERCURY ONLY G DEGREES ABOVE
FREEZING POINT.
FOG ALONE PREVENTED FROST
COUNTERACTED LOW TEMPERA-
TURTz AND SAVED VEGETATION.

Lawns Throughout City Presented
Sight OF Flower Beds Covered
with ShaNvIs and BIRn1ets-Fires
burning in Nearly Every Home in
the City-Parlxs and Suburban RE-
sorts Practically Deserted-Storm
Lying OF Hatteras and Gale Blow
ing at Rate of 90 Niles an Hour.
Warmer weather Predicted for
To-day and Temperature Close to
Normal To-mOrrOvV.
Yesterday was even colder than Sat
urday. the mean temperature for the
day being only As degrees. The absence
Of the high winds and the bright sun
made the day somewhat more COM
Portable to those who We're on the
streets, however, and the complaints
were not nearly so many as on Sat
urday. The storm which brought with
it the lower temperatures was, at last
reports. due east of Hatteras.
In Savannah the mercury, which had
been steadily falling since early Sat
urday morning, continued it's down
ward flight. At 10 o'clock Saturday
night il stood at the 43 degree mark.
Gradually it fell lower and lower,
reaching its minimum at O'Clock in
the morning. At that hour it regis
tered only 3S degrees, a point far below
the lowest record of the year thus far.
Climbed slowly.
The sun shone clearly all day and
after about a. m. the mercury began
to slowly climb back to a high notch.
1t was slow, hard, work. however, and
at o'clock in the afternoon it had
only succeeded in reaching the IS de-
gree mark. Here it remained until after
sunset when it again began slowly
falling again. These two registrations
made the mean for the day As degrees,
a deficiency below the normal of 10
degrees.
Despite the fact that the warming
presence of the suns RAYS were gone
there was only comparatively small
falling off in the thermometer regis
trations. The indications are that to-
day will be considerably warmer and
that by Tuesday morning the mercury
will be once more close to the normal.
The change TO warmer weather again
will be gratefully received by all Sa-
Vannahians.
Fog Prevented Frost.
The early morning hours found a
comparatively heavy fog hanging over
the city. This fact alone prevented a
killing frost. With the mercury only
6 degrees above the freezing point, the
absence of heavy frost was almost a
miracle.
Housekeepers throughout the city had
prepared for a frost, and had done
everything possible to protect plants,
etc, against it. Early strollers were
greeted with the sights of flower beds
in front lawns resting beneath cover
ings of varying colors and weights. All
ported plants which have been kept
standing on shelves in front of the
windows, had disappeared, and were
grouped indoors around the fireplaces
Throughout the day fireplaces and
the small gas stoves We're kept burn
ing briskly and the warmth and cozi-
ness was highly appreciated by those
returning from church or sIrolls
through the streets. The usual num-
her of persons who throng Forsyth
Park on Sunday afternoon were absent
yesterday, and the park seats were al
most deserted.
overcoats Were ont.
nOSt WI we're OH lDe SlIeelS wore
oVercoats, or at least the ma jorty of
them did. At night there were few on
the streets, while the congregations in
all the churches were materially in
creased. The Hobbies of the hotels
were crowded and the verandahs prac-
tically deserted. Thunderbolt cars had
few passengers for the popular resort,
and the other resorts, the Mecca, for
hundreds on Sunday afternoons, were
practically deserted. 1t was a day
typical of early winter. and few left
their homes and the rich comfort of
their firesides.
The storm, which has travelled over
the entire South, accompanied not only
with the lower temperatures but like
wise with high winds, was due east of
Hatteras yesterday. The gale was
blowing at the rate of fifty-six miles
an hour. and ships in port made no
attempt to lift anchor At a late hour
there had been no reports of damage
received, either from the winds or from
the cold. A ship which reached a Del
aware port yesterday reported unusual
~ rough weather. but had experienced
no damage.
The lowering of temperatures was
general over the entire country. The
mercury at Southern stations was al
most as low as at the more Northern
ones Detroit reported a minimum of
80 degrees, and this was among the
lowest. except the far Northern points,
which has been received. The tenn
perature at Savannah was only de-
grees above that of Detroit.
4~-S-