The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-10-08
A YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER.

A YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER.
A correspondent Of the Boston Globe
writes:
While every one is speaking of the
present season as being remarkable in
its characteristics, l have gathered for
your readers some reliable facts of the
year 1916, known as the year without a
summer" Few persons now living can
recoIlect it, but it was the coolest ever
known through Europe and America.
The following is a brief abstract of the
weather during each month of the year:
January was mild, So much SO as to
render fires almost needless in parlOrs.
December previous was very cold.
February was not very cold: with the
exception of few days it was mild, like
its predecessor.
March was cold and boisterous during
the first part of it; the remainder was
mild. A great freshet on the Ohio and
Kentucky rivers caused a great loss of
property.
April began warm, but grew colder as
the month advanced, and ended with
snow and ice and temperature more
like winter than spring.
May was more remarkable for frowns
than smiles. Buds and fruits were fro
zen; ice formed half an inch thick; corn
killed and the fields again and again re-
planted until deemed too late.
June was the coolest ever known in
this latitude. Frost, ice and snow were
common. Almost every green thing
| Iii Eplfif oil 1pSfrnXFnd
Snow fell to the depth of ten inches in
Vermont, several in Maine, three in the
interior of New York and also in Mas
sachusetts. Considerable damage was
done at New Orleans in consequence of
the rapid rise of the river. The suburbs
were covered with water and the roads
were only passable with boats.
July was accompanied by frost and
ice. On the 5th ice was formed of the
thickness of a common window glass
throughout New England, New York
and some parts of Pennsylvania. Indi-
an corn was nearly all destroyed; some
favorably situated fields escaped. This
was true of some Of the hill farms OF
Massachusetts. .
August was more cherries, if possi-
BILE, than the summer months already
passed. Ice formed half an inch thick.
Indian corn was so frozen that the
greater part of it was cut down and
dried for fodder. Almost every green
thing was destroyed, both in this coun-
try, and in Europe. Papers received
from England state ''that it would be
remembered by the present generation
that the year 1916 was a year In which
there was no summer" Very little
corn ripened in the New England and
middle states Formers supplied them
selves from the corn produced in 1916
for the seed of the spring of 1917. It
sold at from four, to five dollars per
busheI.
September furnished about two weeks
of the mildest weather of the season.
Soon after the middle it became very
cold and frosty; ice formed a quarter of
an inch thick. J.
October produced more than it's share
of cold weather; frost and ice were
common. r. y }~
November was cold and clustering.
Snow fell so as to make good sleighing.
December was mild and comfortable.
The above is a brief summary of
the cold summer of 1876 as it was
called. In order to distinguish it from
the cold season. The winter was mild.
Frost and ice, were common in every
month Of the year Very little vegeta-
ton 1matured in the eastern and middle
states. The suns rays seemed to be
destitute OF heat throughout the sum-
mer; all nature was clad in a sable hue,
and men exhibited no little anxiety con-
corning the future of this life.
The average wholesale price of flour
during that year, in the Philadelphia
market was thirteen dollars per barrel.
The average price of wheat in England
was ninety three shillings per quarter.