Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-17
BREAKS THE RECORD
COLD WEATHER THE RULE SINCE
DECEMBER 1.
Present Wave a canadian North
wester"-Little Relief in Sight,
Says Weather Bureau.

1t is through mo desire of Chief Wills
Moore. the weather prophet of the United
States government, that Washington Is at
present in the tight. nerciless grasp of the
frost king Chief Moore has exerted his
utmost enaeavors for the comfort of the
residents of the capital city, and had hoped
to make Washington an ideal winter re-
sort. but in this he has failed. He has
suffered defeat at the hands OF the frost
king. ably assisted by Boreas.
The present cold wave is general in char
acter and extends from the Great Lakes
almost to the gulf states. There is con-
ISOLATION for the people of this city in the
fact that the temperature in other eastern
cities Is today considerably lower. with no
better outlook than this city enjoys. The
weather officials say the wave is here, and
that it will be little disturbed by the fret
ting of the discomfortcd populace.
In official weather circles the present
spell is designated a Canadian North
west cold wave" The name in itself is
chilling to the marrow, and the officials
of the bureau are a unit in the opinion
that 1t has penetrating qualities by which
1t Is easily recognized. 1t originated In
the British Northwest territory. near the
border line of Montana, in which region
50 many chilling wintry breezes are be-
gun, and it has decided to make the Their
mometers work overtime In this direc-
ton the wave was eminently successful.
with the result that Saturday morning
the mercury had dropped to 20 degrees
below zero.
The cold wave Immediately began to
move, and by Sunday morning 1t had
reached the Missouri valley. Continuing
eastward, it found its way into the val
leys OF the Mississippi and Ohio rivers
and the region of the great lakes. The
people OF those sections awakened from
their slumber Monday morning to find
the thermometer registering from 20 to
30 degrees lower than it did the night
before.
The path of the chilling wave was due
east, and 1t arrived IN the middle and
New England states regions yesterday
morning. The mercury in Washington re-
ceived q severe jar and fell nearly thirty
degrees. But the temperature of early
yesterday morning was not marker"
when compared with that of last evening.
BY O'Clock pm. yesterday the mercury
had fallen to u degrees above zero, and at
midnight 1t registered degrees. This
temperature prevailed until = O'Clock.
when the chilling properties of the wind
became more pronounced. with the result
that the thermometer registered degrees
al O'Clock this morning.
The coolest period since o'clock last
evening was experienced between the hours
of and o'clock this morning. The
mercury during those two hours remained
stationary at degrees above zero. The
rising Of Old Sol had slight moderating
effect upon the intensity of the wave, and
ny ~ U CiOGh lfilS morning the mercury
had climbed up to 10 degrees above zero.
AT noon 1t had reached 13 degrees
But this is not an indication that it will
continue upward AS twilight approaches
this evening. Il is foreshadOwed the mer-
curry will have to retreat and it is safe to
predict that the cold of last evening will
again prevail III
In the opinion of the authorities of the
weather bureau the December of 1903 and
the January and February, when the last
named month Is rounded out, will be COM
bination that will break records of many
years. The mean or average temperature
of last December-32.2 degrees above zero
was the coolest month of that name since
1886, when it was 397 degrees above zero
With one exception January, 1904 was the
coolest in the last thirty-four years, the
mean temperature being 27.5 degrees above
zero. The mean temperature of January
1893, which g cited as the exception, was
"A q degrees above zero. The mean tenn
perature for the sixteen days Of the pres
ent month Is 2S.S. sven degrees below nor
The temperature will gradually moderate
during the next few days A wave of warm
er weather-only few degrees warmer
than the present temperatures making its
way eastward over the same route of the
present cold wave.
Slept Out Of Doors
Thomas Collins, thirty-five years old. liv-
ing at 1015 10Th street southeast came near
losing his life last night as the result of
sleeping outdoors He was found on the
Morris road, beyond Anacostia, about 1
o'clock this morning The man was UNI
conscious and It was not until he had been
thawed out at the Washington Asylum
Hospital that he was able to give his name
and address. How he managed to get so
far away from home he was unable to ex-
plain. It Is thought that he became so af-
fected by the cold that he got lost and
wandered about AnacOstia until he reached
the Morris road. where no pedestrians no.
ticed him.
His groans attracted the attention of a
woman living near where he was found.
She called upon Policeman c. r. Brown of
the first precinct, whose home is on the
| thoroughfare mentioned, and in a short
time the officer found the man lying in the
| gutter. He was unconscious, as already
stated, and his hands and legs were stiff.
A telephone message sent to the <nacos-
| tia station was responded to by Policeman
| Schrader with the patrol wagon. From the
place where Collins was found to the Wash
ington Asylum Hospital the driver urged
his horse. and in few minutes the uncon-
scious man was under. treatment. 1t was
| apparent from the condition of his clothing
| that he had been Off the road and had been
among briars. Collins had on no overcoat
and later that garment was found about a
square from where the owner had been
picked up.
The fifth precinct patrol wagon went to
the hospital after Collins lad recovered