Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-25
MrLDER WINTERS IN ENGLAND.
Changes In Recent Years-The Coolest
Days.

From the London Express.
Now our winters are chiefly characterized
by rain and gloom, sometimes by fogs.
now and then by q half-hearted fall o.
snow. but far more frequently by reelxlng
showers of sleet. Constantly such epithets
as .-abnormally mild" are applied to the
season, or the appearance OF the country
Is described as unusually green"
Half century ago snow was inseparable
from Yuletide. but the last twenty-five
Christmas days have seen only one real
fall of snow and skating possible twice only.
Some scientists say that the change In the
seasons aspect Is due to the progress of a
great, slowly revolving cycle, and that N
centuries to come winter Will be the warm
season and summer the cold. Such a
prophecy makes O dip into the climatic
history of the past all the more interesting.
The last really severe winter was in 1884,
30. when the country was frozen fast from
December 30 to March 5, period of sixty-
six days, during which the mean tempera-
ture was $3.50 degrees. That winter was
Inc only one typical of the .'old- fashioned
order which we have experienced during
the last twenty-five years.
The three successive winters of 1S7S-79,
1S79-sO and 1881 gave leo days skating In
and around London. The record was un-
paralleled. The hard winters during the
decade from 1885 to 1895 afforded strong
ice even in the south of England for
The intense frost of January, 1881 caused
readings below zero on twelve nights, and
below 10 degrees on eighteen nights in the
united kingdom.
In its remarkable Duration of eighty
three days the winter of 1S13-14 stands
out as the longest on record. For many
weeks snow lay on the level nearly three
feet In depth In London there were forty
nine maxima readings below 80 degrees,
and the great frost fair, which was held
on the ice-bound Thames, gave the winter
an historical significance
Several thousands of spectators assem-
bled to see large elephant cross the
Thames on the ice just below BlackfriarS
bridge. Scores of people persisted in the
snowdrifts over the country, and the losses
in the sheepfolds were particularly severe.
During the winter of 1890 the Thames
at WooiwlGh was frozen in some places to
a depth of five feet and at ore point off
Lambeth the ice reached a Sfhickness OF
twelve feet. Scotland was practically
showed under many villages having a
depth of four to eight feet Of snow on the
level. The thaw which followed caused
disastrous floods all over the country.
During the reign of the frost loaded
wagons Weighing thirty-two hundred
weight crossed the Clyde on the ice at
kilmarnock Ford, and at Kelso a number
of people celebrated the frost by holding
dinner on the ice In the middle of the
Tweed. One of the toasts was, Both sides
of the Tweed, and God preserve us in the
middle
The winter of 1927, with it's heavy SHOWS,
transformed the north of England and
nearly all Scotland into white, trackless
wilderness. Houses Were Hkened to rabbit
warrens, as they could only be distin-
tinguished by a hole excavated in front OF
the door.
During the winter of 1888 the whole
coaching system of England was deranged
by an extraordinary snowfall some Of the
drifts in the Midlands being more than
twenty feet in Depth On January 20 the
ambridge-to-L London coach stuck fast for
a day and a night, and was eventually
pulled out of the snow by fourteen horses
Near st. Adams several coaches We're COM
pletely engulfed and the passengers were
compelled to fight their way to the nearest
shelter, the more stalwart males carving
the ladies.
The Thames was frozen fast again. and
skittle grounds were formed on the ice
opposite the cuStom house. Bonfires were
lighted, refreshment booths erected and
thousands of people enjoyed a right merry
ice carnival. Vessels in the Pool dis
charged their cargoes over the Ice
This winter was painfully distinguished
by devastating epidemic of influenza
hundreds of cases ending fatally In Lon
through the large number of persons in
capactated for work, and butchers. bakers
and provision merchants complained loudly
OF the falling away I'm the public appetite
Again, In the winter of 1855, the Thames
was frozen and was passable for several
days below London bridge People put
OH In boats from the Kent coast and aetu-
ally disembarked and walked about on the
Ice hoeS In the Downs.