The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-02-27
HARD WINTERS OF LONG AGO.
Four Feet of Snow Lies Three Months
in 1779.17SO.


There has been such widespread in
terest in the question as to whether
the climate is undergoing q radical
change or not that a weather man"
has given information on the subject,
though he does not pretend to answer
the question. According to the records
Kept by the government very little can
be learned, for they have not extend.
ed over period long enough to make
the information conclusive, says the
Chicago Chronicle. This would re-
qnire records that had been kept
through hundreds of years. The near
est to these records are those which
have been unearthed by private in
dividuals whose grandfathers or great
grandfathers have kept them. They
are intermittent in most cases and
have been made in widely separated
districts, but are fairly authentic and
extend over a period of about 200
years. They generally refer to the
GOODNESS of the winters, which began
In November and lasted till March,
snow covering the ground during the
greater part of this time. There is
little mention of extreme heat or any
unusual condition in the summer
months These records tell of the in
: tense and uninterrupted cold of the
winter of 1779-17S0, which lasted from
the latter part of November till the
middle of March.
Snow covered the ground barely four
feet deep for three consecutive months.
Long Island sound was frozen solid,
as were the East and North rivers;
traffic was carried on over the ice be-
tween New York and New Jersey, and
between New Jersey and Staten island.
Troops marched from New Jersey. to
Staten island on the ice. There is a
record of a snowstorm in May, 1907,
extending over Lond island. In 1740-
1741 the winter was most severe. Long
island sound was frozen over and in
the latter winter Chesapeake bay was
also frozen from it's head to the mouth
of the Potomac river.
The Delaware river was frozen solid
in 1763-1764. On February Z, 1865, an
OK roast took place on the Schuylkill
river. In 1894 there is a record in the
vicinity of New York as follows:
February 10, 10 degrees below zero;
February II, 10 below; February 12,
IL below; February 10, 10 below; Feb
ruary IA, 20 below; February Is, ~
below; February 16, 16 below; Feb
ruary IL, II below: Yet in 80 years,
with the exception of the last two, the
temperature near New York has not
fallen below six degrees below zero.
In 1795-1796 the Susquehanna river
closed on December 6 and the Della
/. ware river December 26.
The winter of 1831-1832 was one of
great severity throughout all the At
lantic and gulf states. In many places
in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama
the temperature fell to considerably
below zero; at Huntsville, Ala, it
reached degrees below zero. In 1884
1885 was another winter of great
severity in the same districts, as was
also the winter of 1S55-1S56, when
skating was enjoyed in southern Ala
bama. Records might be quoted
through a long series of years in which
extreme cold has been recorded, be-
yond question exceeding the lowest
temperature Of the same places in the
last 30 years.
Has there been any change? Is
there change taking place at pres
ent? Those who believe that climatic
changes are taking place and are still
going on hold diverse opinions as to
the cause. Some attribute it largely
to the emitting of the forest and the
extensive drainage of the soil as the
result Of cultivation. Others hold that
the polar iceSis leaving the poles and
drifting into waters Of the middle lati-
tude. Others that the great volume
OF artificial heat generated In the
larger cities has tendency to moder-