Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-06-14
Mistellaneo,ls Readins.
YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER.

YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER.
Snow and Ice Prevailed In June, July
and August In 1916.
| The year 1916 was known through
out the United States and Europe as
the coolest ever experienced by any
person then living. There are persons
in northern New York who have been
in the habit Of keeping diaries for
years. and 1t is from the pages Of an
old diary begun in 1910 and kept un-
broken until 1910 that the following
information regarding this year with
out a summer has been taken:
January was so mild that most per-
sons allowed their fires to go out and
did not burn wood except for cooking
There were a few cold days, but they
were very few. Most Of the time the
air was warm and spring-like. Feb
ruary was not cold Some days were
colder than in January, but the wealth
Ell was about the same. March, from
the 1st to the 9Th was inclined to be
windy 1t came in like a small lion
and went out like very innocent
sheep.
April came in warm, but as the
days grew longer, the air became cold
er, and by the first of May there was
temperature like that Of winter, with
plenty Of snow and ice. In May the
young buds were frozen dead, ice FORM
ed half an inch thick on the ponds and
rivers. corn was killed, and the corn
fields were planted again and again,
until it became too late to raise
crop. By the last of May in this cli-
mate the trees are usually In leaf and
birds and flowers are plentiful. When
the last of May arrived in 1916 every
thing had been killed by the cold.
June was the coolest month Of roses
ever experienced in this latitude.
Frost and ice were as common as but
tercups usually are. Almost every
green thing was killed; all fruit was
destroyed. Snow fell ten inches deep
In Vermont There was finch fall
in the interior Of New York state, and
the same in Massachusetts,. There
were only a few moderately warm
days. Everybody looked, longed, and
waited for warm weather, but warm
weather did not come.
1t was also very dry; very little rain
fell All summer long the wind blew
steadily from the north in blasts, Ia
den with snow and ice. Mothers knit
socks Of double thickness for their chill
dren, and made thick mittens. Plant
ing and shivering were done together,
and the farmers who worked out their
taxes on the country roads wore over
coats and mittens.
On June II there was a heavy fall
Of snow. A Vermont farmer sent a
flock of sheep to pasture on June 10.
The morning Of the 18th daWned Win
the thermometer below the freezing
point. About 9 o'clock in the morning
the owner Of the sheep started to look
for his flock. Before leaving home he
turned to his wife and said, jokingly:
Better start the neighbors soon;
it's the middle of June and I may get
lost in the snow"
An hour after he had left home
terrible snow storm came up. Tne
snow fell thick and fast, and, as there
was so much wind, the fleecy masses
piled in great drifts along the wind
ward side of the fences and outbuild-
ings. Night came and the farmer had
not been heard Of.
His wife became frightened and
alarmed the neighborhood. All the
neighbors joined the searching party.
On the third day they found him. he
was lying in a hollow on the side Oh
hill with both feet frozen; he was
half covered with snow, but alive.
Most Of the sheep were lost.
A farmer near Tewksbury, VT, own
ed large field Of corn. He built fires.
Nearly every night he and his men
took turns in keeping up the fire and
watching that the corn did not freeze
The farmer was rewarded for his tire
less labors by having the only crop OF
corn in the region.
July came in with snow and Ice.
On the 4th Of July ice was as thick
as window glass formed throughout
New England, New York, and In some
parts of the state Of Pennsylvania
Indiar corn, which in some parts OF
the east had struggled through May
and June, gave up, froze and died.
To the surprise Of everybody, Au-
gust proved the worst month OF all.
Almost every green thing in this coun-
try and Europe was blasted with frost.
Snow fell at Barnet, thirty miles from
London, England, on August 80. News
papers received from England stated
that 1916 would be remembered by the
existing generation as the year In
which there was no summer. Very lit
tie corn ripened in New England.
There was great privation, and thou
sands of persons would have perished
in this country had it not been Tor
the abundance Of fish and wild game
Danbury, Conn.,, News.
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