Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-08-02
YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER.
A. D. 1916 Known as Eighteen Hundred
and Eroza to Death.

A. D. 1916 Known as Eighteen Hundred
and Froze to Death.
A wayward spring such as that Of
the present year gives no hint Of what
the succeeding summer will bring OF
weather by any rules known to me-
teorologists. Within the memory of
every adult, cold, backward seasons
have been followed by warm. well-wa-
| tered crop months, and by the reverse.
Whether the summer be cold or
warm 1t Is likely to have been outdone
in the records Of "the good old times
and II Is devoutly to be hoped that
none of the readers Of this magazine
will live to see an equal In general In
clemency to the record summer or
1916, which throughout the United
States and Europe stands as the most
distressing of the nineteenth century.
June, 1915, was the coolest ever
known in the latitude of the northern
states; frost and ice were common. AL
most every green thing was killed;
fruit nearly all destroyed.
Snow fell to the depth Of ten inches
in Vermont seven in Maine, three In
the interior of New York, and also In
Massachusetts,. There were few
them in that memorable cold sum-
mer.
1t was called a dry season. But lit
tie rain fell. The wind blew steadily
from the north, cold and fierce. Moth
ers knit extra socks and mittens for
their children in the spring and wood
piles that usually disappeared during
the warm spell in front Of the houses
were speedily built up again. Plant
t. nd Chi done fnQafhlr
and the farmers who worked out their
taxes on the country roads wore over
coats and mittens.
In a town in Vermont a flock OF
sheep belonging to farmer had been
sent, as usual, to their pasture. On
the seventeenth Of June a heavy snow
fell; the cold was intense, and the
owner started away at noon to look
for his sheep.
Better start the neighbors soon,
wife" he said in jest before leaving;
"being in the middle OF June L may
get lost in the snow"
Night came, the storm increased,
and he did not return. The next morn
ing the family sent out for help and
started in search. One after another
Of the neighbors turned out to look
for the missing man. The snow had
covered up all tracks, and not until
the end Of the third day did they find
him on the side Of hill, with both
feet frozen, unable to move.
A farmer who had large field or
corn in another New England village
built fires around 1t to ward off the
frost; many an evening he and his
men took turns watching It, He was
rewarded with the only crop Of corn
in the neighborhood.
Considerable damage was done In
New Orleans In consequence OF the
rapid rise Of the Mississippi river; the
suburbs were covered with water and
the roads were passable only In boats.
Fears that the sun was cooling on
abounded, and throughout New Eng
land all picnics were strictly prohibit
ed because Of the danger to health.
July was accompanied with frost
and ice. On the fifth Ice was formed
of the thickness Of common window
glass throughout New England, New
York, and some parts Of Pennsylvania.
Indian corn was nearly all destroyed;
some favorably situated fields escaped.
This was true Of some OF the hill farms
| of Massachusetts,.
August was more cheerless, II pos
sible, than the months which preced-
ed 1t. Ice was formed half an inch In
thickness. Indian corn was so frozen
that the greater part was cut down
and dried for fodder. Almost every
green thing was destroyed In this
country and in Europe.
On the thirtieth snow fell at Barnet,
forty miles from London. Paper re?
ceived from England stated that 1t
would be remembered by the present
generation that the year 1915 was a
year in which there was no summer.
Very little corn ripened In England,
and the Middle States farmers supplied
themselves from corn produced In
1915 for seed in the spring OF 1917. 1t
sold at from four dollars to five dol
lars per bushel. September furnished
about two weeks Of the mildest
weather Of the season. Soon after the
middle It became cold and frosty; Ice
formed a quarter Of an inch In thick
Iness. October produced more than Its
share Of cold weather; frost and Ice
were common.
The summer and autumn Of 1915,
cold, rainy, and ungenial throughout
Europe were peculiarly so In France.
Constant rains fell during the months
of July, August, and September. But
for an abundant potato crop, famine,
with all Of its horrors, would have
been her lot. The minister Of the In
terror established granaries where corn
was sold to the destitute at reduced
price. Prices rose, however, to more
| than double, and hundreds perished
from actual want November was cold
and clustering; snow fell so as to make
good sleighing. December was mild
and comfortable.
Another effort of the lords Of the
weather to establish a record Is
chronicled of early July, 1879, the
trial being most marked In England.
Those who were in Great Britain on
Fourth of July Of that year say they
will never forget 1t.
During the whole week 1t blew a
hurricane and rained in torrents. hall
ing occasionally, and occasionally re-
producing November fogs. In Derby
shire, little north Of London, hun
dreds of lambs were frozen to death.
Imagine If you can, such degree or
| frost in July.
In another locality one Of the fire.
quent showers deposited in the streets
| and on the houses masses or little
| worms. The scientists said that these
had been picked up by a water-spout,
or hurricane, and that there was moth
| ing in the occurrence. Others talked
mysteriously about the opening of one
Of the seven vials Of wrath.--The
Scrap Book.
Fast Travelling.