The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-12
SOME. TERRIBLE WINTERS

was very severe. The first heavy snow
fell upon December "a, 1885. And
at Lewes, in the South Downs. the
storm will be long remembered be-
cause of the great avalanche.
We have heard of Alpine villages
and Alaskan gold camps being over
whelmed by sliding masses OF snow
but the Lewes avalanche is the only
catastrophe of its kind on English
record.
All who know Lewes are aware OF
that the steep chalk range known as
the Clife Hills towers to IL height OF
three hundred feet above the road
way. In this storm the snow drtfted
until the crest OF the Cl!fye Hills was
topped by a great curling wave OF
white resembling an Alpine ''cornice.
Below lay row OF cottages, and
as the drift steadily increased in
mass people began to be anxious lest
it should fall upon the houses and
the inmates were urged to move.
But it Is difficult for the ignorant
to realize a new danger. one old
man OF eighty jeered, asking who was
afraid of a. snowfall.
On tho morning OF December Attn,
about 10 o'clock, the snow mass sud
denly began to move, anu. with low
toned roar, heard for more than
and came thudding down the pre-
ctpitous slope, completely overwhelm-
ing seven cottages,
Within q few minutes rescue was
organized, and a small army was at
work with spades and shovels. The
first TO be found was the old man. He
was dead, suffocated in his chair. BY
In the afternoon fourteen had been
extricated. Then came fresh fall.
from which the plucky rescuers bare
ly escaped.
In all. eight persons were killed
and five badly injured. There is II
tablet to the memory of the dead
In the churchyard at South Mailing.
The winter Of 1914 was one OF the
severest on record. The big snow
came soon after New Year. and all
! North Britain was buried deep for
rTesTTtv two TTUurtTs On emu X terri
BILE number of sheep were lost.
The winter Of 1925 Is notable for
I q storm, which is said to have lasted
for fifty-one days. OF course, 1t did
not snow the whole time without ceas-
ing. but In Scotland there was fall
after fall until rhe very hifls and
valleys were almost lost And the
frost was terrific. In the Thames no
| fewer than three hundred vessels were
regular Arctic ice foes crashed on
the rocks or shingle with each suc-
cessive tide
Some of the people as well rs hun
drcds OF animals were buried In the
snow and died Of cold or starvation.
A farmer near Huntlycote was digging
out some sheep one day In January
Of that winter. when q mountain of
snow shot down from a bank above
and buried k3fa1-3nd the lahorer who
was helping him. They would have
persisted had not their collies at once
run home, and. by frantic barking,
IN time. six hours Sna two men mad
spent beneath the snow, bat both re-
covered.
The worst winter Of which any rec
ord exists was that of 1874, and. as
often happens. its sting was in its
tail. AT the beginning Of March all
England was under frozen snow. when
the most fearful snowstorm ever
| known burst upon the country.
In Scotland. which suffered the
worst Of all, traditions of this ter
! rihIe time still linger.
Fer nearly a fortnight, still re-
rnembered as THE Thirteen Drifty
Days" It hardly stopped showing.
When at last the sky cleared, nine
out Of every ten sheep In North Brit
| ain were dead. On Eskdaie, out or
! twenty thousand sheep, fifty only
| were left alive. At Thiriestane one
| black eve survived out OF mock
| numbering nine hundred.
| In the following summer II was
! necessary to send vessels to Ireland
| 20 import five thousand sheep and
two hundred horses to form fresh
| " sx1yAF N
before Scotland recovered from the
| effects OF that terrible storm.
Yet 1t should be remembered that
| what has come before may always
come again. Britain's plight would
be a pitiahie one indeed had we In
| 1918 a repetition of THE Thirteen
Drifty Days"