Evening journal., 1915-06-07
NO SUMNER IN 1916.
Blizzard IN JUNE
If History Repeats Itself,
Next Year May Well
Be Dreaded
SNOW AND FROST
CAME IN JULY


The year 1916 was "summerless' and
II history repeats ITSELF once every
century anticipations of next year may
well be dreadful. That year, now nine
ty-nine years past. was long known
and not impossibly. may be still char
acterizcd-as the coolest ever known in
this country.
January was so mild that fires in
houses We're allowed to 20 out except
when used for cooking. There were "a
few cool days, but not one that WAS
wintry. Most of the time the air was
balmy and spring-like. February fol-
lowed suit, and was not cold. The
farmers in New England and New York
plowed, and although there were some
days colder than in the preceding
month, the weather was about the
same. When March came i'm il prom.
ised to maintain its reputation, and
from the first to the sixth there was
spell of frigidity and storm that gave
the month its lon-like character AZ
ter that the month was windy. but not
as cold as a March should be-
April came with promise of an
early spring, but as the days grew
and snow abounded, so that bv the
first of May there was wintry tenn
perature. When the buds cssayed TO
come forth they were frozen stifT. Ice
formed an inch thick on the lakes and
ponds, and night after night there were
black frosts. When the cornfelds were
planted the young shoots were killed
and after several re-plantings, when It
became too late to put the seed in the
ground, corn growing was generally
abandoned. When the last of MAY came
instead of full foliage on the trees and
plentiful flowers, everything was killed
by the frost.
June was the coolest month of roses
ever experienced in this latitude Frost
and ice were as common as buttercur-
and daisies generally are. Frost after
frost destroyed vegetation. All fruit
was ruined. In Vermont the snow fell
TO a depth of ten inches, and in Maine
there was a snowfall of nearly the same
depth. In Massachusetts. Connecticut
and New York, there were storms which
left three inches on the ground. There
were only a few days that were mod.
crate in their warmth
Everybody looked, longed and waited
for warm weather, but it did not come
and overcoats and heavy wraps wer,
not hung away II was also very dry
and little rain fell In blasts laden witt
snow and ice, the north winds persist
emily blew Mothers knit woolen socks
and mittens we're in use. Farmer
worked in their overcoats and mitten
when. as was the June custom in New
England century ago, they "worKe
out their taxes" by repairing the publ
roads. Planting and shivering wer
done together. and when Sundays came
the foot stoves were taken to the meet
ing houses under the buffalo robes.
Mid June Blizzard.
The word "blizzard" could not hav
been coined at that time, else it woul
have been used on the 18th of juno
when in our grandfathers' diaries stoo
in the same type as the 1855 blizzard
The 10th was mild
A Vermont farmer took his sheep &
their pasture among the hills tina
morning The following morning th
thermometer indicated some degrees be
low the freezing point. and about
o'clock the farmer started to look "a
his flock, as IL began TO snow. Befor
leaving. he said iokingly to his wife
Il may get lost in the snowl II l dc
you better start the neighbors to fin
mel"
Within an hour the snow fell fas
and furious. and as it was accom-
panied by a heavy wind. the heecy
mass piled in great drifts alongsid,
the buildings and fences. All day
the storm continued. and when NIGH
came the farmer had not returned.
The next morning broke on a win
ter's scene, and as soon as the wO-
man could get out she alarmed the
neighborhood, and a search begar
for her missing husband. On thu
next day, when the men reached the
sheep pasture, they found him in T;
hollow under a side-hill. half-cov
cred with snow. and both feet frozen
Most of the sheep were lost. Thii
incident was but one of the many ex
periences that kept the seventeenth
of June, sixteen" long remembered.
Another farmer. at Tewksbury
VT. had a field of corn which hai
begun to show green above the sur
face of the ground as the snow
AhNAA'us nN nAEAAo NDhAAnuAnk AiOoAe
he built brush fires around his field
and by keeping them going all night
he saved his field, and was rewarded
by having the only crop of corn il
that region.
Snow in July.
July came in with frost and snow
The Glorious Fourth ice as thick a
window glass formed throughou
New England. New York and som
parts of Pennsylvania. Much of tn
vegetation that had managed TO strug
gle through May and June. gave NJ
the effort. froze and died. To IN
surprise Of all August proved wintry
and in Europe there we're also frost
and cold storms. At Barnet, thirt
miles from London, there was an "in
tense" snow storm on August 80. Il
this country there was little fruii
small crops of grain and vegetables
and much privation.
When Governor Daniel .. Thomp
kins of New York, as candidate 70
vice-president. visited Hartford. an
from the steps of the State House
undertook to maintain his party 20
sition, and to vivisect Dewitt Clinton
J the Federal candidate for Presiden
on the opposition ticket. a cold win
swept up from the river. causing hir