Semi-weekly herald., 1916-03-02

er, and when the weather was SO Sc
we're in June that terrible snowstorm
prevailed on the 18th of that month,
| and people We're frozen to death in the
month of roses. | don't think there
are many people who have a recol-
lection of the year without summer,
as | have for various reasons, one
being that there are few surviving
who are as old as was in that year,
and another is because a near rela-
tive of mine was frozen to death in
Vermont on June IT of that year,
which was the year 1916.
was IA years old then and lived
in Vermont where | have always liv-
ed, and where that memorable sea-
son was at its very worst, as in the
other New England states in June
snow fell five inches deep, and in
New York, Pennsylvania and New
Jersey it was nowhere deeper than
three inches. In Vermont it was 10
inches deep on the level. I mean the
great snow of June II. Snow fell
several times during the month. In
fact there was snow and ice in every
month of 1916.
That snowstorm on June II was one
of the severest ones I ever saw even
in the depth of winter in that To-
caiity of heavy SHOWS. An uncle of
mine had some sheep in a back mas
ture lot, To get to that lot he had
10 go thru piece of woods for near
ly mile. The weather had been
very cold all thru June. The big
storm of the 18th began along about
noon. and my uncle started after dir
ner to go to the sheep pasture to fix
up shelter of some kind for the
sheep. No one had any idea, cold and
eccentric as the season had been up to
that time, that we would have fall
ot snow that would amount to any.
thing at that time of the year.
Body of Uncle
is Found.
was Mt my uncle's when he left
nome to go to the sheep lot, and as
he went out Of the door he said to
ms wife in jocular way: 'Tf I am
not back in an hour call the neigh
bors and start them after me. June
is bad month to get buried in the
snow especially when it gets so nea,
the month of July" Nothing more
was then thought of the matter
The snow increased in fury and by
night it drifted so that the roads were
almost impossible, but even then.
and when it grew dark, none of us
felt uneasy about uncle. The wealth
er had become bitter cold. When
night set in in earnest, and there was
no sign of my uncle's return, his wife
sent me and my cousin, who was two
years younger than /, to alarm the
neighbors and tell them that we be-
lieved uncle had been lost in the snow
and perished.
we had hard time getting to the
nearest neighbor's less than n mile
away and there gave the alarm. but
could go no further. The nelghbors
summoned others, and in spite of
the severity of the night they search
ed the wood until morning, but no
sign of the missing man could be
found. The search was taker up by
others the following day, and all the
next night without trac, Of his being
discovered, except that ae nad reach
ed the pasture and built a abelter ~
boughs for the she'., anl in which
they were huddled. On the forenoon
oil the third day the searchers found
my uncle buried in the snow a mile
from the pasture, in an almost on
posite direction from home. He was
frozen stiff. He had evidently be-
come bewildered in the binding storm
| and had wandered about until he had
succumbed to fatigue and cold. 1t
seems n most improbable thing that
person ever fell victim to snow
storm in the middle of June in this
latitude, but / have this sorrowful
knowledge of one instance at least
where such thing was only too
true.
The wind during June, July and
August of 1916 was continuously
from the north and it blew fiercelyl
and cold. Farmers were heavy over.
coats and mittens while about their
work every day during these months.
There was but little use of planting
anything, nothing grew to speak of
but they did plant corn as usual
planted it with mittens on.
Heavy Snow on
August Thirtieth.
There was very little rain during
the entire season. The great piles
OF firewood that always accumulat.
ed during the summer months at the
farmhouse back doors in readiness fo,