Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-17


y been having in late years and TIE m
tense cold DAYS and The heavy snow
falls of 40 and 50 years ago. After tine meet
ing was ever the writer cstsed the genIsemsns
attention to a statement, apparently emsnat-
ing from the Weather Bureau. printed In the
Star of March g. 1927 in which the RECORDS
of that bureau for more than so years PRIOR
to that date conciusiyely showed that the Gu
matte conditions hereabout were just about the
same now as they had ever been. But stun ne
seemed not convinced that such was actually
the case.
OF course the Weather Bureau is right. The
scientific men who look after this phase OF the
Governments activities devote their best efforts
to this special line of work, and their meteor
ological instruments, too, are of the best man
ufactured and as accurate as ingenuity ana
dexterity can make them, which Is rarely the
case with private instruments, where perlec-
ton is not to be expected and is seldom founo.
About 80 years ago the writer got together
an assortment of thermometers and then made
comparisons to see which Of the lot talEed with
the temperature records given out by the
Weather Bureau, and of the entire lot ne
singled out about two which he kept and USED
for long while. He did this because he real
iued that there q great difference, espe-
cially at that time, with the average CONNER
cial thermometer.
There is not a great amount of information
available regarding the early climatic condi-
lions of the District OF Columbia, although re-
ports on general weather conditions we're mace
as early 1877 by registers of land offices, sup
plemented little later by reports from meul-
cal officers at Army posts By 1648 the Smith
sonian Institution receiving weather re-
ports from telegraph operators throughout the
country, wherever they happened to be sta
toned and the telegraph was available Lit
Tie of this information, however has come down
to us and even then, seemingly, In scattered
form
HICHARD p JACKSON, little more
n thoughtful than other writers on early local
conditions tells us in his chronicles OF George
town:
1.-THE Winter of 1927 was of remarkable Sc
verify In this latitude. Alexandria was nearly
burnt down ON the eighteenth day Of January
of that wear and many citizens of our town
skated on the ice to Alexandria, and assisted
In extinguishing the confiagration. The Win
ter of 1e29-1830 was very cold, and the ice
broke up with a freshet, carrying away the
schooner Washington from Crittendens Wharf,
where she had been made fast with numerous
cables, which were rent like pipestems, and
the vessel carried down the river until she
grounded on Easbys Point. At the same time
the Long Bridge was shattered to pieces by the
ice, IA gaps being made by the force OF the
freshet. Congress then purchased the rem
nant of the bridge Of the Potomac Bridge Co.
for $40 600, and afterward erected the present
structure.
1.-THE Winter of 1882 was very long and
extremely cold The chronicler was, at that
time a scholar at Prof. Hallowel's School, To-
Gated in Alexandria, and well remembers the
severe GOODNESS of the weather The cold
weather commenced in November, 1881; the
Potomac River soon ice-bound and the boys
enjoyed fine skating. On coming home to
spend the Christmas holidays we crossed the
river at the ferry near the aqueduct, and saw
on the ice, at the time, wagon loaded with
wood being drawn by four horses. The mer-,
curry Tin the thermometer situated constantly
in the shade ON the west side of our dweling)
indicated degrees below Zero In the first
part of January, 1882, we had a thaw and the
ice passed quietly away; but In the latter part
Of the month the weather again turned sud-
denly cold and the Potomac was frozen over.
On the twenty eighth of January of that Win
ter, after two nights freeze, attempted to
come home by way of the Long Bridge. On ar
irving at the bridge, found no track broken
for the ferryboat and to cross on the ice was
considered impossible, as the river Is more than
q mile wide. Having my skates with me, and not
Hiking to turn back, put them on, and. taking
the branch of tree in my hands, I crossed
over in safety to the satisfaction Of the crowd
who stood looking on at my foolhardy venture.
As skated on the ice, it was so thin that 1t
would crack and bend under my light weight,
and could distinctly see the leaves and twigs
floating in the water under my feet Having
arrived On the Washington shore, felt well
satisfied that would not have returned for the
fortune of Stephen GfTard.
1.-THE Winter of 1895 was the coolest ever
perienced in this latitude. We had some weeks
a thaw, and then the weather would turn ex-
tren1ely cold. The mercury indicated In Jam
uary 16 degrees below Zero We had three
severe cold spells of weather during that year
one of which was in March. On the third of
that month I skated on the Potomac, playing
Bandy and Prisoners Base.
1.-THE Winter Of 1880 was long and cold
! The ice broke up in the Potomac On the
10th of February, 1840, and carried away
the Chain Bridge and the draw OF the Long
Bridge The Winter of 1840-41 was long and
cold. though the degree OF cold was not as