Evening star., 1940-01-28

to the satisfaction Of the crowd
who stood looking on at my fool
hardy venture. AS I skated on the
ice it was so thin that it would
crack and bend under my light
weight, and I could distinctly see
the leaves and twigs floating in the
water under my feet. Having ar
rived on the Washington shore,
felt so well satisfied that would
not have returned for the fortune
of Stephen Girard.
Coolest on Record.
"The winter of 1885 was the coldest
ever experienced in this latitude.
We had some weeks a thaw, and
then the weather would turn ex-
tremely cold. The mercury indi-
Gated in January is 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 handy and
prisoners base.
THE winter of 1839-40 was long
and cold. The ice broke up in the
Potomac on the 10th of February,
1S4O, and carried away the Chain
Bridge and the draw of the Long
Bridge. The winter of 1S40-4l was
long and cold; though the degree
of cold was not as great as some
previous winters. The 18th of Feb
ruary, 1841, was the coldest day
during the season, and it is well
remembered by the inhabitants OF
this town as the day that Gen.
Harrison paid Georgetown visit
Just before his Inauguration as
President of the United States.
I'VE all remember the winters Of
1855, 1886 and 1857: the SHOWS were
deep and the cold was severe. Dur
ing the winter of 1857, sleighing
was enjoyed by our inhabitants.
Fleet horses were brought on from
other cities to race on Pennsylvania
avenue, and when the drivers would
be arrested for driving at an i'm
proper speed, they would pay the
fine, crack the whip over the head
of justice and go 1t again. This
was the winter that locomotive
tI,a thu riuor
from Maryland to Alexandria; also
sleepers and rails were laid upon
the ice at Havre de Grace across
the Susquehanna River and trains
of cars crossed over for more than
a month.
There is law of nature that
one extreme is followed by another.
The extremely hot summer of 1884
was followed by the cold winter Of
1885. The centennial year Of 1876
was very warm; the heat set in
about the Goth of June and never
broke until the 18th of July, when
we had a few pleasant days, when
the heat set in again and lasted
until the 1st of September. The
winter of 1876-77 was severe. The
extreme cold set in on Saturday,
the 9th of December, and continued
to the 18th of January, when we
had thaw"
Recalled BY Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson, in his "Notes
on Virginia" goes back even farther
and tells us that the winter of 1880
(probably 1784 was so cold that the
Chesapeake Bay was frozen from
its head to the mouth of the Poto-
mac River, and at Annapolis, where
the bay is 5 miles wide, the ice was
inches thick"
George Washington Parke Gusts.
who began the erection of Arlington
Mansion in 1902, and who surely
knew the Potomac River and the
intensely cold seasons Of early
Washington, gives us an interesting
account Of the ice during the winter
OF 1784-the year probably referred
to by Mr.. Jefferson. This Is what
Mr.. Curtis says:
"The ice in the memorable year
Of 1874 moved twice. 1t first de.
scended in vast quantities from the
upper Potomac till it reached the
Three Sisters, where 1t stopped and
accumulated in great masses and
froze together again; then came the
deep snow, followed by q general
thaw and violent rains. The second
movement carried all before 1t. Tho
showing of Of a strongly-built
stonehouse or stable from the bank
of where now is your town is .
well-remembered story Of the past.
Both branches of the river around
Analostan Island were open in those
days, the Eastern Branch being used
as the ship channel. The freshet
of 1884 tore open the Western
Branch and formed in the one
freshet channel way that would
have admitted the passage of an
Indiaman to Georgetown, being
from AZ to 80 feet depth up to the
wharves Of the town. ...
This channel was In al It's VS.
(ses PROCTOR, PaSe CD