METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. — DOANE. 363 



snow. Streets became impassable and teamsters were oblicred 

 to utilize the cleared sidewalks in order to reach their destina- 

 tion. 



In the country, blizzard after blizzard blocked the railwa3'S 

 until not a whee' turned for days on any line in Nova Scotia 

 except on the Yarmouth to Barrington line. Slight thaws 

 following the great falls of snow caused the water to lodge 

 along the rails the snow preventing it from running off. Then 

 frost came suddenly, the thermometer falling below zero and 

 miles of rails became incased in a solid mass of ice, which could 

 be removed only by the thaws of spring or the pickaxes of 

 hundreds of men. The smaller roads succumbed during the 

 first week in February, the heavy storm of January 31st having 

 stolen a march on the " weather man " whose prediction was 

 " fair and cold " and tied them up as completely as if they had 

 never been completed. 



Then on top of a month of snowstorms which had partially 

 paralyzed railway connnunication in Nova Scotia and practic- 

 ally put an end to all trade between the capital and provincial 

 points, came another storm, the severest of them all (Feb. 15-17). 

 The Intercolonial Railway flyers were buried on Folleigh 

 Mountain and the line to Sydney completely closed, through 

 traffic not being in good working order again until the 27th. 

 The Dominion Atlantic Railway was unable to get a train 

 through from Halifax to Yarmouth until March 9th. 



In Halifax business of all kinds suffered. The raging, 

 howling blizzards sent blinding drifts sweeping in every direc- 

 tion. The milk train was cancelled for the first time since it 

 became known as such and the condensed article sold at a 

 premium. In order to relieve the tightness in the meat market 

 two cattle dealers were obliged to bring their droves through 

 on foot from Annapolis County. Funerals had to be postponed 

 until the roads could be made passable. Buildings suflPered 

 from the depth and weight of snow on roofs which strained 



