62 



most nearly insupportable day experienced here within thirty-nine years, viz : 

 December 16, 1835. Throughout that day the thermometer was below zero, 

 and lowest (11 below) at 6 p. m., and the wind a gale from northwest. The 

 lowest in 1862 was one degree above zero in December. 



December 18. — Belfast, Maine. First sleighing of the season. 



December 18. — Rutland, Vermont. First sleighing. 



December 18. — Leavenworth, Kansas. Accounts from the plains represent 

 great sufiering among the men and stock. In consequence of a severe" snow- 

 storm no hay or grass could be had, and the stock was dying off by hundre43 

 of starvation, and many lives were known to be lost by the intense cold. Four- 

 teen inches of snow has fallen here, and much of it^being drifted all the roads are 

 blocked up. No mails have been received here for three days. — Newspaper. 



December 18. — Florida. Peach trees in bloom. — Newsjmper. 



December 20. — Louisville, Kentucky. At 8 this morning the mercury stood 

 at five degrees above zero. The weather is more moderate this evening, the 

 mercury being 22 degrees. The river is rising rapidly, and there is plenty of 

 water for the largest boats. — Newspaper. 



December 22. — Fort Laramie. Colonel W. 0. Collins, in a letter dated De- 

 cember 22, says : " The winter is very severe, and it requires great care to save 

 men and stock at the mountain posts." 



December 24. — St. Louis, Missouri. The Mississippi at this point is seven 

 inches lower than ever kuown before, so that the record will hereafter be kept 

 for the low-water mark of this month. Only three feet and a half of water are 

 reported on the bars between this city and Cairo, and the board of underwriters 

 have issued a notice to steamboat men that, till further notice, boats and cargoes 

 will be at the risk of owners north of Cairo. — Newspaper. 



December 27. — New Orleans, Louisiana. For three days it has rained ter- 

 rifically. On Sunday morning (December 27) the city was submerged to a 

 depth varying from one to two feet. This lasted, near the river, for several 

 hours. Back towards the swamp the streets were still xmder water. — News- 

 paper. 



December 28. — Winnebago, Illinois. Barometer, at 2 p. m., lower than at 

 any previous time on record at this place. 



December 31. — Lunenburg, Vermont. This month has been unusually pleas- 

 ant and warm. Sleighing is now good, but with not more than two or two and 

 a half inches of snow ; but the roads are good and hard frozen. 



December 31. — Sandwich, Massachusetts. This autumn and winter, so far, 

 have been remarkable for the great number of heavy southeast storms, with 

 thermometer very high. 



December 31. — Nazareth, Pennsylvania. First snow of the season in suffi- 

 cient quantity to cover the ground, beginning at 12 m. and ending at 7 p. m., 

 when ii turned to rain, and the next morning the snow was entirely gone. 



Augusta, Illinois. — Good sledding from the 17th to 25th, and from the 28th 

 to 31st. 



Decejnber 31. — Lyons, Iowa. It has been a cloudy, stormy month, with 

 about ten days of good sleighing. 



December 31. — Natchez, Mississippi. The morning was. sultry and close ; 

 thermometer 80° ; wind south ; cloudy. About 9 a. m. a remarkable change 

 occurred, and the wind increased and became chilly, and then stinging cold, 

 with occasional warmer gusts. What was remarkable this cold wind blew 

 strongly directly up the river, or from a point south 30^ west. At 12 m. the 

 ground began to freeze, and the wind had veered round to west. At 7 p. m. the 

 thermometer stood at 23"^, and next morning at 10°, and in some localities in the 

 country as low as 8"" above zero. The cold lasted till about the 10th of Janu- 

 ary. — William Harper. 



