Davis: THE COLD WINTER OF 1917-18 53 
In the way of retrospect we find in the annals of Staten Island 
references to the following severe winters. In 1650 the Kills and 
Sound were frozen over and people suffered for every necessity 
‘¢ 
of life except fuel. In the winter of 1740-41 “snow fell to the 
depth of 6 ft. on the level.”’ The winter’s “extraordinary severity 
continued from the middle of November to the end of March.” 
In 1761 during January “the weather became exceedingly cold 
and continued so till March, the Narrows were frozen over.” By 
far the severest winter of which we have any record is that of 
1779-80. The snow was banked in vast drifts against houses and 
barns, and New York Bay was completely frozen over, so that 
detachments of cavalry and cannon were conveyed from the city 
to Staten Island on the ice. The American troops, it is stated, 
stood in “snow waist deep” on the 15th of January in the vicinity 
of the earthworks erected by the British on what is now known as 
Fort Hill. It is recorded also that a resident of Staten Island 
entered his sleigh at his own door and “did not leave it until he 
reached his relatives’ door at New Lots in Kings County,’ Long 
Island. From these circumstances and the long-continued cold, 
this was generally known as the “hard winter of 1779-80.” 
Previous to the winter of 1917-18, the lowest temperature re- 
corded by the local weather bureau was six degrees below zero on 
January 10, 1875; December 31, 1880; February 17, 1896; Febru- 
ary II, 1899. Reliable private thermometers in many suburban 
localities registered lower temperatures in the winters referred to. 
There is a record of 10 degrees below zero in New York City in 
January 1866, mentioned by George N. Lawrence, Ann. Lyc. Nat. 
IslaGiie ING 340 t38 Atsyhs 
There have been many great storms when the temperature was 
not as low as stated above, but which for other reasons, such as 
excessive snowfall or high wind, were remarkable. Such was the 
“Great Blizzard” of March 12 and 13, 1888. Next came the 
“Great Frost of 1895,” when on February 8 a low temperature 
accompanied by high wind extended to the Gulf of Mexico. The 
New York Sun of February 9 stated that “The only patch of 
