SEVERE SNOWSTORM. ' (FROM THE "TIMES,"JANUARY 3.)'

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3016, 27 March 1867, Page 6

SEVERE SNOWSTORM. ' (FROM THE "TIMES," JANUARY 3.)'

Yesterday there was a heavy fall of snow in the metropblis, unlike any storm of the kind for years pait in J the' suddenness with which it came on and the depth to which the snow fell in a few hours. The previous day ha& been extremely cold, and the "change in .that respect was the more felt from the weather; in London during the Christmas J we,ek having been' i unusually mild. The intense cold of Tuesday 'continued throughout the following night, accompanied by drifting snowers occasionally of thin snow, which,' scarcely coloured the ground) and it | 'was not xami. about fire o'clock yesterday morning ' that, the' snow 'began to fall heavily. ' It continued to do sdiforsomeaix hours in'succession, accompanied • by a piercing 'north wind, which caused it to drift, and by noon it lay on the ground all* over London and the suburbs at an average depth of from six to eight inches. The ordinary traffic of all kinds was seriously interrupted in consequence, and the trains upon the various metropolitan railways were more or less delayed throughout the day. It was rare, to see an ordinary cab, and such as were visible were mostly drawn by two horses abreast or in tandem gtyle, with a postilion improvised for the emergency. The omnibus traffic was also to a considerable extent suspended, and the river steamers were 1 laid by. Business of all kinds to a considerable extent was interrupted, especially in the city j nobody appeared to come into town wno could possibly^ help it, and many of those who attempted were delayed for hours beyond the ordinary time. The trains from the Victoria Station to Londontßridge,' via ,Sydenham, in particular, were out of time throughout the day. In some cases as many as five iiodrs were occupied 1 in the journey. Altogether it was a remarkable day, and will not soon be forgotten. .The cold was not so great as on the previous day, the fall of snow having tempered the air. - ; The fall of snow has been very heavy in Berks and Bucket. At daybreak the streets of Windsor and Eton were 1 covered' deeply-' 'with 1 snow, 'Tehile the* roofs of the Castle towers and town 1 buildingß^were loaded, kbaat 8 o'clock 1 an easterly wind drove the yet falling snow into ridges, which," in -some' of fcb* thoroughfares, were from 18in. to 2ft. iri depth. Few passengers ventured I ' into' ; the streets, locomotion being impeded by the masses of snow oh 'the v'pavement and roads, while the transit of "carriages w*a nearly stopped; ' For several houts business seemed

I suspended, while railway _ travellers experienced great inconvenience. The Great Western Railway, between Windsorand Slongh, aiid the South- Western line were covered deeply, the rains having much difficulty in making their way along the rails, which, with the wheels of the carriages became clogged with snow. The engine-drivers and guards of the various trains suffered greatly from the cold and exposure to the blinding anoV-storm. The down goods, ,'tijain, which leaves Nine Elms about 5 o'clock in the morning, did not reach Windsor till about 10 o'clock, ■vrhile the 8 o'clock passenger train from Waterloo did not arrive at Windsor till twenty-five minutes past lOo'clock, having been nearly 'two hours jand a half in accomplishing the, distance. ' The ,np train, which left Windsor at 8. 35, was about 10 o'clock, reported to have been stopped near Wraysbury, about four miles from the Windsor terminus.' ißetween 9 and 10' o'clock the down Reading gcjods train was stopped in the Egham district but after, a 'time was extricated. On the Cheat Western thijngs appeared to be a little better, though here 'again the snowstorm caused some delay. i i In West Surrey the change of weather has been no less sudden. ■ Sunday was mild and genial. , This was the termination of a season soxemarkable for its mildness that under its influence vegetation had assumed a most unnatural growth. On" Monday night the temperature became much colder, and a slight quantity of snow fell.' During the whole of Tuesday the mercury in the barometer stood at a very low figure, and frost set in sharply. At about 2 o'clock yesterday morning the wind shifted to the east, and a violent snowstorm succeeded. ' This oontinued without intermission until 2 o'clock in (the afterndon, while the severity of the frOst remained' unabated. So keen was the frost that on rOofg where the snow was melted bythe^heat of fires : 1 underneath, the water was congealed in its progress, and hung in icicles from the water spouts. Many of the countrjr roads are quite impassable owing to the snow, which, in some places, has drifted to a depth of from Bft. to 10ft., and in several of :bhe towns is over 2ft. deep. All the railway trains have been greatly delayed. The 7.5 a.m. train from Lpn. 1 don per South- Westerh.was two hours behind time, ■ and this was the case with nearly all the down j trains throughput the day. The delivery of letters per midday post was thrown back from 12 o'clock till 2, and the same delay occurred with»the evenpg post. The South-Eastern (trains from London wjere all from three to four hours in arrear, while fcjom Reading they were even more behind. The 7.40J up from 1 Portsmouth, which ought to reach Guildf ordj alt 9.18, was blopked for more than an hour, and did not arrive ' until nearly 11 t Similar delay was (experienced ,on ' the Winchester line, a formidable barrier of snow being presented in some of the d iep cuttings. - ' At Salisbury the fall of snow has been unusuajlly heavy. On Monday 'and the day following there 1 was rather a severe frost, but towards midnight on' Tuesday it 'was succeeded by snow, which has c >ntinued to fall in.large flakes without intermission up to yesterday at'hooni . Locomotion was to agr&t extent stopped, the snow being several feet ae»p. In places where it has been dnfted'by the^ str< ng wind which is blowing from the north it is very deep indeed, and the roads are quite impassable. ,

The Rome News supplies the following: — S . For several years past there has not been so severe » winter experienced as the present' one. Ai hard frost has prevailed, frith the exception of a few days' interval, daring what has passed of the ourrtut month. Some heavy snow storms have visited the United' Kingdom, causing a general stoppage of Sail out-door work, and consequently wide-spread distress among the labouring classes. Severalhundreds of deaths are attributed' by the Registrar-General to the effects of the cold which has prevailed, whilst numerous and most deplorable aooidents are recorded. On the morning of January 8, a great gale having the appearance of a hurricane visited the metropolis and the surrounding districts, and occasioned a great loss of property. The stormy which commencjed 'about 1 o'clock, continued until after 7, and was accompanied with heavy falls of rain. In Hydepark, near Kensington-gardens, several trees had in some cases two or three limbs broken off, and shrubs were blown out of the ground. This was also ' Ijhe ■ case in St. James's and Battersea-parks. ' i After a few days of mild weather an intense fr|>st set in again, and continued up to the morning , of January 23, when a ' gradual thaw took place. On January 13, the fineness of the morning attracted large numbers of people to the parks, but the ice |on the waters was very* weak. • The ornamental -water in St. Jamos's-park was only partially frozen,- but notwithstanding several foolhardy men and boys ventured upon it, the majority of whom fell inbefpre j ■ they had been, many minutes. At the Regent's-pspk l water and at the Long Water in Kensington-gardens, the water is about 9 feet deep, several periods were only saved from drowning by great efforts jon ; the parb of the icemen and the use of the apparatus. At noon on the 15th the ice on the Round Pond and the Long Water in Kensington-gardens wa3 very good and firm. The ice on the Serpentine, which was crowded with people during the day, was v^ry weak in many places, owing to the -springs which abound there, and no less than 40 immersions tqok place, but none attended with fatal consequences. The Long Water and the Bound Pond were visited the former by 10,000 and the latter by 7,000 persons during the 15th • withdut a single accident being reported* In St. James's-park during the same day an immense number of persons were 1 upon the ice, and some immersions took place. ■ , The navigation on the river Thames was totally suspended for some days, owing to* the 'immense quantities of ice floating in the riter. The works on the'Thames embankment; at New Blackf riars-brid^e, and at most of the large buildisgs in the metropolis, have been at a complete standstill. • < In Scotland the snow.storm has dismayed' e^en the Highlanders. Nothing like it'has been seen {or many- a score of years. The railways were nearly jail blocked up. Two men were killed and< three wounded by a collision on the Aberdeen line> between two .trains in the dark early on Sunday morning, January 13. Several oases are reported in various parts of the country of persons-frozen to death. ' The extreme cold has also prevailed in Ireland. \ Indications of an approaching thaw were perceived i on the evening of January 22, when the ice on the Thames below London-bridge began to 'break up, and the ■ weight of the masses set in motion was sufficient to break away a large number of ships and steamers from their moorings, and drire them ashore, i Moat of them received more or less damage. Several lighters and barges filled with merchandise were sunk by the iee;< which, when forced 'againstt. them,! was driven up to a considerable height above the surface of the water, and, falling upon the vessels, bore, them down by the sheer weight of the auperinoumbenfc maflß. It is feared that in some cases the. crews were aboard and were* drowned.) Later in the' evening a fall, of rain, 'took place, which} however, froze almost aa.it fell, and the streets were coveted .with sheets of transparent glassy ice, so firm and, so. . slippery that enthusiastic skaters- turned . out and found good practice in theiroads. Many, accidents occurred to pedestrians, walking for some hours being) quite impossible for either i mau or.ihoUao. About 2 o'clock in the morning' of :i the 23rd the temperaturet moderated, and a considerable fall; of rain topk place, carrying off all the remaining snow and erery vestige of the frost. The thermometer was as high ai fiO in the oourae of. that day. ,

; The Pbincb Imperial as a Huhter.— At one o'clock the Prince Imperial cantered into the ring, and made a bow to the assembled swells which did hoaor to hir tutor. <It was quite the salute of the son of a M.F.H. when he is going to take his father's" duty for the day. He was riding a very olever Arab pony, 9i present from a Sheikh, and wa> attended [by hia constant companion, young Conneao, and his tutor. The prince is much grown, and seems tojrtie much' stronger, and, if I may use the expression, jollier than he was. Coming home from hunting we came suddenly on him in a by-road; it; had 'grown' very ooldjao the two boys had got out of the carriage and were running races, singing, dancing, atid'cracking their infantile hunting whips with a 1 noise and evident delight which must be proper fov'Prittcei a* 1 for others juveniles. The Prince, too, 1 should pell you, "rides like a man:" "Just his father's' seat, you see," wai observed to me yesterday j and I jbe-Ueve-he will go as well; and I myself saw Prince Louis 'Napoleon 'stop a spring field* with the * Queens' twice in one day." I must add, the Prince wore the uniform of the hunt, which is 1 even prettier for obildren than for men. It ia, you know, »a-croBs between » highwayman of the last century and Edgar of Ravenswood, before' he goes into mourning, and the "sulla tomba" business of the 1 last act! of '"Lucia :" a green velvet frook, buckskins, Hessian boots, heavy spurs* a couteau de •chatse, and the whole surmounted by a three-cornered "Frederic the •Great" hat ! , : The individual who tried to dear his. conscience with an egg isnbw endeavouring tb'raise his'tipirits • with yeast. Tf he failf in ibis, it is his deliberatejintention to blow Out his brain's with a ' bellows, J r and «iok calmly into the arms of a young l»dy. ' ' • Mr- • i i -'.in 1 -