ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, OR 1799.

Kumara Times, Issue 1075, 11 March 1880, Page 4

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, OR 1799.

The last year of the eighteenth century is often classed with the bad seasons of 1816 and 1879. It is hard to tell, which of the three seasons was the most" inclement. In the middle of February many persons perished from the severity of the weather. A riding officer on the coaat of Sussex, returning from the pursuit of smugglers, was supposed to have fallen over a precipice on a stormy nisrht, and there he perished. Rebecca Freeman, aged sixty was frozen to death between Ickleton and Cbesterford. Three men and a shepherd's boy were frozen to death within ten dayß near Newmarket. A women who left Cambridge for Irapington on February 2nd was lost in the snow. Two women were found dead in a field near Aylesbury, Bucks. An old man, travelling from Buckinghamshire, to Petersbury, in Northamptonshire, missed his way, and was found dead in the snow. These are specimens of many similar cases. On February 18th came a great thaw, and at Bath the Hood was higher than anything witnessed for a quarter of a century. In Holland the floods did incalculable damage. On April 6th came, on a snowstorm, the like of which had been seldom witnessed. So deep was the snow in the neighborhood of Congleton that the Liverpool mail was entirely buried in it, and the bags were forwarded on horseback. The communication between Holyhead and Chester was for a time wholly suspended, For 20 miles round London, so thick were the sleet and fog that the coachmen and guards were obliged to alight and lead their horses. Passengeas from Edinburgh to London by the mail narrated that snow began falling about seven in the morning at Newcastle, and continued till six at night. No carriage could proceed further than Northallerton ; they attempted to travel with a chaise-andsix, but in vain ; and then, with the guard, they took saddle-horses to Easing wold, and a chaise thence to York. They said they never saw snow fall so fast. In places it was six feet deep. The highest temperature in London in July was 87 deg&., and the mean for that month was 6j3.1. Tn August, September, and October there were unprecedented torrents of rain. On August 17th the torrent of rain and the storm of wind were such as even the oldest person could not recollect the like. Near Manchester many mills and much valuable machinery were swept away. The river Irwell exhibited a terrific scene, and the surging waters were covered with manufactured goods. Cattle, sheep, and horses were carried away by the merciless element j the banks of canals were burst, and adjacent lands were inundated. One farmer lost 100 acres of hay, and another lost hay to the value of LSOO. In the latter part of August the rains in Lancashire were such as had never been experienced in the memory of any living person. All the bridges on the Mersey, the Wedlock, the IrwelJ, &c«, were destroyed, and immense quantities of cloth were carried away. In Worcestershire rain prevailed for three weeks almost without intermission ; travelling was all but suspended, and hay, corn, sheep, &j., were extensively destroyed. The mail was five hours late in reaching Birmingham, the passengers having at some plaoes been forwarded by boats, while the coach was left behind. The Manchester heavy coach was nearly lost, the horses having at one time been swimming up to the neck in water, dragging the coach after them. On September Bth the fall of rain in Leicestershire was the most extraordinary that any one recollected; and in the middle of October the rain in Sussex was such as to destroy bridges, roads, mills, hop gardens, and cornfields, and many families had to escape for their lives, leaving their furniture to be'destroyed. The total rainfall of 1769, in the neighborhood of" London was 16 662 inches ; but in January, March, and June, it was small, while in July, August, September, and October, it was abnormally large. As regards temperature, all the summer months were below the average ; and in consequence the harvest was late and poor. In January, 1799, the price of wheat was 6s 2d per bush.; but it began to rise in the month of May. In October it was 10s sd, and at the close of the year it was lis 8d per bush. The 4lb loaf cost 13d ; the highest price it had evef reached up till that time. The nearest approach to it was in 1796* when it was 12£d ; but the average price was 6d to 7d. In December, 1800, the price of wheat had advanced to 13s per qr., and barley and oats were in likq proportion. Uheip was. a great dearth of provisions, com riots were of freqnent occurence, and the general distress wasj aggravated by the heavy taxes on articles dfiQonqumption. The quantity of wheat imported into the port of London in 1799 was 233,208 qr., a quantity which had been equalled only in 1733, when it was 240,134 qr., and in 1796, when it was 477,877 qr. In Scotland the year 1799 was a time of great [destitution. Oatmeal was high in price, and could hardly be obtained at any cost.