ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, OR 1799.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 66, 17 March 1880, Page 4

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, OR 1799.

Tbe last year of the eighteenth crnluty ia often clpfsifleH with the bad •seasons of 1516 and 1879. It ia hard to tell which of the (hreo eessooa was the most inclement. In fhe middle of February msny persons perished from the severity of the -weather. A riding officer oa lie coast oi Rnssex, returning from the pursuit of f-mugglsrp, wbs supposed to hava tutsbled over a precipice on a stormy nigbt, aod there be perished. Rebecca Freeman, aped sixty, was frozen to death between Ickhton aod Cheeterford. Three men and a sbepbard's hoy wete frozen to death within ten days near Newmarfcf t. A woman who left Cambridge for Impinyton on February 2nd was lost in tbe scow. -Two women were found dead in a field near Aylesbury, Bucks. An old man, travelling from Bucking-, bamsbire to Peterßhury , in Northern toashire, missed his way, nnd was found dead in the snow, These are specimens of mauy similar cases. On February 18th came a great thaw, and nt Bath the flood was higher than an ytbing witnessed for a quartsr of a century. In Holland the floods clid incalculable damage. On April 6th came on a snowstorm, the like of which cad been seldom witnessed. So deep was the snow in the neighborhood of Cougleton that the Liverpool mail was entirely buried in it, and thebags were forwarded on horseback. The com-. muoicatioo between Holyhead and Chester waa for a time wholly suspended. For 20 miles round London, co thick. was the sleet and fog tbat the coachmen and goards were obliged to alight. and lead their horses. Passengers from Edinburgh to London by tbe mail narrated that snow began falling about seven in the morniog at Newcastle, and continued till six at night. No carriage could proceed further than Northallerton ; they rattempted to travel -with a chaise and six, but in vain ; and then, with tbe guard, they took saddle-horses to Easingwold, and a chaise thence to York. Tbey said they never saw snow fall so fast. In plaoes it was six feet deep. The highest temperature in London in July was 85 degs , and the mean for that month was 63 1. In Augus , September, and October there were unprecedented torrents of rain. On August 17th tbe torreut of rain and the storm of wind were sucb as even the oldest persou could not recollect the like. Near Manchester many mills acd much valuable machinery were Bwcpt away. The river Irwell exhibited a terrific scene, and tho surging waters were covered with mat ufacturiDg goods. Cattle, sheep, horses wete carried away by tho merciless element; the banks-of canals were burs., aud adjacent lands were iaundated. One

farmer lost 100 acres of hay, and another lost hay to the value of £500. In the latter part of August the rains in Lancashire were siicb as bad never been experienced in the memory of any living pereon, All the bridges on the Mersey, the Wedlock, tbe I. well, &c., w. re destroyed, and immense quantities of cloth were carried a*way. In Worcestershire rain prevailed for three weeks almost wiihout intermission ; travelling was all but suspended, and hay, com, sheep, (kc , were extensively destroyed. Tho mail was five hours late iv reaching Birmingham, the passengers having at some places been forwarded by boats, while the coach was left behind. The Manchester heavy coacb waa nearly lost, the horses having at one time beeo swim mins/ op to the neck in water, dragging tbe conch after them. On September Bth the fall of raiu in Leicestershire was the most extraordinary that any one recoiiecied ; und in the middle of Ociober the rain in Sussex was such as to destroy bridges, roads, millp, hop gard<n .*.£•> nd cornfields, and many families had to escape for their, lives, leaving their furniture to be destroyed. The tolal rainfall of 1799, in tbe neighborhsod 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 tbe summer months were below the average ; and in consequence the harvest was late and poor. In January, 1799, the price of wheat was 63 2d per bushel ; but it began to rise in tbe month of -May. In October dt was 10a sd, and at the close of the year it was lis 8d ..per bushel. The 4-lb loaf cost 13d ; the highest price it had ever reached up to that time. The neerest approach to it was in 1796, wben it was 12Jd ; but the average price was 6J to 7d. In -December, 1800, the price of wheat had advanced to 13s per bushel, and barley and oats were in like proportion. There was a great dearth of provisions, corn riots were of frequent fopcurrenoej and the general distress was aggravated by the heavy taxes on articles of consumption.

The quantify of wheat imported into the ppotr t of London in 1799, wae 233,208 qrs , a quantity which had been (quailed only io 1733, when it was 240,134 qr3,, and in 1796, when it was 477,877 qre. In Scotland, the year 1799 was a time of great destitution. Oatmeal was Li^h in price, and could batdly be obtained at any cost.