8.--Dr. F. E. Gladstone, it was announced, had resigned the post of
organist of Norwich Cathedral, upon receiving a similar appointment at
Christ church, Lancaster Gate, London. He was succeeded by Mr. Frederic
C. Atkinson, organist of Manningham church, Bradford, a native of Norwich
and pupil of Dr. Buck.
12.--Winter set in with great severity, and during the night upwards of
six inches of snow fell. The frost was intense. On the 17th the Yare
was frozen over and navigation stopped, and on the 18th an extraordinary
snowstorm and gale occurred. The thermometer registered 32 degrees of
frost, and the wind, which during the preceding night had veered to the
east, suddenly assumed the strength of a hurricane, which raged for
nearly twenty-four hours. "A velocity of 548 miles was recorded, a force
very rarely experienced in this part of the country." Little snow fell
until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when the clouds discharged
themselves with a virulence almost unprecedented. From six to eight
inches of snow fell in a few hours, and in places there were drifts ten
feet in depth. The traffic on most of the branch lines of the Great
Eastern Railway was suspended nearly twenty-four hours. The mail train
from Norwich to Yarmouth--four hours late--ran into a drift near
Buckenham, and remained embedded six hours. The use of five engines and
the efforts of sixty men proved unavailing, and there was no alternative
but to take the train back to Norwich. Many of the roads being
impassable, the mail-cart drivers abandoned their journeys. Terrible
shipping disasters occurred off Yarmouth; thirteen vessels were wrecked,
and nearly fifty lives lost. The surf lifeboat was capsized a few yards
from the shore, and of the crew of ten who were entangled in the tackle
beneath the craft six were drowned. From the 14th to the 21st never once
did the thermometer rise above freezing-point. On the 26th the
temperature rose to 38 degrees, and rain fell on the 27th.
17.--Prince's Street Sunday schools and Lecture Hall, Norwich, were
opened, as an adjunct to the Congregational church. The fine block of
buildings was designed by Mr. Edward Boardman, architect, and erected by
Messrs. Downing and Sons, at the cost of about 12,600.
24.--The National Skating Association held a race-meeting on Wroxham
Broad. Fixed originally for the 18th, but postponed in consequence of
the gale, it was attended, amongst other competitors, by George ("Fish")
Smart, Champion of England, W. ("Turkey") Smart, and many prominent Fen
skaters.
28.--Killed at the battle of Lang's Nek, South Africa, aged 21, Lieut.
Robert Hamond Elwes, Grenadier Guards, _aide-de-camp_ to Sir G. Pomeroy
Colley. He was the eldest son of Mr. Robert Elwes, of Congham House,
near King's Lynn.