4.--A remarkable phenomenon was recorded at Yarmouth. "The tide twice
flowed and ebbed within three hours. At 9.42 p.m., the calculated time
for dead low water, the gauge registered only six feet above zero. Thus
high and low water were practically reversed, a most uncommon
phenomenon." On the night of the 8th "the barometer fell to 28.20, the
lowest local reading for the past twenty years."
6.--A new fire escape for "populous buildings," invented by Captain
Longe, of Spixworth Park, was tested at Thorpe Asylum. It consisted of
"a movable staircase mounted on a frame on four wheels, which can be
readily and expeditiously moved by two men to any window of a burning
building, and raised by a double crank to a window 18 ft. from the
ground, at an angle of 45 degrees, by which the inmates, stepping on a
small platform, can easily descend." The Lunacy Commissioners reported
favourably upon the invention.
27.--"Falka," produced by Van Biene and Horace Lingard's Comic Opera
Company, was the Christmas attraction at Norwich Theatre. The dress
circle, which had remained in its original state since the erection of
the Theatre in 1826, was at this date remodelled and greatly improved by
the removal of the uncomfortable and objectionable boxes.
28.--Considerable damage was done to the telephone wires in Norwich by a
heavy fall of snow. "The whole system came to grief through the wires
breaking and the derricks giving way."
--Died, at his residence, Shadingfield Lodge, Yarmouth, Mr. Samuel
Nightingale, in his 84th year. He served the office of Mayor of the
borough in 1868-69.
1887.