THE
Blizzard in the West:
BEING
A Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm
WHICH RAGED THROUGHOUT
Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset,
On the Night of March 9th, 1891.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
COPYRIGHT.
_The right of reproduction is reserved._
London:
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LIMITED,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
Devonport:
A. H. SWISS, PRINTER AND STATIONER,
111 & 112 FORE STREET.
THE LARGEST
FLORAL
AND
FRUIT
ESTABLISHMENT
WEST OF LONDON.
W.G. HODGE, F.R.H.S.
FLORIST
AND
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49 GEORGE STREET, 17 UNION STREET,
90 OLD TOWN STREET,
PLYMOUTH.
AND
_76 George Street, DEVONPORT_.
Telegrams, "FLORIST," Plymouth. Telephone No., 80.
NURSERIES: CROWN HILL.
Specialities: Wedding & other Bouquets.
FUNERAL WREATHS, CROSSES, &C.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
I. INDICATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.
II. THE BLIZZARD.
III. ON THE RAILWAYS.
IV. AT SEA.
V. IN TOWN AND COUNTRY.
VI. IN PARK AND FOREST.
VII. AFTER THE STORM.--THE WATER FAMINE IN THE THREE TOWNS.
VIII. SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES.
SPOONER & COMPANY.
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PREFACE.
The record of the Blizzard of 1891 was undertaken in response to a
generally expressed desire on the part of a large number of residents
in the Western Counties.
It would have been impossible to compile the work, imperfect as it is,
without the assistance and co-operation of the editor and staff of the
_Western Morning News_, who have been most active in its promotion.
Assistance has also been kindly rendered by the editor and staff of the
_Western Daily Mercury_.
Thanks are also largely due to many others, who, besides furnishing us
with interesting details and views, have offered us every facility for
obtaining information.
Valuable particulars in some instances have been afforded by Dr.
Merrifield, of Plymouth, and Mr. Rowe, public librarian, of Devonport,
who has also sent some of the views appearing in this book.
To the artistic photographic skill of Messrs. Heath and Son, of George
Street, Plymouth, Messrs. Denney and Co., of Exeter and Teignmouth, and
Messrs. Valentine and Son, of Teignmouth, we are indebted for several
of our illustrations. To the amateur photographers in various parts
of the West who so kindly sent photographic views we tender our best
thanks, and regret that space did not permit us to use a larger number.
Much necessarily remains untold, but we have endeavoured to depict a
very remarkable event as fully as the pages at our disposal permitted.
_Devonport, April, 1891._
NESTLÉ'S
FOOD
A Complete and Perfect Substitute for
Mothers' Milk.
*****
OBTAINED THE GOLD MEDAL
AT THE
PARIS EXHIBITION, 1889.
THE BLIZZARD IN THE WEST
CHAPTER I.
INDICATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.
On the morning of the 9th of March, 1891, when inhabitants of the
three westernmost counties in England set about preparing for the
routine duties of daily life, nothing seemed to indicate that, with
the approach of nightfall, the gravest atmospheric disturbance of
the century--in that part of the world, at all events--would come to
spread terror and destruction throughout town and country. The month,
so far, had not been a gentle one. Following in the footsteps of a
memorably genial February, March had been somewhat harsh and cold,
without yielding the rain that was by this time greatly needed. There
were rumours of "a change of some sort," of an approaching "fall of
something," and other vaticinations of the same familiar character
floating about, but in the west country these wise sayings fall so
thick and fast and frequently as to possess little more significance
than the most oft-repeated household words. When the day drew on,
and signs of a rising gale were uncomfortably apparent on every
hand, recollections of a promised storm from the Observatories of
the United States began to be awakened, but it was found on sifting
the matter, that if this were the disturbance indicated, it had come
about a fortnight too soon. Students of "Old Moore's Almanack" were
better informed, and it is probable that if this ill wind blew good
to anybody, it was in the shape of discovery that by virtue of the
truth of his forecast, a favourite and venerable prophet was deserving
of honour at the hands of the people of his own country. Unhappily,
however, there is nothing to show that advantage had been taken of this
warning, in any practical sense. On the contrary, the blast came down
swiftly upon a community that was almost wholly unprepared to receive
it, and one of the saddest parts of the story of its fury will be the
account of the devastation wrought among the unprotected flocks and
herds.
On referring to the remarks on the subject of the weather published in
the local press, and obtained from official scientific authorities, it
will be found that at an early hour on the morning of March 9th the
barometer had been rising slightly, and that the day "promised to be
fine." Other accounts hinted at the probability of some snow showers,
and snow was reported as falling heavily in North Wales, but north and
north-easterly winds, light and moderate, were anticipated. Nothing
was said about a great fall of snow, accompanied by a hurricane fierce
enough to send it down in powder, without even allowing time for the
formation of snow-flakes.
According to one Plymouth correspondent, whose observations are both
reliable and valuable, the only intimation of the coming storm was
by the barometer falling to 29·69 on the evening of the 9th, with
an E.N.E. wind. The hygrometer was thick and heavy--a sign of rough
weather. During the night the glass fell to 29·39. On Tuesday it fell
to 29·180. Another account says that it has not, perhaps, occurred in
the experience of many, except those who have known tropical storms,
that the movement in an ordinary column barometer might be seen during
the progress of a gale. Such, however, was possible in the case under
notice. Though the glass had been falling during the day, yet there
were no indications of any serious disturbance of the weather. On many
occasions there have been greater falls in the barometer than on this
occasion. When this storm was at its height, the barometer at Devonport
was observed to be at 29·27, but in the course of half an hour pressure
was indicated by 29·20, the rise being, of course, a considerable and
sudden one. Within an hour of this register being made, a fall had
again occurred to 29·25, and even a little below this was marked, at
which point the column remained until the early hours of the morning.
It is clear that during the whole progress of the storm the temperature
was never very low. The great cold came from the strength of the wind.
During the storm, and in the course of the severe days that followed,
not more than five or six degrees of frost were registered, and on one
day of the week, when there was snow on every hand, the thermometer
never rose higher than freezing point. The wind, however, was terrific,
its maximum force during the night being 10, and 12 is the highest
possible. To this extraordinary velocity is due the fact that the
visitation is best describable by the term "blizzard." With a less
violent wind, there would have been a great fall of snow, as great
probably as that of January, 1881, when difficulties and disasters
painfully comparable with those of the present year were spread
broadcast over not only the western portion, but the whole of England,
but it would have been a snowstorm and not a blizzard, and many of
the phenomenal aspects of the visitation under notice would have
been absent. In the course of the present narrative many remarkable
effects due to the powdery nature of the snow will have to be recorded.
Before concluding the meteorological portion of the subject, and
getting on with the story, it may be well to observe that according
to the best authorities a blizzard is caused by the fierceness of
the wind, which blows the cold into the vapour in the atmosphere and
consolidates it into fine snow without allowing time for the formation
of a snow-flake. We are accustomed to associate ideas of gentleness
and beauty and stillness with the fall of snow. The blizzard, which is
apparently--but, of course, only in name--a new acquaintance, shews us
the reverse side of the picture, and suggests nothing beyond merciless
fury and destructiveness.
As to the quantity of snow that fell, accounts differ. There were
huge drifts in most places; in others there was a comparatively
level covering of many feet in thickness. The condition of a part
of George Street, Plymouth, which received a very fair quantity, is
artistically portrayed in the accompanying illustration, copied from a
photograph taken on the morning of Tuesday by Mr. Heath, photographer,
of Plymouth. According to observations made by Dr. Merrifield, of
Plymouth, the value of whose scientific researches into the mysteries
of matters meteorological are beyond question, the quantity of snow and
rain that fell between Monday evening and early on Wednesday morning
was ·68. This was registered at the doctor's residence, which stands
125 feet above the level of the sea, and faces S.S.E. With the depth of
snow in other places, this record will deal in due course.
[Illustration: GEORGE STREET, PLYMOUTH.]
During the whole time the blizzard was raging, the wind varied from
N.E. to S.E. The changes were very rapid, but this was the widest
range. Along the coast the greatest severity appears to have been
experienced from a point or two eastward of Teignmouth to Falmouth Bay,
many towns exposed to the sea having to bear their share of the burden,
and unhappily many valuable lives being lost through disastrous wrecks.
If a map of the three counties of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset be
consulted, it will be found that, taking this portion of the coast as
an opening through which the broad shaft of a hurricane entered, now
sweeping in a north-easterly, and now in a south-easterly direction,
the area of country that has sustained the heaviest damage will be
embraced, the intensity of the violence inflicted gradually diminishing
the further one travels towards the east, north, and west. Dartmoor
forms a kind of centre of the chief scene of desolation, and Plymouth,
being well within the range, has suffered far more severely than any
other large town in the three counties. To the eastward, in particular,
it is clear that the effects of the gale are not nearly so serious,
though the fall of snow was pretty abundant all over the southern part
of England. Outside of Devon and West Cornwall there are no great lots
of timber down, though here and there a fallen tree is observable.
Unhappily the departure of the storm was not so sudden as its advent.
The Tuesday following the night of tempest was an indescribably
wretched day, and the barometer fell to 29·180. Wednesday brought
sunshine and hope with it, and afforded the one bright spot in this
gloomy record by showing up many effects of wonderful beauty in the
snow-covered landscapes. Still the wind was never at rest, though
the thermometer went up to 120° in the sun. Thursday followed
with more snow, and occasional sharp and ominous squalls, and some
apprehension was felt that a repetition of Monday's experience was in
the air, but fortunately the week wore away without further calamity,
and the work of repairing to some extent the damage done, and thereby
making existence for man and beast possible, a task hitherto carried on
under tremendous difficulties, was vigorously pushed forward.
A letter, which will be found interesting, was, on the day after
the storm, written to the editor of the _Western Morning News_, and
published in that paper, by Captain Andrew Haggard, of the King's Own
Scottish Borderers, now stationed at Devonport. The writer is a brother
of Mr. Rider Haggard, and himself a novelist of repute. This letter was
as follows:--
"SIR,--The cyclonic nature of the blizzard that has been
annoying us all so much, and causing such a frightful amount
of damage during the last two days, may be judged by the
following observations taken by several officers in the South
Raglan Barracks on the evening of the 9th instant. From these
observations it would seem as if for a time the South Raglan
Barracks were in the exact centre of the storm, being left for
varying periods in a complete calm in consequence. Here are the
notes we made:--At 8·12 P.M. the storm was raging so furiously
that the solid old Raglan was shaken to its foundations, the
fire was roaring up the chimney as if in a blast furnace, and
the noise made by the blizzard generally was such that it was
difficult to hear one's neighbour speak. But at 8·13 suddenly
came a complete lull. The elements ceased to wage war, the
fire assumed its normal demeanour, and an officer who went
out to see what had happened came in and reported that it was
so calm he was able to light matches outside. For thirteen
minutes did this calm last. At 8·26 with a roar like thunder,
the wind returned, and once more we were dreading that the
armies of the chimney pots would fall upon us in their fury.
Only for twenty minutes, though, did the hurricane scream
and yell, and as before make itself generally obnoxious. At
8·46 there was another absolute cessation of wind until 8·53,
when it 'blizzed' worse than before. And shortly afterward
everyone started forth to put out fires, when all the amateur
meteorologists discovered to their grief that whatever the
cyclone might do in the way of lulling occasionally down at
the Raglan, on the top of Stoke Hill it blizzed all night with
perfect impartiality.
Yours truly,
"ANDREW HAGGARD.
"DEVONPORT, _March 10th_."