Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1918 — COLD SNAP SEEMS BROKEN [ARTICLE]

COLD SNAP SEEMS BROKEN

COLDEST DECEMBER AND JANUARY ARE NOW MATTER OF HISTORY. The longest and most severe cold spell we have ever bad became a matter of history Wednesday, when with the arrival of warm breezes from the south the temperature climbed above freezing for the first time this year. Great rejoicing greeted the advent of the springlike zephyrs from the sunny south, and people who- had been anxiously watching their coal piles or trying desperately to lay in a supply for over two months heaved a sigh of relief. The slushy condition under foot worried no one, for the beauty of the day overheard completely over shadowed any such trifles as wet feet.

December and January have hung up more records this year than at any time in the memory of our oldest inhabitants when it comes to cold and snow. The bad weather began on December 8, with a blizzard bringing a temperature of ten degrees below. For practically two whole months there has been no relief, the mercury having climbed above freezing on only one day in that time, shortly before Christmas. Accompanying the cold we have had a record fall of snow which has refused to leave us, and which has had a disastrous effect on all kihds of traffic. One snow fall this last month cost the country over hundred of dollars to clear the roads. The “January thaw” was conspicuous for its absence this year.

We have no assurance that the present warm weather will last more than a few days, but the relief it has brought will more than make up for its shortness. Wednesday morning the thermometer started out with a temperature of 44 degrees at 7 a. m. Twenty-four hours before it registered 4 below. Such an extreme of temperature, 48 degress in twentyfour hours’, is a jump possible only in the middle west and Indiana in particular. The average for the whole Ohio valley for Wednesday was above 50 degrees above. Slightly colder weather is promised soon, but the warm snap is expected to hold its own for several days. February has always had the reputation for being the coldest month of the'year, and there is no indication now that it will behave other than according to its . custom. “Pre-spring” weather is pleasant but it won’t last