Heavy Loss by Sea and Land From a Correspondent, Toronto, Dec. 20.
Canada is now in the icy grasp of the coldest weather experienced for over 30 years. Ten days ago the thermometer began to drop until all over the Dominion all previous records were broken,—British Columbia was soon ice-bound, and in the Rocky Mountains and White River districts snow fell to a depth of nearly a foot and a half. Train traffic was delayed on all northern lines. Transcontinental fliers were often running nine hours late as the water pipes on the coaches became frozen up and had to be thawed out periodically before the journey could be resumed.
In the Province of Alberta where the cold reached its lowest limit the settlers became much alarmed. A noted astronomer had predicted that the middle of December would witness the worst weather catastrophe in history. Some stated that the thermometer might drop ts a point where glass. window panes would break, the combined action of the heat within cold without causing the glass to give way.
This cold wave caught many of the Canadian farmers napping. Many had not even completed the threshing of their grain when the early snow came down upon the stacks of wheat standing in the folds and encased them in a shroud of snow.
While the cold wave was passing over Canada fierce storms were sweeping over the Atlantic Ocean causing many wrecks along the coast of Newfoundland. Some of the vessels were stranded on the coast, and others were driven out to sea. Distress signals were seen and wireless messages for help were received from many a seagoing vessel which had gotten into difficulties.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.