THE TIMES, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 1901.

The dreaded blow has fallen, and a world-wide Empire mourns its irreparable loss. Our beloved QUEEN, full of years and of honour, has passed to her rest. There are no words to express the general grief, the universal sense of national and personal bereavement, awakened by the event which it is our melancholy duty to chronicle to-day.

For nearly sixty-four years Queen Victoria has watched, at first with conscientious diffidence, later with ever-maturing experience, but always with the sympathetic insight of a sensitive yet finely-balanced nature, over every development of national policy and destiny. Through that long period she has commanded the esteem of those who direct the affairs of the world, and has won the affection and the confidence of the vast majority, whose judgment must be formed upon general and external indications of character.

Only a rare combination of sweetness and strength, only a subtle blending of the highest qualities of head, and heart, can achieve that double success. This generation can never know, save in the most general and imperfect way, the extent of the beneficent influence wielded by the Queen at once over the great and over the lowly ones of the earth. The earlier years of her reign have so far passed into history that we know much of the inner life of politics which remains secret while the principal actors are alive. As regards the later portion of her reign we have no such materials, yet it was in that portion that her experience was ripest, her contribution to government most valuable, and her influence with the Sovereigns and statesmen who rule the world most firmly established.

The condition of Europe when she ascended the Throne was one of extreme instability. A few years later it became one of turmoil and confusion, in which dynasties were overthrown and high potentates had to seek asylum. That the British Throne came through that troublous time, not merely unscathed, but with added prestige and security, must be held due in no small measure to the character of its occupant. Our own country by no means escaped the infection of the ideas that convulsed the Continent; nor was it exempt from the grave economic and social evils that formed a legitimate ground for discontent. There are few among us who can recall the attitude of the people towards the Monarchy in the thirties and forties, but all have material enough to show them how striking is the contrast presented by the state of public opinion at the present day.

We must not forget that many causes combined to effect a fundamental amelioration of the social conditions, and that many minds contributed to the triumph of larger and nobler conceptions of government. But, if we have had orderly evolution where other nations have gone through devastating internal conflicts, if the Monarchy held its own while new buttresses were being built for its support, and if it now stands not only broad-based upon the people's will, but strong in the affections of kindred nations over sea, we owe these results, to a degree which it is hardly possible to over estimate, to the womanly sweetness, the gentle sagacity, the utter disinterestedness, and the unassailable rectitude of the QUEEN.

  The nation owes her much more, though, for the reasons just alluded to, the proofs are not yet available in their fullness. Though always scrupulously careful not to overstep the limits marked out for her by the Constitution, the Queen has never forgotten the rights and duties that the Constitution confers and imposes. She has always played her part in Government as the Chief Magistrate of the nation, and has known how, when occasion demanded, to assert the rights of the Throne against a too autocratic Minister.

By the extent of her family connexions and the friendly correspondence she maintained with Continental monarchs, she brought to bear upon international questions a kind of information which Ministers do not always possess, and a knowledge of personal equations which British Ministers, in the opinion of many, are not sufficiently careful to seek. The confidence inspired by her personal character enabled her on many occasions to use her intimate knowledge with effect in smoothing the rugged places of international relations, or in modifying a policy which through sheer inadequacy of information would have led to undesirable and undesired friction. History alone can do justice to her influence over the politics of Europe, but enough is known even now to assure us that, both by her informed criticism at home and by the deference paid to her abroad, she rendered from time to time very valuable services alike to her own country and to the peace of the world.

There are yet other ways in which a Sovereign may profoundly affect, for good or bad, the fortunes of a nation. We have to thank the Queen for an influence of the most potent kind, consistently and vigorously used to enforce high ideals of social and personal virtue, of religious faith, and of the Christian life. Her own life was by choice, and as far as the necessities of her position would permit, one of almost austere simplicity and homeliness. Her Court has been absolutely unsullied by the vices which had come to be regarded as the inseparable concomitants of Courts, and if society at large has not quite-reached her standard, at least it cannot plead the want of a shining example.

In a yet larger sense the Queen has conferred an incalculable boon upon the nation. Her whole life, public and private, has been one great and abiding lesson upon the paramount importance of character. No lesson is more needed in days when superficial cleverness, or real ability untrammelled by scruples, too often fills the public eye by the meretricious aid of the self advertisement which the Queen abhorred. Her triumphs have been won by sheer force of character. Though richly endowed with saving common sense, and with that sanity of judgment which is the highest of intellectual gifts, the Queen was not especially remarkable for high development of any specialized intellectual force. It was by the combination of sanity of judgment with inflexible integrity and unwavering grasp of the fundamental principles of conduct that she attained results far beyond the reach of the most brilliant intellectual endowments wanting that basis of character.

Epochs sometimes find names that do not very accurately fit them, but we can speak with singular accuracy of the Victorian age. So far as any period in the development of a nation can be taken out of its context and treated as a chapter by itself, the period covered by the reign of Queen Victoria can be so treated with quite unusual felicity. Her reign coincides very accurately with a sort of second renaissance, an intellectual movement accomplishing in a brief term more than had been done in preceding centuries. Since the days of Elizabeth there has been no such awakening of the mind of the nation, no such remarkable stride in the path of progress, no such spreading abroad of the British race and British rule over the world at large, as in the period covered by the reign whose end we now have to deplore.

In art, in letters, in music, in science, in religion, and, above all, in the moral and material advancement of the mass of the nation, the Victorian age has been a time of extraordinary activity. It is not easy without some concentration of thought to picture the transformation that has been wrought in the habits, ideas, and circumstances of the people of Great and Greater - Britain since the Queen ascended the Throne. Nor is it easy, though the task is well worth attempting, to realize with any adequacy how differently that transformation might have worked out but for the personal character and example of the Queen, and the beneficence of the silent, persistent influence she exerted upon those who in turn influenced the shaping of events.

There is much in what we see around us that we 'may easily and rightly wish to see improved. The laudator temporis acti may even contend that we have lost some things that had better have been preserved. But no permissible deductions can obscure the fact that the period in question has been one of intellectual upheaval, of enormous social and economic progress, and, upon the whole, of moral and spiritual improvement. It is also true, unfortunately, that the impetus has to some extent spent itself. At the close of the reign we are finding ourselves somewhat less secure of our position than we could desire, and somewhat less abreast of the problems of the age than we ought to be, considering the initial advantages we secured. 

The "condition of England question" does not present itself in so formidable a shape as at the beginning of the reign, but it does arouse the attention of those who try to look a little ahead of current business.

Others have learned our lessons and bettered our instructions while we have been too easily content to rely upon the methods which were effective a generation or two ago. In this way the Victorian age is defined at its end as well as at its beginning. The command of natural forces that made us great and rich has been superseded by newer discoveries and methods, and we have to open what may be called a new chapter.

But "the first of the new in our race's story beats the last of the old." If we now enter upon our work in the spirit embodied in the untiring vigilance and the perpetual openness of mind that distinguished the Queen, if, like her, we reverence knowledge and hold duty imperfectly discharged until we have brought all attainable knowledge to bear upon its performance, her descendants will witness advance not less important than that of her long and glorious reign.

 

What the Victorians Thought of Snow

With many parts of the country battling to keep calm and carry on in the face of snowy conditions, I thought it would be pertinent to see how our Victorian ancestors coped with hazardous conditions, and what they thought of the snow when it hit them by scanning some old articles and letters from The Times.

I suspect after reading a couple of these, anybody in 2010 who felt aggrieved in the last few days to have been half an hour late for work because of a delayed train will perhaps think themselves lucky that their train was not delayed by nine hours and fifteen minutes…

Onto the articles first:

1860:

“Severe Snow Storms.

One of the most severe snow storms experienced in Hampshire for many years past occurred on Wednesday, and extended in an easterly direction along the whole of the south coast. The snow commenced to fall at 1 o' clock in the afternoon, and continued without intermission until half-past 4 on Thursday morning. The train from Salisbury which is due at Bishopstoke at 7.10 was upwards of an hour behind-time, and on arriving at Bishopstoke found that the up train from Weymouth and Southampton, after waiting for some time, had proceeded without it. A special train was then despatched with the London passengers, but on reaching the incline at Micheldever-bank, about a mile and a half from Micheldever Station, the ordinary train was discovered, with a heavy goods train before it, blocked up by the snow, which at that time (9 o'clock) was between two and three feet deep.

As it was impossible to move the goods train, the engine was unhooked, and cut its way through the snow to Micheldever in order to procure assistance, guards being despatched down the line with danger signals to prevent the approach of any other train.

On the goods engine reaching MicheIdever a telegram was sent to Basingstoke, 11 miles nearer London, and two pilot engines were promptly sent down, and a number of labourers to clear the way.

In many places the snow was found to have attained a depth of nearly five feet, and as the fire-box of the leading engine became choked up every few minutes it was found requisite to dig a passage for it before any progress could be made. Ultimately, after remaining stationary for nearly six hours, the goods trucks were taken in detail to Micheldever, the services of three engines being required to drag them forward.

Many of the passengers in the train behind were exceedingly alarmed by the delay, particularly as it was known that the up-mail train was almost due. Great credit, however, is due to the guards and other officials’ connected with the company for the exertions they made and for the precautions they took to prevent any accident.

The goods train was turned into a siding at Micheldever, and the passenger train drew up at the station at half-past 1, when its half-frozen occupants were enabled to obtain refreshments and warm themselves at a roadside public house a short distance from the line.

One unfortunate traveler, a Frenchman from Southampton, was found to be so ill from the cold and alarm he had experienced that he preferred remaining at Micheldever all night to the risk of a further exposure. The train, with three engines attached to it, proceeded upon its journey at 2 o'clock, but had not gone more than three miles when the fire boxes became choked up and a further stoppage took place. From this point to Basingstoke, about eight miles, the stoppages were incessant. The snow continued to fall very heavily, and at Intervals of about 100 yards the guards and labourers were compelled to cuit a passage. The train arrived at Basingstoke at half-past 4, and remained there for about half an hour until the mail train, which was two hours behind time, passed.

The remainder of the journey was accomplished without further obstruction, and, to the astonishment of the passengers, it was found no snow whatever had fallen between Woking and London. The train, which was due at the Waterloo station at five minutes past 10 on Wednesday night, arrived there at 25 minutes past 7 on Thursday morning, being nine hours and a quarter behind time.”

-         The Times December 21^st 1860

1858:

Snow Storm.

Yesterday the metropolis and the country for many miles in all directions were visited by a severe storm of wind and snow, and, although the fall was less than has been experienced on previous occasions, it was continuous, and accompanied by so much wind that in same places it drifted to a considerable depth. To guard against the effects of the snow some of the omnibus and cab drivers provided themselves with veils. It will be seen from the following reports of the state of the different railways collected from official sources that the storm was in various parts of the country very severely felt.

Upon inquiry at the London and North-Western office it was ascertained that all the trains were running with fair regularity. One train from Edinburgh was about half an hour late, but the Manchester train due at 2.45 p.m. arrived to a minute. The guards reported a severe fall of snow at Diggle, and a considerable quantity in various parts of Yorkshire. Fortunately, however, the line had only suffered to a small extent. The Great Northern Line suffered somewhat severely, and in consequence of the snow having entirely blocked up the line at Grantham the traffic was sent by the loop, which prevented delay. The cuttings where the snow had drifted were principally of stone and rock, and the company worked short trains both north and south of the obstruction, by which means the traffic was carried on with comparatively little delay.

On the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line, which is in connection with the Great Northern, the snow began to fall on Tuesday, and blocked up the line on that day to such an extent that the 5 p.m. express from Manchester was five hours behind its time. The mails yesterday morning were between two or three hours late and the goods train proportionately suffered.

The Edinburgh express arrived at King’s-Cross on Tuesday evening two and a half hours late; but the express to Edinburgh which left King's-Cross at 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday was understood to have arrived safely. At 3.56 yesterday afternoon a telegraphic message was received at King’s-Cross, stating that the whole of the line had been cleared, consequently the traffic will go on uninterruptedly.

The Great Western lie suffered very little. The trains arrived a little behind time and the guards reported snow all along the line, but not in considerable quantities. The London and South-Western also was but slightly affected. The trains were, of course, somewhat delayed, but no stoppage of any extent was experienced. On the occasion of previous snowstorms the Eastern Counties line suffered to a very considerable extent, and in the present instance a somewhat serious interruption in the ordinary traffic has taken place.

Yesterday morning the Norwich end of the Norfolk line and various points on the Eastern Union were entirely blocked, owing to the drift of snow into the cuttings. A large number of workmen were employed to clear the line to allow the morning mail to pass on its way to London. This desired end was at length achieved; but instead of arriving a few minutes after 4 a.m., the train did not reach Bishopsgate until after 7.

The various branches suffered more or less; some were entirely blocked; and so great had been the drift on the Sudbury and Harleston branches, the former 58, and the latter 106 miles from. London that they both remained blocked yesterday afternoon and no persons were booked from Bishopsgate for the places upon them. Although the snow had very little effect upon the South Eastern line, considerable delay took place in the arrival of the French mails, caused by the gale at sea preventing the steamboats entering the harbour. The mail boat should have arrived at Dover at 8 o'clock yesterday morning; but it was not until 9 minutes to 3 yesterday afternoon that a telegraphic message was received at London Bridge, stating that the vessel had just arrived. Some of the trains were somewhat behind time; but at no point on the line was there any considerable accumulation of snow.  

The snow did not impede the traffic on the London to Brighton; but in the course of yesterday telegraphic messages were received at London Bridge from Newhaven, Stating that the steamboat (Orleans) which should have left at 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning had not, owing to the gale on the coast then started; and that the Rouen, which should under ordinary circumstances have been despatched at 8 o'clock yesterday, had for the same reason been kept in the harbour.

The boats, however, would be sent as soon as the state of the sea justified that course. The neighbourhood of Rochester and Chatham was yesterday visited with a heavy fall of snow, which lasted without intermission for about 16 hours, accompanied by a cutting north-easterly wind. The hills and all the exposed lands are covered with snow to a depth, in some places, of several feet, while many of the raeds leading in from the country are blocked up and rendered impassable.

In many of the railway cuttings on the North Kent line the snow has drifted to a great depth, rendering the passage of the engines and trains extremely difficult. There has not been such a severe snow storm in Kent for several years past.”

-         The Times, March 4^th 1858

Now, as a treat, (well, a treat to me anyway – I could read these all day) some letters to the editor from disgruntled citizens with regards to snow in various years.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES:

  Sir,-

Will you allow me to suggest a simple method for the removal of the snow in our streets? It is to construct large iron funnels of about 4ft or 5ft in diameter at the top and narrowing down to a 4in. pipe at the bottom. Place these over the gratings at the side of the street and light a coke fire round Them. You may then fill these funnels with snow, when it will melt and run into the drains as fast as the carts could bring the snow to the spot. Any number of these iron funnels could be used.

                                           I am, &c,

                                                       ALFRED. S. CHURCHILL.

16, Rutland-gate, S.W.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES:

Sir,-

The suggestion of Lord Alfred Churchill to get rid of snow by the application of heat is good, but the method he mentions would be of no use. A coke fire outside a funnel would not by any means cause the snow contained in it to melt as quickly as the carts could bring it to the spot.

The greater part of the heat would be lost by diffusion in the air. Few people but those who have studied the subject have any idea of the great absorption of heat by Snow in the act of melting. At the south-west corner of Portman square there is an apparatus at work which has recently been moved there from Cavendish square, where it was placed on the 27th ult. for the purpose of destroying large stocks of snow brought from neighbouring streets. The actual work done by it is to melt upwards of 60 cubic yards of snow per day at a cost for fuel of 6s. It would be worth while for any one interested in the question of snow removal to pay a visit to Portman square within the next few days before the banks of snow are destroyed.

               I am, Sir, Your obedient servant,

                                                                    F. LYON.

94 to 96, Harleyford road London, S.E. Jan 8

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES:

  Sir,-

As the parish authorities seem to make no real effort to get rid of the obstruction caused by the snow, I think the public should be reminded that the vestry can be compelled to remove the snow within 24 hours after being served with a notice signed by a magistrate, the case being provided for by section 26 of the Act 5 and 6 William IV, cap. 50.

  I believe the magistrates in London require the complainant to attend in person before they will issue the required notices.

                                            I am, Sir, your obedient servant.

                                                                                   F. C. D. Smythe.

Cambridge gardens, W.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES:

  Sir,-

Allow me to mention another very bad consequence of throwing salt on snow - namely, that when boots and shoes become saturated with the pernicious brine it is scarcely possible to restore them to a dry and safe condition. The other day, staying in a favourite winter resort for invalids, I was grieved to see, after a snowfall, the pavements covered with this murderous freezing mixture, and I fear Professor Vernon-Harcourts letter may encourage the practice. If so, the laming of the poor dogs, mentioned by Mr Symons, may, probably not be the worst mischief done.

  Your obedient servant,

 (All above from Jan 1887)

1901

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES

  Sir,-

I think it is high time to enter a vigorous protest against the slovenly and disgraceful way in which the City authorities pretend to dispose of the snow.

They seem to think that they have done all that is required of them if they liberally sprinkle salt over the footways and roadways and then leave the mixture to take care of itself. It is perhaps not generally known that salt and snow make a freezing mixture which is most unpleasant to the feet of pedestrians, and which also has a most destructive effect upon boot leather, and, in addition, tends to soften the hoofs of horses.

One would not feel so bitter upon the subject did the authorities follow up the sprinkling of the salt by promptly clearing away the filthy mess that results.

  But from my experience of the last two days in the City they seem to have no intention of doing this, and, an a ratepayer in the foremost city of the world, I shall feel grateful to you if you will find space for this protest, for I know that I am only giving voice to the very strong, feeling holding in the City amongst all who have found it necessary to walk through the streets on the last two days.

  Apart from the objectionable effects referred to, it is impossible to avoid being splashed from head to foot with this unpleasant mixture of salt and mud. It may cost rather more to employ gangs of men to remove the snow, but I feel quite confident that the rate-payers will willingly meet the very trifling additional cost that this would involve. I am sure that the men who are thrown out of work on account of this severe weather would be only too pleased to undertake the work.                     

Yours faithfully. W. P. ADAMS.

5 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Jan. 8.

But the letter that probably best sums up my attitude to the snow (which brings the child out in me) is this, from a lady named Agnes Lambert, who felt compelled to stick up for the snow in this letter to The Times in 1891:

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES:

Sir,-

  In these days of darkness and cold people are so engrossed with the miseries of life, and flock to you in such crowds to give voice to their groans, that I feel it will be almost impossible to win attention for anything out of harmony (or should I rather say, not in full discord?) with the gamut of grievance of which during the past week or two you have sounded nearly every note, from the shrillest cry of the odium theologicum and politicum down to the deepest bass of disgust at the perversity of mankind in out-Heroding Herod - I mean out-freezing the frost and making the snow in our streets more hateful than the falseness of political foes or the casuistry of fiscal philanthropists.

  Nevertheless, it is about the loveliness of one of these hated things, of the snow itself, that I want you to let me say just one word.

  Owing, I suppose, to the absence of wind and the stillness of the upper regions of the air, more than once during the recent snowfalls, instead of the fluffy, downy, shapeless (to the ordinary eye) snowflakes usual in this country, the snow has fallen in stellar forms of infinite and indescribable beauty, so that the air was thick with them, and any one walking out might with the naked eye have seen their coat sleeves, for example, covered with exquisite snow-flowers, as Professor Tyndall happily names them in his delightful work on "The Forms of Water". Describing these beautiful crystals in, perhaps, the most fascinating section of his book, the "Architecture of Snow," Professor Tyndall says:-

  "In the Polar regions these exquisite forms were observed by Dr. Scoresby, who gave numerous drawings of them. I have observed them in midwinter filling the air, and loading the slopes of the Alps. But in England they are also to be seen, and no words of mine could convey so vivid an impression of their beauty as the annexed drawings of a few of them, executed at Greenwich by Mr. Glaisher." Now, nearly all these marvellous forms drawn by Mr. Glaisher and reproduced by Professor Tyndall, together with many others equally beautiful, might have been seen yesterday by any one, in this neighbourhood at all events, without going outside the house. They fell on every window sill; and it was not even necessary to look at them through "magic glasses" to see their six-rayed stellar outlines. But if any one took the trouble to throw up the window and look at them through a pocket lens, then, at their leisure and protected to their heart's content against the cold, they could have enjoyed a vision of loveliness such as I certainly have not the power to describe. Not only were there the individual beauties of the varied and wonderful flowers as the crystals fell singly, but also the combined and intricate, multiform beauties of those that fell in groups or clusters, producing the effect of fairy forests of ferns and flowers and trees of surpassing delicacy and grace, gleaming and white as the purest diamond.

  It would be pleasant to know that many got such enjoyment out of the detestable snow that we have all been abusing so heartily - as good as turning the tables on a universal enemy.

                                                        I am, Sir, your faithful servant.

                                                                             AGNES LAMBERT. Milford-house, Elms-road, Clapham-common, S.W.