IMH 74:4 362

"Chronicles of Upper Burnet" (1)

Thursday, December 30th.

And it was the same way to-day. The mercury only fell to
7° below zero last night or rather stood at that this morning.
The air was filled with flying frost, creating some beautifully
bright "sun-dogs" as the sun arose. They were nearly as bright
as rainbows. It averaged 8° above zero all day; the wind did not
blow and the sun shone most of the time. The same things that
occupied us yesterday occupied us to-day except that I did'n't
write any in that letter and Alvin tried to squiz rather more
but it was rather coolish for him even.

Teaching note: "Rather coolish" seems to be an understatement. I imagine the heating system in 1880
was a potbellied wood buring or coal burning stove. That still remains a heating method although generally
for wood. Burning coal in the large..or even small towns could create quite a problem in the wrong weather
conditions such as a major fog or smog event. Students might want to investigate the deaths in Danora Pennsyvania
in 1948 and the Great Smog in London December, 1952.