Weather rambling — ‘Marvelous’ April 1890

The end of winter, always a cause of celebration in the Adirondacks, was particularly joyous in 1890.

“If we don’t get a tornado as a sequence to this marvelous winter, we shall be thankful,” the Glen’s Falls Messenger reported on April 11, 1890, in a report republished from the Troy Budget.

“Marvelous” for its mildness.

“For fifty years the people have had sleighing here, beginning in November and ending in April. This winter we have not had ten days of sleighing, taking it all together.”

Robins and blackbirds were spotted as early as March 10.

“In fact, the season is just one month ahead of time.”

It wasn’t so marvelous a winter for bears, when temperatures were consistently too warm to drive them into hibernation.

“The bears have been roaming around all winter, and are now drawn along the clearings with very vigorous appetites.”

That created marvelous potential for Adirondack sportsmen.

“If any of our readers hunger for bear, now is the time to put out a skinned deacon (calf skin) and sit on a roost to wait for the game to come along.”

A marvelous fishing season was anticipated.

“If the forecasts of the guides are to be believed, such as season as will make the tourists’ hair curl is now before us.”

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