CLEAR, COLD WEATHER, WITH PLENTY OF SKATING AND TOBOGGANING

AMPERSAND, N.Y., Jan. 26. — For the past week fine clear, cold weather has prevailed, and the air has been of that bracing kind that only those who have been in the Adirondacks in the Winter know of. The last four nights the mercury has been below zero, and the ice on the lakes and ponds is from ten to twelve inches in thickness.  The last four nights the mercury has been below zero, and the ice on the lakes and ponds is from ten to twelve inches in thickness.  The sleighing on Saranac Lake, from one end to the other, is superb, and the driveway in the afternoon presents a pretty sight, with its many handsome turnouts filled with pleasure seekers.

The present season is by far the gayest Winter ever seen here.  That the Northern Woods is a good a place for those seeking health and pleasure as a warmer climate has been fully established and is beyond doubt.  The toboggan slide in front of the Hotel Ampersand, running down the lake, has been a source of much pleasure.  Instead of using toboggans here, small bobs, holding about six, have taken their place.  After reaching the ice they run for about half a mile.  A good-sized place is kept on the lake clear from snow for skating.  A number of the young men stopping at the hotel spend their mornings in hunting foxes and rabbits, which gives them an appetite that is something appalling.

The message sent to the Legislature by Gov. Hill referring to the preservation of this beautiful section of the Empire State will be watched with great interest by all here and by those as well who have ever been in the Adirondacks.

The first annual report of the the Signal Service station here for the twelve months ending Dec. 31 is as follows:  Average mean temperature, 43°; average maximum, 60°;  average minimum, 32°; average rainfall, (rain and melted snow,) 3.54 inches; prevailing direction of the wind, west; average mean humidity, 69 percent.  The year was an unusually wet one, which accounts for the high humidity.

Among those registered at the Hotel Ampersand are Mrs. Anson Phelps stokes and Miss Stokes of New-York, Baron Halkett of London, Mr. and Mrs. L. M. Crane and Miss Jones of Boston, P. H. Booker of Brookline, Mass.; Charles B. Fritz of Philadelphia, E. J. Knabe, Jr., William Knabe, and D. H. Duer of Baltimore; A. D. Juilarrd, A. C. Cheney and wife, John L. Lawrence, Miss Lawrence, James T. Horn, Miss Horn, F. Hornby, F. C. Hornby, Mr. and Mrs. A. Carter, E. T. Carter, J. F. Carter, George C. Cooper, S. B. Thorne, Mrs. A. C. Poillon, and Miss McDonald, all of New-York City.

Original Article – (Jan. 27, 1890 New York Times)
Image courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center