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REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES.

Randolph, Virginia, Dec. 17.

ON the 10th inst., as captain
Thomas Lamson and his son Ira
Lamson, together with another
young man, were cutting timber,
the two young men having cut a
large tree nearly off, captain Lam-
son told his son to run and drive
the oxen away, out of the reach of
the tree; but seeing it was about to
fall, he cried to him to look out. At
this time he was out of danger;
but, alarmed by the cries of his fa-
ther, he turned and ran towards the
tree, and continued a straight course
towards his father, who stood near
the roots of the tree, and had nearly
reached him when it fell. The fa-
ther, sensible of the fate of his son,
ran, with great violence, to push
him aside, to avoid the impending
danger, and just reached him as it
fell. They both fell at the same in-
stant, the father with his arms
stretched forth to snatch his son
from immediate destruction; and
had he advanced one step farther,
must have shared the same fate!
It is remarkable, that had he varied
his course one foot either way he
might have escaped unhurt, as the
tree fell perfectly in his tracks.
Not a groan escaped him, nor did
he struggle or breathe afterwards.
No pen can possibly paint the scene.
In this awful situation he lay, with
his ribs and shoulders very badly
broken, and his head almost bruised
to atoms, while the young man cut
off the tree in two places; and the
father, to prevent the head of his
son from being torn to pieces, was
obliged to hold it in his hands, as it
lay under the tree.

We can only imagine the feelings
of a parent on such a melancholy
occasion. To captain Lamson, this
scene must have been more than
commonly trying, not only from the
peculiar situation in which he himself
was placed, at the time, but from
the consideration of the character of
his son. He was about 19 years of
age, and for virtue and fidelity, few

young men in life sustained so high
a character.

Massachusetts.

The following is a record of the
weather in the year 1780, twenty-
five years ago, since which we have
not had so severe weather till the
present, 1805.

In the month of January, 1780, the
mercury in the thermometer was,
at one o'clock, the 28th day, 8 de-
grees below 0, in Boston. A philo-
sophical gentleman, then in the
town, observed, that the day follow-
ing, viz. the 29th, was the coldest
day we had experienced since 1755.

In that year, it was only one de-
gree colder. Notwithstanding the
severity of the weather at that time,
one of the Boston pilots came to
town on the ice from Thompson's
Island, a distance upwards of three
miles. The 31st of January, the
weather was so cold as to prevent
business abroad.

The snow, within fifteen miles of
Boston, was so high as to oblige the
people to travel on rackets to get
fuel and their corn ground. The
roads were so filled as to be opened
by horses, oxen, and sleds; and, in
some places, it could not be accom-
plished by these means. The quan-
tity of snow then on the ground is
said to have exceeded that in the
year, 1740. In some places, the snow
was so deep as to render the roads
impassable by horses. Some small
sleds were drawn by hands fifty
miles.

Charles river froze over, and
Boston harbour was full of ice.

It has been observed, that the
wind W. by S. brings the coldest
weather.

On the 19th of February, 1780,
the harbour of Boston began to open
to Rainsford or Hospital Island,
about six miles from town.

A thaw taking place rendered the
roads extremely difficult to pass,

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and almost impossible with loaded
teams.

The diary of a country gentleman
(not long since deceased) informs,
that “water, contained in a silver
c[gap]n, in his bed-chamber, in the
night of April 1, 1780, froze into a
solid body of ice.” The spring of
this year was uncommonly back-
ward.

The gentleman mentioned found
under chips in his yard a quantity
of hard ice. The earliest fruit was
not in bloom the last of April, nor
any seed sown, large bodies of snow
being yet on the ground.

Besides the foregoing events in
the year 1780, we notice the 19th of
May, when an unusual darkness en-
compassed the atmosphere in the
day, and the darkness of the night
is represented as Egyptian. A grand
eclipse of the sun happened October
27th, 1780, visible in Boston: not a
cloud to be seen during the eclipse.
Without the influence of the sun, it
was remarked, what a dismal region
would the earth be.

Annapolis, Maryland, Feb. 14.

On Saturday last, the body of Mr.
Searson Dove, of this city, who had
been missing near three weeks, was
found at Belmont, the plantation of
J. T. Chase, Esq. On Sunday mor-
ning, a jury of inquest was held on
the body, whose verdict was, “that
he had perished and froze to death.”


The Massachusetts legislature
have unanimously concurred in the
amendment to the federal constitu-
tion, proposed by North Carolina,
to authorise congress to prohibit
the further importation of slaves.


On the night of Febuary 14, from
the violence of the wind, one of the
arches of the bridge over the Mo-
hawk, at Schenectady, was blown
over. This accident, we are told,
was occasioned by the temporary
work remaining as a support to the

arch. The loss is not mentioned,
but supposed to be considerable.

Raleigh, N. C., February 18.

On Friday last, John Blount, Esq.,
of Chowan county, brought to this
city Thomas Morris, charged with
passing, in Edenton, counterfeit bills
of the United States branch bank at
New York, Baltimore, and Char-
leston. When Morris was taken
up, he had six bills of one hundred
dollars each, all counterfeit. He
said he lived in Tenessee, but was
born in Burke county, in this state,
where his father now resides, and
that he had received the bills from
a William Wood of South Carolina.
Having three horses with him, he
said his business at Edenton was to
sell them.

On Saturday, Mr. Blount lodged
him in the jail of this county.


Notwithstanding that there is a
law to prevent the carrying of
slaves through this state, and a very
heavy penalty on those who violate
it, yet we are sorry to say that this
inhuman traffic is still pursued.—
Seldom a week intervenes, but three
or four savage looking whites pass
through this place, driving before
them gangs of negroes from Mary-
land and Virginia, through this state,
to South Carolina and Georgia.—
During the late fall of snow, and
hard weather, a great number of
these unhappy creatures were
brought to this place; one half
took the road to the west, and the
others to the south. This separa-
tion caused several of the blacks
to be taken from their relatives and
acquaintances, and afforded a scene,
by their cries, truly distressing to
any of the least humanity.

Much to the credit of John G.
Rencher, Esq., of this county, he
stopped the drivers of these slaves,
but, while he was in search of an
officer, they made their escape, and
got out of the county before the she-
riff, who lives out of town, could be
had.



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We learn that it is the determi-
nation of several magistrates of this
and the adjacent counties to arrest
the first of those inhuman specula-
tors who shall make his appearance
with slaves for traffic.


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