Christmas Present

Last week it was so cold in Europe that hungry wolves padded swiftly down from the frozen Carpathian Mountains to raid isolated Rumanian villages for sheep and cattle. Turkeys driven to stations in northern France for the trip to Paris' Christmas markets froze to death. Ravenous crows attacked and mortally injured a small girl in Poland. Big Ben, intoning the hours in London, sounded like a pig-squeak.

Under a bitter and gusty east wind blowing out of Siberia and gathering momentum as it shrilled across Russia, Europe's highly domesticated inhabitants shivered, caught colds, froze to death, were snowbound and frostbitten. London, Paris and Berlin reported the coldest December weather in 47, 61 and 80 years respectively. Worst cold was in Scandinavia and eastern Europe: Norway reported 25DEG below zero Fahrenheit. Poland 27, Russia 45, and Novo-Sibirsk, Siberia, 54.

Canals, railroads and highways throughout the continent froze over or were blocked with drifting snow. Ships in the North and Baltic Seas and English Channel scuttled to port. While adults labored to dig Europe out, and to distribute food, coal and Christmas cheer over damaged communication systems, children were delighted. In London, for the first time in ten years, there was enough snow for snowballs, and at Versailles there was skating on the Grand Canal. Casualties: 200 dead. Most inexcusable casualty: the freezing to death of ten German-Jewish refugees in a camp on the German-Polish border.

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