From the Richmond Whig, 1/12/1864, p. 1, c. 3

SKATING ON THE BASIN. - One of the strongest evidences of the recent severity of the weather is afforded by the fact that the Basin was frozen over Sunday night, and that the ice was thick enough yesterday to bear a large number of boys and young men, some of whom were skating merrily over the surface, regardless of the danger of a cold bath. When the Basin is coated with ice of sufficient thickness for skating purposes, it is a sure sign that the “freeze” has been “hard.”