BURIED IN SNOW.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3101, 6 June 1881, Page 4

BURIED IN SNOW.

On the evening of January 6 Mr R. Ward living on the outskirts of Berryvillo (Va), found a man lying in tho snow near tho roadside, partially insensiblo from tho cold and terribly emaciated. Tho stranger was at once removed to Mr Ward's residence, where, after he bad been revived and had been supplied with food, which he devoured in a ravenous manner, he startled his proserver by one of the strangest and most thrilling narratives of human distress that has ever been chronicled. The man said that his name was K'ogor S. Cooper, and that he resided in the village of Paris, a small town near the summit of the Blue Bid go Mountains, on the dwelling lino between Clarke and London counties. He had volunteered to come to Berryville to urge tho residents by all the ties of humanity and manhood, to organise a relief party and go to tho assistance of the villagers, who were literally buried in tho snow, and, to tho number of about 300, were in clanger of death from both cold and hunger. The village of Paris is on the west side of the Blue Ridge, and it was directly exposed

to.the terrible north-westerly gale which began on tho night of December 10. Tho villagers at firs'/beheld the snow withe-..' alarm, although as the flakes came steadily down ii became evident to them that- the fall would be an unusually deep one. Tor eight hours the storm so continued. On Wednesday night the snow was piled high abore all the- t-.xkU and paths, and was heavily drifted agaii-st-houses. As the villagers for the night tho snow was coming dc-.vn faster than ever. Cooper and his family occupied a small cottage near the western slope of the plateau on which the village stands. He says that when he awoke on Thursday morning he found it still dark, and supposed that the day had not yet dawned. After remaining in bed for several hours, awaiting daybreak, he got up, and, lighting a lamp, by tho clock that, it was half past ten. Somewhat puzzled he went to the front door. It olfered resistance Lo his push. To his astonishment, he was confronted by a solid wall of snow. Uis house had been buried in a deep drift. His young wife and child, when informed of the position of affairs, at first became greatly alarmed, but were soon soothed by his assurances of safety.

Cooper says that the first thing he did was to build a rousing fire, and to insist on having breakfast before doing anything. That through with, he took a long-handled shovel and started to cut his way through the imprisoning wall of snow. He made rapid headway at first, but had not penetrated five feet before lie began to bo troubled by the snow taken from the tunnel. Ho had thrown it behind him on the floor, but it threatened soon to fill up the entire interior. To add to the difficulty, it began to melt under the action of the fire, ami inside of an hour the floor ran with water. The husband and father struggled gallantly at his work. The snow flew from the little little tunnel into the room, where his wife endeavored to pack it on one side. By 3 o'clock in tho afternoon Cooper had out a narrow footway for nearly 30ft., without seeing any signs of daylight. Suddenly tho roof of his tunnel dropped, and ho was buried in the snow. Putting forth desperate exertions, he struggled to extricate himself. The snow was light and easily penetrated. Following the track of the tunnel, he finally succeeded in bursting into the doorway, to find his wife lying sens .'less on the floor.

In describing the struggles through the snow, Cooper shuddered. " The feeling of suffocation which came over me," ho said, " was awful. Three or four times as I plunged blindly along, striviri to keep in the course of the tunnel, my head struck against the hardened walls of the track I had cut through the snow. The relief I experienced when I burst into my house is indescribable. It was a miracle that I ever got out alive." When he recovered from his exhaustion, he succeeded in reviving his wife who was now completely prostrated by cold and anxiety. By this time the fire in the house had died away, and the floor was covered with an icy slush. Cooper made up his mind that the attempt to cut through the drift was impracticable. It occurred to him to try to get up the chimney. Placing his wife and child in bed and covering them up warmly, he made the attempt. He ascended with ease until about 10ft from the top, where the chimney narrowed, and there he stuck. He descended and got a hatchet and chisel. Re-ascending the chimney until he was above the level of the roof, he cut his way through the brick wall. After an hour of severe toil he crawled out upon the peaked roof of his house. Besti'iding the ridge he took a survey of the situation. The snow had piled in an immense drift, reaching to the eaves against the front of his house. He could never have cut his way out from the doorway, as he would have had to penetrate 300 ft, only to find himself on the edge of a precipice overhanging a sheer fall of several hundred feet into a small valley forming the western boundary on the plateau. Glance which way he would he saw nothing but round, unbroken mounds of snow, from many of which rose columns of smoke, indicating that there were houses beneath.

" Sitting on that ridge," said Cooper, with the north wind whistling arouud me with cutting force, and almost benumbed with cold, I shuddered as I thought of the condition of the inmates of those houses from which those columns of smoke were not rising." Cooper found that the most available exit would be through the second storey front window of his cottage, where the incline of the drift made the distance to be cut though tho snow only about 10ft. Resuming his labors on that afternoon, in about an hour he had the satisfaction of seeing daylight though the opening, and eventually, with great difficulty, made his way to the house of his father, which, being in a more sheltered position, had escaped the worst fury of the storm. The men of the family soon brought out Cooper's wife and child in the same way that he had himself gotton out, and the family was soon enjoying warmth and comfort again. The snow still decended. Christmas Day dawned as cold and dreary, bringing no gladness to the belated villagers. The dark sky and occasional scurrying flakes of snow were ominous of another storm. The only thermometer in the villuge registered lOdeg below zero at 8 a.m., and as the day advanced the mercury fell slowly until it registered 19deg below. On Christmas night the suffering from cold, owing to the scarcity of fuel was very great and early the next day there were not half a dozen fires iv the village. The residents, in order to keep warm were compelled to either remain in bed or envelope themselves in extra clothing or blankets. At about ten o'clock the burgomaster, Thomas Altline, went around and called for volunteers to assist in cutting a way into tho house of a poor widow named Mrs Kate Wiliuan.

Tho next day was Sunday. In tho afternoon a meeting of the villagers was held in the schoolroom, where it was resolved that everyone should hand over their supplies of wood and food and everything which could be eaten or burned. It was brought and put undor lock and key. A fixed quantity of food was given out to each family, according to the number of persons. All wore wore to move into tho houses around the building. Those houses to bo heated by fires supplied by the Committee, and no one to touch them or put anything on them except tho Committee.

The next day the plans of the Committee were faithfully carried out, and by night fall the entire population of the village was gathered in about twenty houses in the immediate vicinity of tho school-house, whioh had been converted into a supply station. During the day tho Committee at times found some difficulty in enforcing the surrender of food. Several of the villagers showed a disposition to rebel; but tho inexorable Committee, led by Mr Wright helped themselves indiscriminately, ignoring all complaints. Once a man named Emory refused to comply with the requisition, and when the committee attempted to take the desired articles by forco, he and his three sons seized their shot guns. Wright went up to Emory and knocked him down without a word of warning. In a moment the rebellious villagers wero all prisoners in tho hands of tho Committee, who had quickly supported their leader. The Emorys wore disarmed, and after their houso had been ransacked for f uol and provisions, they wero liberated. There was great suffering from frost bites. The energetic Committee established a hospital in which the auW could be cared for by the sole physician of tho place. As many as fifty wt re suffering at ono time, and several amputations had to be performed.

It was decided to send a messenger to Borrjvillo foi help ; Coopoi- was selected. He started on Tuesday, mounted on a siroiig horse, and supplied with a flask of whiskey and a package of provisions. 11 0 travelled all that day and night. The next day the horse gave out and could go no further Cooper went ahead on foot. He was

thoroughly familiar with . the woods. Throughout Wednesday night the faithful messenger tramped through the snow. Thursday morning found him pursuing his weary way, iif an almost insensible condition. Cooper remembers singing and praying and laughing .alternately up to noon on Thursday, afler which time he lost all sense of what took place. When found by Mr Ward, Cooper was half-covered by snow, and death would undoubtedly have ensued in a fewhours.