The Horrors of a "Blizzard."

Evening Star, Issue 7473, 17 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Horrors of a "Blizzard."

Descriptive details of the suffering from the great snowstorm in the North-west have just been received, and are of an appalling nature. It is now thought that the victims will reach 200. The storm was a genuine "blizzard," and came without any warning. The following description of its appearance in Dakota applies, says the New York correspondent of the ' Daily News,' as well to all the localities visited:— Dakota never had more perfect winter weather than at sunrise last Wednesday, January 11. The air was clear as crystal, and every object about the horizon was distinctly visible. The wind was from the south, warm and balmy, and before the sun was high in the sky a decided thaw set in. The farmers took advantage of the beautiful weather to go to town to draw wood, hay, etc. About noon a cloud was seen along tho north-western horizon lying close to the ground, but stretching from west to north in a dark semi-circle. Little attention was paid to it, but in an hour the cloud had swept over tho country. The sun was obscured, the snow was falling fast, and a gale was sweeping from the north-west with terrible fury. The " blizzard " had begun. The mercury fell vapidly, and by five o'clock it was 15 degrees below zero, and next morning 30 degrees below. All the while the wind increased in fury ; the snow fell thicker, and the large amount already ou the ground was blown into powder and hurled along by the wind. On the prairie an object of 40ft distant could not be seen. A man's voice could not be heard 6ft distant. The air was full of snow, fine 08 flour, and the roaring of the wind and the darkness caused by so much snow in tho air made the scene the most dismal, drear, and forsaken man ever looked upon. Every railway in Dakota, Minnesota, and many of the lowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin railroads were blocked. The telegraph wires were everywhere down, and it was not until Saturday, January 14, that the full extent and awful results of the storm became apparent. The telegraph hourly brings the most pitiful stories of suffering, of terrible struggles for life, and of heroic deeds by brave men and women of the storm-stricken sections, I append a few typical instances: — A female teacher started home with a little girl, and both perished. When found, the teacher was crouched in a little hollow in the ground, with her arms about tho little girl, and her dress and skirt wrapped about her. Her own bonnet was off her head, and her hand clutched her dress at the throat, but there was a smile on her face. Two children, a boy and a girl, were lost going home from school. Twenty-five men at once started in search of them, and the mother could not bo kept from going, too; they found the children lying close together. The boy had his sister's hands between his own. They were frozen to death. Two other teachers left the children in the schoolhouses in order to seek assistance in the nearest farm-house, but they were frozen to death on their way. The children were frozen in thesohoo! : houses. Another teacher walked all night in the snow, but was terribly frozen, and died soon after reaching elielter in the morning. One -woman -was found frozen to death within 40ft of her own door, liecominc; uneasy about her absent husband, she started in search of him, lost her way, and died. Manyof the dead had the appearance of having died from suffooation. Some had torn their clothing away from their throats. Otherß had thrown away their head covering, and were clutching at their throatß as though struggling for breath. During the general " blizzard " the air was filled with fine ice dust, driven with force, which chokes the unfortunate victim in a short time who attempts to stand against it. Thousands of cattle perished in their stalls, and many of the owners died in trying to save thorn. People are suffering for want of food and fuel, not daring to go and seek them. An old Englishman who was lost in the " blizzard " buried himself in the snow, and escaped with a few touches of frost. The extreme coldness is shown by the fact that the Colorado River in Texas is frozen over for the first time since the settlement of the country, the ice being a foot thick. Even the Southern States were visited by the storm, and in Memphis a negro has been frozen to death.