A RUSSIAN SNOW-BLIZZARD.

Western Star, Issue 2220, 8 July 1898, Page 6

A RUSSIAN SNOW-BLIZZARD.

T was perforcs detained here by a snonblimril, during which no fane man would start o-j a jiMrnty. These Russian snow-blizzavds are ter.-ible inan'i'f station* of Nature's wrath, and annually c?.use much loss of life throughout llus' :i».. 1 do not know it the Canadian blizzards assume the same form. In Russia the c.?S! ntial feature of a real hlizz-ird is iis cyclonic nature, f,O that the wind is no guide to you, Wowing as it dors from all point-! of the romps.™, and whiiling the snow round and round. 'I be clouds jf snow are so thick that you cannot see a yard before you ; and it is not so much the descending show which overpoweis you (indeed, I believe a blizzard can occur without snow falling at the time), as the snow driven along and upward from the ground. This is as fine as dust, and penetrates everywhere, through your clothing into your ears, nostrils, and (yes, almost blinding you, and, driven by the fierce icy blast, stings like so many needles. The best chance of escape, Rod that a poor one at times, is to trust to the instinct of your horsos ; hut even they caenot in a severe blizzard, face the storm of cutting snow, and continually tutu icrtind, thus getting bewildered. Tliose who may have ridden on dark nights along dangerous places where a single false step would be fatal, know how they can trust to the marvellous instinct, or it. may be eyesight, of the horse ; but in a severe blizzard his instinct aeems benumbed, and he is little less helpless than a man. Sometimes these storms last for many hours, even for days, then woe betide the traveller caught in one !—" Blackwood's Magazine."