Litchfield enquirer., 1851-04-17

80 -. srd drove rapidly on Tor the
-'~1 - - nvt This cut was distant
49,. M mile. and was calculated Ne
b-;co the hardest place ON the road fo'
Our worst apprshcnsions were fully
,..l;Zed. and on reaching the spot drll'H
Urrl,eus Is feet in height lOon"d up iiSs
laanrhle cEffs. and th.ir appearance o."
not at Al lighten the hearts OF o." gu "a
vAnturers 1t was now three SUI ~
and our company resolved 10 ~"IN VI
G. 80 ,heu ro:urn home, TO complete
.hs;r generations the next day so WIN
~, ned another dive was made, an"
go .rnrehended, the plough and the
TT.cle Slm we're completely lost 10 tnr
go roauntain, and were With d,'nce'!
extr;cated from the criit; Du' e ~" and
81 consumed nearly all our 'ue' AZ
las. than six inches OF water REMAINED :"
either of the tanks. :, .I
There was a station one mile aheah'
and home was eleven miles IN the rear,
Thsr. "a. net sufficient fuel to take all
ths ENGINES 10 either Of these places >"
. the rear looono i've was Loaded VIII, sr ,"s
remaining wood. her tanks were H'iFS
With snow. and she was dIspatehea WI"
~. r,an for car load of fuel. She
~ss. com out of sight, and the remain
S.r Of the company with light hearts
1,l;sd their shovels in hope OF soon re-
!,l.nishiua their fires, and returning home
Two hours had passed away and the iu>
Il train was anxiously expected. Inc
tarks were filed with snow. the b"lsers
wL;ch were fast cooling, supplied by the
hand pumps, and the hose were unconp-
iad to prevent their bursting nom tie
fros,. Every splinter in the tenders was
pl.ced in the furnaces, AID some SIX
rods Of fence were dug from the snow
.nl;t and economically burned. AT
ian.,b nine O clock arrived, but no news
from the dispatched engine. The air was
excessively cold ice formed on the sale
~ v.lve lever, and the engine pumps
we're frozen sold. The fragments OF th'
fance were all consumed, and tie "ate'
of the boilers was cooling rapidly, Dy
tho aid Of axes. shoyels. crows ana Lam
EN-. s;x of the company made last ct
for, 70 nrocurc fuel, and after enduring
.ha most extreme cold for tho space OF
ons bour succeeded in obtaining about
two rods o. rail fence, all OF which was
some five feet under the surface OF t"e
drifts. The idea of keeping the o"'isrs
warm was abandoned. and the rails being
cut into proper lengths. "a fire was made
~ ~. aeor of the Uncle Sam, around
which the company eongregated. and Tor
a time were quite comfortable.
Eleven o'clock approached. but no re,
lief. The boilers were quite colo: ana
the fuel was half consumed. Without,
the wind blew perfect hurricane. and
the air was keen and freezing. Four ol
the party now determined TO go on to
the next station and procure food
and il possible, fuel, though this seemed
TO be a dangerous enterprise. -Four me'
including myself, were now lett IN th'
Uncle Sam, oil suffering with cold. II
spite of our FIRE and exercise.
Something was 10 be done or we must
ner;sh. The furnace walls were nea'l..
c,ld. but shutting the draft, and tas'en
;ne open the door. descended int: IN
furnace, built a fire in the middle OF ~
CRATE. and requested my companions
;11 ourselves IN canvass. we an" eac TTr, "
supied a corner, and placing our feet t
ths fire we all formed letter x. w
were here protected from wind ant
snow, and while the sides of the farnac'
continued warm, We were quite comfort
able and very cheerful. Imagine oul
novel position enclosed iu box of iroI
five feet square, which bsx was enclosed
by another Of equal strength; huge
crate beneath us and cold boiler above
and around us; our cell ventilated b,
100 copper faes. and our only place q
errsss 9 double iron door, twelve inches
high ,apd eighteen inches wide. In short
we wsrs in the furnace Of Locomotive
in which the thermometer would not
stand above zero. ......5e
One o'clock at length arrived. and i
was time to hear from orr dispatches il
Ahe ether quarter, but no sound saluted
aus, save the bowling and mourning o
Ehe storm.
had noticed for some time that th'
nan sitting in the eornsr opposite mi
lad been silent and Inactive. and that h.
at last leaned his head heavily against the
wall. Supposng him TO have dropped
asleep, being overcome by his exsnions
] paid no farther attention. but scrapins
together the dying smbers. snugget
more closely into my canvass. and takln,
a paper with shivsring hands commenced
to read by the light Of lamp, which
was suspended FROM a rod resting in til,
end of flue. I had read semO fiv
4ninutes in a sort of ssnseless state, whe'
] was reused by the cry from my near
est neighbor that the man opposite me-
was dying" Springing towards hin
with light. I discovered that what
supposed to be dsowsiness and fatigue
was the lethargy of death. BY the nsos,