, 1864-01-04

uHppeuCu u uE uuu IDut ILL bGA1l-1AfCA
two-thirds of the night Exposed to the
shricking and penetrating wind, laden with
frost, which swept across tho low level
prairie, the condition Of the, passengers In
these cars became exceedingly uncomforta~
BILE. The ah1Yer became pain In the feet,
end chill and shudder, as the' night Waned
and no relief engines came. and the fuel was
fast disappearing.
The fences were thought OF, anI..a saw aid
ed in putting boards in q shape to: feed the
stoves which yielded no return Of comfort.
The flames zoared up the pipe as they ate up
the dry pine, and smoke was discovered about
the roof Of the car, and smoke Issued from
cars shonld burn: What If these women
and children are turned out into this storm
on this bleak Tprairie2 Is 1t not better to
suffer little more cold here than perish: for
wnnt OF shelter On. this prairies' These
were the questions suggested By this
promptly, ave must be careful; II
one car gets buming We cannot save tte
untenable. The fire was put ont, and the=
passengers abandoned It because It was not
safe to kindle another in IT. And so the
hours passed, The cold grew colder; the
wind howled and shrieked like mad; the
snow filled the air, and the frost drofe In
through every erevfce, piercing to the quick
women aud children, like sharp needles.
Those who had lunch baskets that were not
empty carefully distributed Of their stores
among the little ones; and the warmest hooks
were giyen to nursing mothers and their In
fants. The men found passtime in a1terna-
ling between the fance and the baggage car,
and between ths latter and the several stoves.
They found comfort alone in the most: yigo.
ons exercise, and in the hope to hear the
come Of that engine sent for aid? Had itgot
through: Who went with it, Sargent
would not let Us suffer there long g-he wasn't
that sort of a man. # the en-
gine had not got through, he must
know that ne had passed Calumet And
thus the chances were discussed. And each
moment the cars grew more uncomfortable,
and the suffering of passengers increased
The day had daWnel- hours had passed since
daylight, md get no signs Of heip. "When
are re going to get to the city Mr.. Conduc-
tor?" asked woman with tears in her eyes.
if I could draw yon there myself, would do
it." And We felt that he spoke what'he
felt; for no man could have been more untir-
ing than he was in his efforts to render his
passengers comfortable and SAFE He feared
the bre from tic stoves; and with such aid
es he could muster, had visited o rai1way
building eome' distance away. forced it open
and was seeking how he might best render it
tenable, when Michigan Southern train,
drawn By three engines came in sight This
train was signalled, stopped, md arrange
1nents were. made for the transfer of the
chilled passengers from the Central train to
1t. A distance Of three hundred yards more
or less, was to be traversed- The snow was
deeply drifted. The snow and frost laden
wind Vas sweeping the path like storm Of
grape. But 1t was announced that the pas
eengeFs would be taken to the city If they
would Instantly make M effort to reach the
Southern trafn~ Haste was necessary in or
der that the nrrfnaa rnfrhf mt frpn1e NJ, Fe.
fore we could get started. "Don'ta man of
you start without taking woman or child
with you," shouted Carter. ssW1ap up, wrap
upclose, ''shouted Butterae1d, who In his anxi-
ETY. Tor others forgot himself and froze his
face, nose End ears-and women and children
undertook the terrible passage. Cold as It
was IN the car, those who had not had occa-
sion to expose themselves to the storm pre-
viously, knew little OF the ordeal through
which they must pass IN order to reach the
other train. Strong men fell by the way
ftail women dropped down unable to step,
men and hurried to the cars insensible Chill
dren, holf-clad, were rescued hnlffrozen.
Few who attempted the journey escaped
being frost-bitten. White noses, ears, faces,
and hands marked most Of the Central pas
sengers and many Of the Southern ones, who
Lad nobly rendered aid in the transfer The
Eccne in those cars, as the frozen passengers
were helped in, beggars description. Men
with frozen features rushed ont for snow
with which to extract the frost from the feet
and hands, and faces Of the womep and chill
d1en, forgetting their own condition until
which follows neglect In such cases. Chi.
fainting. men shouting and rushing
hitler and thither, with SNOW and liquors,
the rush Of cold mir through tie open doors,
the signal shrieks Of the engine, the anxious
7t11n rf for IF nth
for children, Of Children for their mothers,
combined to make an Impression that will
render the first day Of the new ye1t 1854 ever
memorable to those who were present. Two
or three sick and wounded soldiers and one
Of two women we're left On the Michigan
toprovide for their comfort. One woman
had given her eldest child, girl Of two and
a half years, into the hands Of strong man
to carry. He had deposited the child safely
in the trnin. The mother attempted to fol-
low with babe Of four months folded to her
and returned whence she came. And so
mother and child were separated. The latter
suffered less than the mother probably, for
wrapped in heavy shawl she soon fell
asleep, and woke to be carefully fed and
nureed during tie succeeding niSnt BY Mr.:
dEawn by the three engines, started with the
added freight for the city. Few Of Us dream
ed that there would be serious detention
further. Hope Of seeing home and friends
md reaching comfortable quarters, revived
the fainting and animated oil. But scarcely
three miles had been passed before the train
suddenly stopped. What is the matter?
;'Here are two Rock Island engines frozen
up,'' was the reply. In few minutes word
CAME back from the baggage car that the en-
gineer had said TINT aegenty-fIye engines could
not draw that trim through to- Chicago-it
was so badly drifted. Another Eigilant
Ferson announced that the three engines had
been detached from the train and gone on to
the city to break the road and get four more
to help draw the trim In. Hope of help and
[C0ncluded on Fourth Hge.1