The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-01-30
A Pen Picture Of the Great Snow HuF-
fleane.
SIX MILES NORTH FROM ATwATER, .
MINNESOTA.
Tot Editor 9f fhe .17HaedpOlis Tri-

SIX MILES NORTH FROM ATwATER,
MINNESOTA.
To the Editor 9f The Minneapolis Tri-
btglc
Your correspondent has been a resi-
dent Of the timbered district Of the
State for seven years, and has been on
the prairies more or less every winter,
but never till now has it been his for
tune to witness prairie winter storm.
Yesterday morning was mild, with 3
moderate breeze from the south. and
as we started out on days trip north
from Atwater, on the line Of the st.
Paul and Pacific railway, there was
every prospect Of a pleasant day.
At ii in the morning commenced
fall Of snOw-a real New England
storm, the fakes large and moist, fall
ing slowly and nOiselessly through
the air. This continued with some
intermissiOns till $3.50 p m, when,
after completing our business, the
horses heads were just turned toward
AtWateF. Then, In an instant, with
no warning whatever the storm
sWOOped down upon Us from the
northwest with demOniae fiereeness.
around the sleigh and its occupants,
and in much less time than is taken
to write this, we were completely
blinded with the storm. Aly eOmrade is
an old settler on the prairies, and knew
from experience how to dread the sit
uatiOn. Fortunately we were in the
main road when the gale struck US,
though the track was Lew to both Of
US, over q feneeless prairie, with but
few houses. AS the storm would lift
little for a moment, We could see
two OF three rods ahead, and catch the
faint trace Of the track, which alone
was visible. How eagerly We strained
our eyes TO follow the trace, upon
which alone our safety depended
I Once or twice il was almost lost. and
our hearts sank like lead; for to wan
der was almost certain death. After
/ fifteen minutes Of this horrible expert
ence, we came upon a house, the only
( one, as we afterwards learned, for
some miles, lying directly on The
road. Indeed, l believe now If we had
passed this house before the storm
came on, we should never have
/ reached shelter, as the storm cOntin-
ued to increase with awful rapidity.
{ The sweep Of the tempest now be-
came terrible, the snow filling the air
so that at no time was the stable,
three rods away, visible, and only Oe-
{ easiOnally could we catch q glimse Of
q wagon not twenty feet from the
window. At the time of this writing
Tho St1Im has heen raging twenty
uu,ir-, AMI StiIi rs uy with unabat-
ed violence We are shut up in lit
rle hut l0xl2 feet, with a family of
Swedes, and the prospect is We shall
have another night OF Il. Just at this
moment the farmer has come in from
the wood pile, the end Of his nose fro
zen white "a snow. 1t Is growing
colder and we get no comfort but by
huddling close to a red hot stove.
These settlers tell me they have ma
ny awful storms here, but this il far
the worst ever known. The man
who occupied the nearest house was
frozen to death last winter Ia a storm
not near the severity of this. He was
coming home from the grove with
fire wood, and perished within short
distance OF his home. Heaven help
those who were caught out at the
coming OF this storm, for, unless they
were on some frequented track, and
near shelter like ourselves, they are
beyond hum an aid.