Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1873-02-01
MiserlI
The Great storm.
TERRIBLE TEMPEST IN MINNESOTA.

TERRIBLE TEMPEST IN MINNESOTA.
Few Of the peoplo in this section Of our
country can have any idea of the sutierings
endured by the men, women and children
of portions-pf Minnesota during the late
terrible snow storm. Nothing like it has
| been known for years. The loss of life was
| flightlul, while the destruction of property
was nmeuse. The following is n dcscrip-
! tion Of the horrors of the hurricane, as
sent by II correspondent from WinUna,
Minnesota, to the New FORK HeruId:
was in Minnesota after the awful mas
sacres of ten years ago, when the red
wave of Indian invasion swept over the
smiling lnud and lett it a waste OF ashes
! soaked with blood but the sea ping knife
| and bullet of the Sioux did not 10 such ha-
| voc as the SHOWS have wrOugh. this year,
nor were all.the turtures of the red fends
! productive ot more agony than | have wit
messed within the past ten days. What
| has been suffered aud how many have
! been slain has not vet been asccrtained, for
! the settlements are inr apart, and cOmmu-
nication is difficult but by every mail
! come particulars that chill the blood, and
we can now fairly estimate the extent of
| the calamity.
| Up TO that fatal Tuesday. at whose men
| u
for wears 10 come, there had been winter
| weather OF the usuai sort. clear, cold, with
| occasional storms of snow, some Ofawhich
| had seriously blockaGed the railroads. aud
! induced cOnUidrrablc suffering from sra rel
! ty ot fuel.
TUESDAY, THE 7th,
was lovely and mild day. The sun was
bright and the air balmy. Every pulse Of
the country WAS astir under the genial in
| fueute, and the wild swans that Changed
overhead once or twice from the meres
must have seen the prairie roads alive with
teams The farmers were all out at the
nearest settlement. They were getting
short of fuel ; there was but handful of
Hour at the bottom of the barrel not a
scrap Of meat was left.
But the SHOWS had ceased, their shaggy
| little horses were well again, 80 every far
mer hitched his team for the town. In the
little cottages of wood were women aud
children the school-hOuses were full of lit
tie ones. Such WAS the country, thus its
dweers, when the snow fell. Nature
would seem To have arrogated to herself all
the savage attributes which had marked
her first children there, their careful and
patient watch for an easy opportunity, and
their sudden and relentless onslaught.
So utterly unprepared were the people FOR
the change in the weather, and 50 suddenly
did it come upon them, that one man at
Winnebago City describes it rs IF II man
had clupped his hands so, and the snow
came in our facesn Knowing what the
hurricane bodcd, men leaped into their
sleighs, and with voice and lash urged
their covering horses out into the storm.
Then the work of death began. For more
| "a lnt M CIa, Ia.
freezing wind ana falling snow continued.
1t was not = steady fall of snow, but a
bowling hurricane, the wind sometimes at
tanning a speed of twenty-eight, thirty, or
thlrty-two miles. The snow came in litiul
hurres, with wild screech and a singing
whiz. The thermometer fell steadily, till
at ChampAin it registered fifty-fuur de-
grees below zero. Al other places the mer-
curry or spirit marked from eight to forty
two de- Grees below. Some OF the farmers
who set ont soon found that if they valued
life they must turn back. They were en-
veoptd in shsets sf snow that blinded
them. The wind cauie so tiercely that they
were tsin To stop aud turn round till mo-
mentary lull came.
The road-why, the level prairie WAS all
road now, without one track or wheel or
runner to indicate the path of safety.
tree the driving snOwslert curied round il
and broke over it like yeasty pillows over a
wreck. and far To leeward grew up drifts of
eccentric form. Then the snurtug horses
that tolled along, pressing with their heay-
ing banks closer IT, each other for warmth
and dumb protection and sympathy, rctIs-
ed to go forward the driver felt himself
becoming lstless. his cold limbs were grow
ing warm. aud warned If the swift coming
of death, he turned and retracvd his It ps.
Happy they who did So betimes There
were many who held on stubbnrnly ill IL was
too is,e There were many who, goaded nu
bya dreadful fear of the fate of their wives
and lLtir ones, lett alone in their trail cita-
dels, forced on through the drills that gre "
deeper at every step, aud cold that grew
more intense every moment Aud there
were others who grew weary of the contest
and. lying down in their rnbes, were ulled
by the elemental rage Into slumber which
knew no awakening.
SOnctimes the horses gave out, aud the
unhappy driver, beuumbed aud chilled, his
movements impeded by Lis heavy clothing
had to abandon his team and take 10 the
driits. The means aud ehrieks of the hnr-
ses themselves thus deserted 10y their mas
ters are said by some few who survived
such scenes to have been agohizing TO hear.
And At their homes things were no better.
There was perhaps scanty supply Of fuel
in the corner, and but a days food in the
harder. Night trod closely on the heels Oh