Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-01-30
A Land Of Snow strewn Thickly with
Corpsess
[From the New York Herald.]

From the Nep YORK herdto'J
W1NoNA, M1NN., January 1S-While
your Eastern world on the verge OF the
Gulf Stream has been lifting the hands OF
despair and voice OF protest over snow
fall which made locomotlcn on loot un-
pleasant and by horse cars impossible iol
q day or two, and while the whole. coun-
try has been thrilling with horror at tht
incremation Of few hapless workwomer
in tinder box, up here, on the shadeless
and shelterless prairies, 'fthere hath been
wrought deed Of dreadful note. HUI
man suffering which parallels that endur-
etl BY the fated franklin has been Of hour
" occurrence, and lives have been taken
as freely as in battle, but with attendant
circumstances infinitely more tragic than.
wait on the parting Of. the soul which is
rent from the mangled flesh by shot or
steel i was in Minnesota after the awful
massacres Of ten years agoswhen tue red
wave OF Indian invasion swept over the
smiling land and left it
A WASTE OF ASHES SOAKED WITH BLOOD;
but the scalping. knife and bullet of the
Sioux did not do such havoc as the SHOWS
have wrought this year, nor were all the
tortures of the red iends productive Of
more agony than have witnessed within
the past ten days. What has been suf-
fered and how many have been slam has
not vet been ascertained. for the settle
ments are far apart and communication Is
difficult; but by every mail come particu-
lars that chill the blood, and We can now
fairly estimate the extent of the calamity;
and, inasmach as the history of this mem
orable Polar wave must. in a large meas,
ure, be derived from local sources and
backwoods journals that never reach the
Eastern reader or editor, it may not be
labor wasted on the part of the HeralfS
correspondent to prepare succinct and
inteligible account Of the sad affslrs to
which are added such personal passages as
may be most worthy Of preservation.
Tuesday, the 7th, was a lovely and
mild day. The sun was bright and the
mir balmy. Every pulse of the country
was astir under the genial influence and
the wild swans that changed overhead
once or twice from their 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 a handful OF tiour at
the bottom of the barrel, not . scrap OF
meat was left. But the SHOWS had ceas.
cd, their shaggy little horses were well
again, so every farmer hltohed has team
for the town. In the little cottages OF
wood were women and children the school
houses were full of little ones. Such was
the country, thus its dwellers, when the
blow fell Nature would seem to have
arrogated to herself all the savage attrib-
utes which had marked her first children
there, their careful and patient watch for
an easy opportunity and their sudden and
relentless onslaught.
TIE STORM WAS TURNED SIOUX.
At Winnebago City there were sixty
teams assembled; scores were at New
Ulm. All along from Albert Lea and
Blue Earth, by Window, Mankato, clear
up to Breckenridge, Belle Prairie and
Duluth, the people were scattered, dehv-
cred into the hands Of the storm.
Between twelve and two o'clock on
Tuesday the sky turned livid, the'sun be-
came merely dull brazen ring. the south
wind chopped round rapidly and became
cold, and in very few minutes was laden
with fine frozen snowdrift that stung like
a shower CT needles. So utterly unpre-
pared were the people for the change In
the weather, and so suddenly did it come
upon them, that one man at Winnebago
City describes it as "if man clapped his
hands-so, and the snow came in our
faces" Knowing what this hurricane
boded, men leaped into their sleighs, and
with voice and lash urged their covering
horses out intothe storm. Then the work
of death began. For more than fifty
hours, till late on Thursday, the freezing
wind and falling snow continued. 1t was
not steady fan of snow, but
a HowLIsa HURRICANE,
the wind sometimes attaining speed of
twenty EIGHT, thirty or thirty-two miles.
The snow came in ftful furries, with
wild screech and a singing whiz. The
thermometer fell steadily, till at Champ
lain it registered fifty-four degrees below
zero. At other places, the mercury mark
ed from eight to forty-two degrees below.
Some Of the farmers who set out soon
found that if they valued life they must
turn back. They were enveloped in sheets
of snow, that blinded them. The wind
came so fercely that they were fain to
stop and turn round till a momentary lull
came. The road-why, the level prairie
was all road now, without one track Of
wheel or runner to indicate the path OF
safety. Wherever there was slight Snoll
or tree the driving snow-sleet curle:i
round it and broke over it like yeasty bill
lows over q wreck, and far to leewart;
grew up drifts Of eccentl., Snrm. Then
the snorting horses that toiled a. g, press.
ing with their heaving tianks closer to
each other for warmth and dumb protec-
tion and sympathy, refused to go forward
the driver felt himself becoming hstcss.
his cold limbs were growing warm. and,
warned OF the
SWIFT COMING OF DEATH,
he turned and retraced his steps Happy |
they who did so betimes There wer,.
many who heldon stubbornlv till ton lat .
There were many more who, goaded ON y
a dreadful fear Of the fate OF their wivt.'
and little cnes, left alone in their frail cit
adels, forced OH through the drifts that
grew deeper at every step and cold that
became more intense every moment. And
there were others who grew weary OF the
contest, and. lying down in then robes.
were lulled by the elemental rage into u
slumber which knew no awakening Some
times the horses gave out, and the unhap-
py driver, bcnumbed and chilled. lis move,
ments impedcd by his heavy clething. had
to abandon his team and take to the drifts.
The means and shrieks of the horses that
found themselves thus deserted by their
masters are said by some few who sur
vived such scenes 10 have been agonizing
to hear. And at their homes things were
no better There was perhaps a scanty
supply of fuel in the corner and but a |
days food in The larder. Night trod close
ly on the heels of noon. Perhaps the |
,of ar woo a lone with har ar1cll ling child