Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-02-05
Drifts Of Death,

Drifts of Death.
Few OF the people in this section 0
our country can have any idea &C ~ :.
sufIerings oadurod by i. "en, wo'
men. nnd children e p'r''oaS ',, VI Ml'l m
pesota durir, the late terrible snow
storm ,soihing like il has been known
for ears. The loss of life was fright.
ml, while the destruction of property
was immense, The following is u de-
scription Of the horrors of the hurri-
,ane, as sent by correspondent from
Winona, Minnesota, on January Is,
to the New York Herdh:
was in Minnesota after the awful
massacrcs of ten years ago, when the
red wave of Indian invasion swept
over the smiling land and left it a
waste Of ashes soaked with blood but
The scalping-knifc and bullet of the
Sioux did not do such havoc as the
SHOWS have wrought this year, nor
werc all the torturcs of tho red feDds
productive of more agony than / have
witnessed within the past ten days.
What has been suffered and how
many have been slain has not yet been
a-certained, for the settlements arc
far apart and communication is diff
cult; but by every mail come particu-
lars that chill the blood, aud we can
now fairly estimate the extent of the
calamity.
Up 10 that fatal Tuesday, at whose
mention many u heart shall ache in
Minnesota for years to come, there
had been Winter weather OF the usual
sort, clear, cold, with occasional storms
of enow, somo Of which had seriously
blockaded the railroads and induced
considerable suffering from scaicity ol
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
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
we're all out at the nearest settlement
They were getting short of fuel
there was but handful of -four at
the bottom OF the barrel not scrap
of meat was left. But the SHOWS had
ceased, their shaggy little horses were
well again, so every farmer hitchcd
his team for the town. In tho little
cottages of wood were women and
children; the school houses were full
of little oncs Such was the country
thus its dwelers, when the blow fell
Nature would seem 10 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 werc the
people for the change in the weather
and so suddenly did it come upon
them, that one man at WinnebagC
City describes il as "if man had
clapped his hands--so, and the snow
came in our faces" Knowing what
the hurricane boded, men leapcd into
their sleighs, and with voice and lasl
urged their covering horses out into
the storm, Then the work of deati
began. For more than fifty hours
till late on Thursday, tho freezing
wind and falling snow continued. II
was not u steady fall of snow, but {
bowling hurricane, the wind some
times attaining speed Of twenty
eight, thirty, or thirty.two miles
The snow came in flful furries, will
u wild screech and singing whiz
The thermometer fell steadily, till al
Cbsmplain it registered fiity.four dc
gress below zero. AT other places tn,
mercury or spirit marked from eighl
TO forty-two degrees below. Some o
the farmers who cot out soon iounc
that if they valued live they mus
turn back. They were enveloped il
sheets of snow that blinded them
The wind came so fercely that they
were fain to stop and turn round till I
momentary lull came. The road
why, the level prairie was all roat
now, without one track of wheel OF
runner TO indicate the path of safety
Wherever there was n slight knoll ol
tree tho driving snow-sleet curlcC
round it and broke over il like ycasty
billows over wreck, and fur to lee
ward grew up drifts of eccentric form
Then the snorting horses that toilct
along, pressing with their heavinl
nanks closer to each other for warmth
and dumb protection and sympathy
refused to 60 forward tho driver fell
himself becoming listlcss, his cold
limbs were growing warm, and warned
Of the swift coming Of death, he turned
and retraccd his steps. Happy they
who did so bctimes /! There wer,
many who held on stubbornly till il
was TOO late. There were many more
who, goaded on by dreadful fear oI
the fate of their wives and little ones
left alone In ,boir lrail ciladcls, forced
on through the drifts that grew deep
or ut every step, and cold that becam,
more intense every moment. And
thcre were othors who grew weary cI
the contest, and, lying down in theiI
robes, were lulled by the elemental
rage into a slumber which knew nc
awakening. Sometimes the horses
gave out, and the unhappy driver, be-
numbed and chilled, his movements
impeded by his heavy clothing, had 70
abandon his team and take to the
driftx Tho moaps apdshrioks Of the