National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-02-07
The Minnesota Storm Wave.

mar train, III ~ a st. Paul paper, one of
the poor sufferers by the late terrific
storm. This man, whose name IL Chas.
ONeil, was taken to the Sisters Hos
pital To undergo the operations Of am
rutation Of both feet and an arm. His
story, az gathered by reporter, is sub
stantially ns follows:
On the morning OF the terrible Tues.
day party OF five men-Charles O'Neil
and his brothers John and Stephen, and
Mike and Thomas Holden--startedf from
Beaver Falls, Renville county, with i've
loads Of grain for the Wilmar market.
Wilmar IL distant from Beaver Falls
about thirty-fve miles Of open prairie,
twenty of which are without settler.
Quite early in the afternoon it began to
snow, but the wind was light, and the
party pressed on, anxious to reach Will
mar with no delay.
When within about eight miles OF
Wilmar the wind began to increase, and
blew directly in their faces. They viewed
the situation with considerable dismny.
and about half concluded to turn about
and retreat TO tho house about eight
miles in the rear, and fortunate would
it have been had they done no. But
about a mile ahead was the house Of a
Mr.. Meagher, and the party finally de-
termined to press on to this refuge. The
storm continued TO increase IL violence,
however, and the wind hurled the fall
ing and drifting particles Of ice against
and about them until they were obliged
to turn their faces from the storm and
trust to the instinct of their animals to
keep the right direction. Drifts began
scarcely founder thi ugh them. 1t was
now too late and equally too hazardous
to take the back tr ok, and they pushed
on into the bitter hurricane i'll the hope
OF reaching Meaghers. But now their
horses gave out and became stalled in
succession of deep drifts. twas found
impossible to extricate the sleighs, and
the only alternative was to build the
best protection their circumstances
would allsw. One sleigh box was set
up edgeways, turned from the wind.
and another was leaned against it to
serve as cover and brace. About this
insecure and fiimsy shelter sacks OF
grain were packed, and inside the five
men were crowded, after having trst
cut loose the horses. This was about
four o'clock Tuesday, and of course they
had no food and but o meagre supplyof
blankets. The snow, driven across the
prairies like stinging darts OF lightning,
was forced through every crevice and
packed against and above the little shell
ter and in upon the men, and with such
force was it blown that it was packed
firm rs sheets Of ice.
Tuesday night passed, and Wednes-
day Mike Holden announced his inten-
ton Of seeking Meagher's house. He
tried to persuade the others to accom-
pany him, but they considered them"
selves safest where they were and SO
declined. Mike started out, and sue
ceeded in reaching the house, having
both hands frozen on the way. The
storm continued 80 severe that no at
tempt could be made to rescue the 9th
ers at the time. They in the meantime
were suffering all the pangs OF cold and
hunger, and it is quite probable that
several of them became delirious, for
when found they were lying out Of and
near the shelter.
About ten o'clock Friday morning a
man passing along the road with an OK
team heard shouts as Of some one IN
distress, and upon making search dis
covered the little barricade covered with
packed snow, and WAS Mortified upon
disturbing several apparent knobs IN
the vicinity to find that they contained
the dead bodies of men. He found the
bodies of Thomas Holden, Stephen
O'Neil and John O'Neil, the first two
quite dead, and the latter with life al
most extinct. Upon searching under
the cover he discovered two feet pro-
truding from the snow, and breaking
away the crust he found Charles O'Neil
alive, but in a terrible condition. The
bodies were OF once lugged to his sled
and conveyed to Meagher's, and thence
to Wilmar, John O'Neil dying before
reaching that place.
The details of the sufferinSs OF Chas
O'Neil are horrifying and almost in
credible. 1t seems that he had lain
down Immediately upon entering the
cover, and had, while in this position,
been fastened down by the terrible
weight of the snow which drifted upon
him, or rather upon the upper portion
of his body. 1t was so heavy, he said,
as to cause almost unbearable torture
After he found that he was unable to
rise, and that the snow was covering his
head, he feared suffocation, and to keep
that member free he constantly raised
and lowered it, and in this manneI
while he could not prevent the drift
from forming over it, he formed an air
chamber, which prevented sutfocation.
In his endeavor to free his head the
poor fellow actually tore the hair almost
entirely from the scalp. Here he lay,
with his feet exposed to the air and
frozen stiff, and with the cruel frost
slowly creeping up his limbs, and un-
able to move scarce muscle OF his
body, from Tuesday night till nearly
Friday noon. Can more horrible sit
uation be imagined? The poor fellow s
right arm is frozen to the elbow, the
right leg to the knee and the left leg
above the ankle. These members are
thus far completely dead, and he has
been lying at Wilmar until the first
train succeeded in getting through.
Five of the horses were frozen TO death,
and the others were found five miles
away, all right.
Foolish GIRLS. About the cheekies'
| o..orot;o, ON racord has inst b( eI