The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-05-23
THE SNOW HURRICANE.

o-t'eo ~ esAA t1lO SNAAA"A ULACJ SSO' 1O0Ftl
a Folks.
! THE SNOW HURRICANE.
! Thrilling Account of the storm i'm Ne
brssIka.
A correspondent from Omaha, Ne
braska, says Those who Judge of the
] climate of this section of the country
by its position on the map would be
J surprised to feel the keen dry wind
, which rises on these high plains in Q
moment and furnishes taste of the
pole with tropical surroundings. But
this wind of the plains is a matter OF
course, and people are prepared for it.
Not so much visitation as that on
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the 18th,
18th and 15 A storm of snow which
is unparalleled in l-authenticated
local history, coming after particular
ly well-developed spring and almost on
the threshold of speedy summer, is an
event for which no preparation can be
made and no satisfactory reason pro-
vided. For forty odd hours wind
blew strongly and steadily, frequently
with q velocity of seventy miles an
hour. 1t sufficed to carry houses bod
lily from foundations, to overturn walls
of solid stone, to blow cars from the
track and land them beyond the bitches
which drain the embankments on either
side. The snow fell in sheets and
masses, actually bridging over consider
able rivers, and making at monday an
Egyptian darkness darkness which
could be felt. The railroad cuttings
were blocked up with masses of snow
and ice, and so penetrating was the
! wind and so fine the drift at times that
passengers within the cars, the doors
and windows being locked, were cover
ed with snowy powder that forced its
way in through the woodwork and
round the window castings SO rapidly
that the panels inside seemed to be
smoking in a smouldering confagra-
| ton.
The snow fall did not present less
remarkable aspect in the matter of in
tensitY. It not only swallowed up and
destroyed all landmarks, but drew be-
fore the places where they had been SO
thick veil that the keenest eye could
not have distinguished them at a rods
distance. At Scandinavia the night was
no darker than the day. For the two
days that the storm ragged the storm
bound residents could not see the hitch
ings-posts or garden fences which were
only twelve feet from the windows.
Strong men who were visiting or had
gone to the post-office failed to distin-
guish the way home and were forced
to remain where the storm found them
till its fury was assuaged, thus adding
intoIerably to the anguish of their fam
lilies, who feared them buried under
the mountainous drifts. Residents
.rotfnd the public square could not, be-
tween the binding drifts and
THE VIOLENT WIND,
reach the cistern in its midst, though
the distance was less than twenty rods,
and so were forced to melt snow for
water At Hestings people were forced
to take refuge in their cellars and bur-
row there like rats, for the snow drifted
in through the walls of the houses and
formed piles round every article of fur
niture At Grand Island when the
climneys became choked with snow SO
I1.sst nIu WIZ tIIIPus9.Ha~, - -
lies went to bed in their clothing and
remained there for two or three days,
without fuel, food or water. At Gibbon
25 men, most of whom had gone thither
to open lodge of Odd Fellows, were
cooped up in a small house from Sunday
even to open the door. At Lone Tree
man named Burton, who had gone to
the Woodshed to bring in some fuel for
his family, found it impossible to re-
turn, and had to remain there from
Monday morning till Tuesday night.
At Belleville German named Koch is
said to have CROPPED his way from the
house to the yard for wood, but to have
l,oc nd
and never to have returned. His wife,
rendered desperate by his absence, at
last ventured out to seek Tor him, but
lost her way, and, fortunately, brought
ND at the stable, where she remained
from Tuesday morning till the same
night, her two children, one three and
the other nine, being left IN the house
all alone
The brute creation suffered terribly.
Those that were corralled or out on the
plains were suffocated by the snow;
those that were in stables went mad
with famine and thirst. Even the wild
birds, to whom the storm is a parent
and playmate were overpowered. At
Wood River prairie hcns were found
under the snow so benumbed that they
could neither fly nor run, and giving no
tokens of life when men took them up
and handled them save by the pulsation
of their sacred hearts and the upward
glance of their inquiring eyes. At
Grand Island they were picked up by
dozens, dead, little Jumps of ice and
touzled feathers. At Stevenson the resi-
dents found birds that had broken their
necks and wings against the houses and
barns in the blind terror of their almless
flight, flung by the hurricane like stones
from sling. At Lsne Tree almost
every hog in blockaded cattle train
was lost. The weakest were trodden
under foot and rent by the stronger.
Many more were suffocated.
The loss of stock on the plains must
be immense; probably half of the
unsheltered cattle have been sutfocated
or drowned. Some herds stampeded in
the panic caused by the first gale their
members were scattered over the plains;
some tumbled into ravines and broke
their necks or legs, being killed out
right or disabled to linger till they died
of hunger or suffocation others blum
dered into rivers and were drowned; ;
others roamed about till they were ex-
hausted and lay down painting and sob |
bing, to be covered ten feet deep by |
snow before they died for lack of air.
Among the fatal accidents recorded |
the most terrible was one which occur, |
red at Belleville, in Republic county, |
$50 miles west of Atchison. A prairie |
fire swept over the country on Saturday, |
the day preceding the storm destroying |
many buildings and a great deal of
grain. Among the dwellings burned |
was that of Mr.. Crane. He was alb |
sent at Atchison, but his wife and four
children were in the house. They es-
capped with their lives and the clothes |
they wore and took refuge with neigh |
Dor named Burnett. Next day, from a
sea of fire the land was a desert snow. |
The two families sought refuge in the |
cellar, fearing least the house should te |
carried away. The storm drove in the !
solid stone gable as man might drive |
in the side Of pasteboard box with his
fist. The structure tumbled into the |
cellar, Mrs Burnett being very badly |
crushed. On Monday morning her hus-
band yentured out for assistance Ere |
he returned, the floors, bending beneath |
the incumbent weight of tons of snow,
fell in as dead fall-trap tumbles on
the prey. Mrs. Burnett and her three
- :