The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-03-19

| "bcautitul seems terrible, these figures
may appear OF the Munchauscn order But
| assure you have not exaggerated the stu
alton in the least
| 1t has showed more or less here coniin-
ually since the 1st Of December. hut the
/ great storm of the season began last Tues
day. 1t continued through Wednesday
and Thursday, subsidtng at intervals, took
a rest on Friday and portion of Saturday,
and then began again on Saturday night
with rcdoublcd violence. 1t is still snow
ing, with no signs Of cessation. and the
railroad presents Il scene rf natural gran
deur such rs | never expect To- witness
again | started from san Francisco in
the overland train ON Friday morning.
reached this point determined to remain
here and see the trouble to the end.
have been rewarded in witnessing the bat
ties wagcd between man and nature.
have seen man conquer. only to he again
conquered in his turn. have seen the
trumphs of mechanical engineering un-
done by the grander power Of nature in
one short hour, and finally | have been
taught 10 realize rs | never realized before
what it means TO run II railroad across the
iSerras ii means TO attack nature in
her own giant strongholds.
SCENE OF THE TROUBLE
Up to this time during the winter the Pa
cific road had been kept tolcrably clear
from the snow, and the trains have gencr-
ally managed to get through ON time. The
snow ploughs have been in constants use,
and have succeeded in keeping the track
in an available condition. This last, great
storm. however has more than taxed the
combined efforts OF ploughs, shoyclcrs.
engines and engineers The greater bulk
of the snow lies between here and Blue
Canyon, distance of twenty miles,
all of which is, 50 far rs human skill can
DO it, protected by long rows OF snow
sheds. As ! came down the other day.
with eleven engines and two snow ploughS
ahead of me, the white snow was piled up
on either side of the road fully forty feet
The gliscning mountains stood there form
ing solid bulwarks 10 II narrow aycnuc.
through which the long line of iron mon
sters puffed and snorlcd its tortuous way
Words fail to express the significance of
scene like this The .gr,do is very steep.
and the road winds in and out among the
towering peaks of the Sierras. now skirt
ing some canyon and again threading the
| Of
flying in binding sheets before the great
iron plough, which preceded ms, now roll
ing with mighty crash down the sides of
some precipitous canyon, and again pilng
itself along the sides Of the track the
grinding, groaning agonzng engines puff
ing their slow way along, the murky smoke
mingling with the fleecy spray-al this
combined TO create scene which can be
witnessed nowhere, and mt no time, but in
the Sicrras and at this season of the year.
TnE. MONSTER sNow-rLorGH.
The snow. plough of the Sierras requiacs
some description. 1t is not one of the
puny arrangements which are brought into
requistion on your eastern roads when two
or three feet of snow interlcres with travel
1t is Il curiosity in itself and does noble
work. 1t is II massive structure the
smallest in use in these mountains weighs
$1,000 pound, aud the largest $1,000
pounds 1t is about the size ola two-story
house and is composed entirely of iron and
steel. 1t is of n peculiar fern and 50 con-
structed that it throws the snow, when
under full speed fifty feet in the air, hur-
ing it off into the canyons with tremendous
force. The plough in front is shaped like
the iron prov of an iron-clad frigate. Near
the ground this changes into flat surface
Attached to this fiat surface is Il smaller
PROV, known AS the ''apron." The attach
ment is by means of hinges, SO that il may
be raised or let down at pleasure. When
the machine is in operation the small
apron rests upon the track. sliding
smoothly along under the snow. which ii
throws up this being caught upon the
huge, sharp PROV above, is divided, much
as the water is divided by the PROV of
ship, and cast with great violence to either
side. The steam ploughs of the Central
Pacific railroad are master pieces of me-
chancal skill. Two engines are always
used to push them forward, and during the
present storm eleven have been attached to
TO one plough.
THE BLOCKADE RAISED.