The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-01-27
Denver letter TO the Chicago Inter. Ocean

-. y * ~
n hN,,.vru rRosT-BITTES, WOE.EKGONE,
E >mnI>CUsTED wlNTER TOURISTS.
81 Denver letter 10 the Chicago Inter. Ocean
a ..,r.-aphcd you Of the arrival OF the train
II -, lcr kansas City for this place a week
Thursday morning. and which was due
d ~. o.c week ago Friday afternoon at $40
Il Al O'Clock this morning it came,
#..,.;r, al Denver. with a lonG-SuStained,
FL =. r.,,l whistle, exactly eleven days behind
,I,hov.h 50 long on the road, provisions
3 g., M, bcing Scanty, and the mercury
-, ~, from 20 20 30 degrees below zero,
II c,,r,..l,.yt,y little suffering was expert.
,-u.l ny he passengers, who, shudder!ns
ar th,lr escape from possible dangers,
\ $685.. came "a u" conclusion that Whittier'S
4 . = -, Have Been" is anything but sad. At
I.,-. those ~ nom have "interviewed " to
at,. il, IN account Of their experiences were
-, ..yr opinion. and they form majority of
- .,,h.y.riGn, unwa>hed. unShaved, dirty
,f....d. uukrmpt, and bleas-eyed mortals
49,. were brought in by the aforementioned
,,..g 4, the aforementioned hour.
Fora week prcY.ou, trains on the Kansas
p..r.j,. had been from six 10 twenty-iuur
spir. hcuiuG time. butthe last one arriving
a.. me ,orncr figure IL II O'Clock on the
,..tt Of be 7th, no one anticipated that
". ( and half would elapSc before its sue
,...or arperrcd. nor did The passengers OF
,tl. ..t-cr. II was good weather when they
" Kansas City, and they reached Ellis,
y3.i,n i almost bali way between that city
aa. isi,. only few hours behind time, but
. n. dli> r;iiic and went aud they were at
", >lnI. The trouble 0f the train which
.lw~d them began earlier. II had not
l,..n iIyr hours out when trighttul storm
81 ,auw blew up, covering the track, and
r-,ycu'iur it from rc1chlng Salina until
>.,.g,!Ay morning. although Saina is not
l..r,rh4n halfway to Ellis. The mercury,
ys,a.t had from the start stood about zero,
t,r.i.l. TO twenty degrees below, and this,
r.gtinrI with the fact iha, The louis y had
l..,.y lru witn snow for a long distance
;t..a. forced the train TO lay over till Sun.
d., u..n', when, before morning, it had
r..tr tar sixty miles intervening between
: S.,nl luI Russell. Here ii became victim
- another storm, which continued all that
DIX ND the following night, not letting up
IL II until Tuesday morning. What little
iu,rIbp>e on board bad had of making fur.
tier Progress was now rendered null and
iuI. and it was not till Thursday that they
- Stated a!alu.
In Tx intervening time they came nearer
e. Starvation than probably the majority Of
tlrm ever did before, or probably care TO be
atdu. Russell, it must be known, contains
II, restaurant connected with the station, as
trains ordinarily only stop there Tor water, so
tatt the storm-hr!cagued passengers were
forced 10 seek food from the local Boniface
q the place, who proved to be Il sorry host.
- pO0r was his fare, indeed, that they We're
ut,!lgcd TO buy their provendcr and cook 1t
on board the train. This resource at last
cave out, but beng authorized by telegraph
lg,n the railway authorities the cX-
lf.>s agent opened portion Of the
tgrlgAt for which he was 4 common carrier.
consisting OF 500 or more cans Of oysters
ruo.uUu> fellows, large - siddle-rocks-
which were soon stewing away Oh every
storc in every. car. A Quintity, indeed,
W,rc spilled directly on the floor, in which
soon lay at full length several who had par
taken too freely Of the gin, which was the
uaiy Triple Russell boasted. The cold Still
continued with increasing severity, so that j
Wtlk OF a few hundred yards from the train
rru>rd bslcrcd faces aud frozen hands.
At last, however, by dint of constant ram
min. OF the snow-poughs, several Of which
were wrecked in the process, way was
n,"ncd To Ellis, where tie train arrived last
Thursday afternoon; and here let me say
WORD As TO THE sHow-DRIFTs
tE.t bcsct the train. In each and every case
tbc gaic, sweeping along the plain for hun
drcts Of miles with Il force proportlonate TO
the distances travelled, had packed the snow
AUTO the cribs" with which the Kansas Pa
clic railway VAS endeavorlEg 10 keep its bed
level till it was even with their tops, and SO
bard that nothing but pick or axe could
make impression on il, and horse could
walk over it without leaving a hoot.
track. In this, too, quantities OF sand was
mNcd. which dulled the instruments
u>"I in digging it and yet more firmly
bound the particles together. You can
ltnHsIuc how impotent snow.ploughs, urged
t'y 4, many engines as could bc got together,
were against such drifts" as these, and the
way through them had TO be dug iuch by
!urh by shoals of workmen, who were con-
imu4IEy driven in by the cold. However,
perseverance cOnqaers all things and gets
through snow.banks, so, as said, Ellis ut
list WA, reached. Here Thursdays train
"a> i0snd, Us we'll rs down-train from
STARTED AGAIN
i"lorc s O'Clock Friday morning, and ran
"loUg 10 within two miles of Parks Fort,
Where they found themselves fast in larger
d'it than any they had met with. By this
lnt, however, they had five engines with
winch 10 give motive power to their snow
plough, aud in tie course Of time they man.
1@rd 10 reach The fort. But little was gained
~ His, for the hole outfit did not contain
'touSh Tor single meal Of the four-score
ti%r'clIirys Oh botE trains, and they would
nave died from hunger had not a train loaded
with provisions been sent to their relief
itoG Ellis. A Start was made from Parks
Fort that afternoon (Friday), but it
proved false one, ana after proceeding
hct"cen two and three, miles they were
iJfced to 90 back again. Saturday after
noon, with an advance guard in the shape of
Inc hrecn%iEes and snow-plough mentioned
above, and three engines ami a snow-pough
cong IN front, aud provision-car going i'll
'Dt rear, the combined train moved along to
"';hln twenty miles Of Wallace, where they
IliC all night IN u terrible drift. This seemed
'Hr worst experience Of all, for the night was
c'!der than&ny teioie, the mercury mark
~. t"cnty-ciSht degrees below zero, and
'he WIND blowing lrightful gale. Yester
"'y morning the weather moderated SO
th't The laborcrs could get TO work,
which in the night they had been unable to
J'', aud the trans forced their way through
70 Wallace about noon. After getting a
Iip.hg hot dinner there, the first they had
iad ior many day, the passengers cian-
Jered INTO the trains about 3. at which hour
he cig.'' II engines and brace of fsnow-ploughs |
'cSaa moving out ON the bome-stretch for |
Denver. They made the Intervening dis. |
hhcc in abc ut ten hours, which is the reg
i!ar time coA.' ing in here as above men.
ioned. Two other trains were expected