The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-08-22
How II Feel. 10 Freeze

A-4lA1 49, -
companied by a sialwart French hall
breed, and had for conveyances I'VE
sledges drawn by eight dogs. At frs
the journey was pleasant enough, ant
unattended by much Inconvenience
but the weather gradually became
colder, and oa the afternoon of tn
sixth day they were compelled TO bal
on the bare plain. with no trees o.
other shelter handy. The writer goe!
on to say:
Ii was about Xix O'Clock ia the eye
mag when, after seooping u hole il
the snow, and building about e min
ia.ure embankment of sledges and
baggage, we lay down in nj over
coats and caps, with the thermometer
showing thirty-one degrees below zero
Yet | had no fear, DO thought even
of freezing 10 death. Lying down
as we did, with stiHened limbs and
blistered feet, sleep came 10 US by the
sheer force Of fatigue.
| did not awake until about eleven
O'Clock, when | was aroused by q
sharp blow from the balfbreed, Law
lie. He told me that it was growing
much colder, and that The wind had
veered. Hastily arising, we shifted
about, and then crept back under the
blankets, Lavie on he windward side.
I soon fell asleep.
/ awoke again, as nearly rs | can
Judge about halLpast twelve O'Clock,
by q general consciousness Of increas-
ing cold | found myself ~shivering
all over. Upon speaking to nv COM
p~anion, | discovered that be was
wide awake; be had been unable TO
sleep. lie told me be bad endeavor-
ed 10 coax the sledge dogs upon the
blanket; but, having been repeatedly
driven from that comfortable posi-
ton on previous nights, they bad re-
fused his overtures. The gale seem
ed to bare increased in violence, aud
the minute particles Of snow inierfer-
ed uncomf0rtslly with respiration.
The cold was so intense as 10 pro-
dnee a singing sensation 10 the nos
trils and q dryness of the throat when
ever the head was exposed. | took
the thermometer from the snow by
my head, and found it indicating, as
well as | could make out by the un-
certain light. ioFty-four degrees be-
low zero. Covering ourselves up as
saugIy as possible, and lying close to
each other. we TALKED for a time about
the severity of the storm, and its
probable duration thea gradually re-
lapsed into silence. | recalled feel
ing the skin on my arms and legs; It
was cold to the bones. Ny bones,
too. were cold, and | seemed to feel
their articulation distinctly over ev-
cry portion of my body. They gave
me the impression of a foreign sub
stance which had been introduced
somehow into the flesh, and which
had not as yet been raised to an equal
temperature with the bodily tissues.
Soon | was conscious of growing
colder; my limbs, especially, felt
heavier and chillier. A peculiar SEN
sation, as if the flesh for a quarter of
an inch was frozen solid and the o q
gealment rapidly extending to the
bone, began 10 creep over me. The
bones themselves at times felt like red
hot iron bars then as suddenly be-
came cold again. | noticed, also, an
increased labor in the action Of the
heart, aud could distinguish the pulls
atoms very easily. At every throb |
seemed to feel the blood strike the end
Of the veins and arteries in the ex-
tremities. This after a time produc-
ed q slight dizziness in the head, and
a labored respiration.
As the leaden hours vent on. the
sensation of surface freezing, felt be.
fore 10 the arms and legs, extended to
the trunk of the body. My thoughts,
hitherto SO versatile, grew less o n
Hected. changing frequently from sub.
ject to subject and finally narrowing
down to my " sufferings. | MOTTO
ed that Lavie spoke to me more fire.
quently than before, and shook me
repeatedly. Yet even then | had no
thought OF danger.
During the whole time, covering a
period OF two hours or more, | was
.shivering without intermission. / re-
peatedly endeavored to control my
nerves, and lie quietly in one position;
but the effort, although determined,
was OF no avail in a few minutes |
was shaking IS violent as before. At
last | noticed hat / was becoming
quleter, but the mental suffering was
greater. Ny only thought now was
to get warm. No earthly friend was
too dear now to be sacrificed for
heat.
After the lapse Of an hour, | began
to get warm-that is, bad the sensa.
ton ofreturning warmth and comfort.
Pinching the flesh in several places
produced only a numb prickly feeling,
similar to that when a leg or arm is
asleep. But | was comfortable and
happy now, because | was warm. |
grew angry with my companion be-
u of his unwearied thumps aud
the answers he required to his ques-
tons. lie bored me. | wanted to
be let alone. | wanted to lie quite
still and dream. Fully conscious that
if wet to sleep ! should never
awake, | was perfectly willing, anx.
ious, to go to sleep. | even recall
%picturing drowsily to myself how L
should look ia the morning when |
was dead.
As grew warmer, ceased to pay
any attention to the thumpings of my
companion, or to bis questions. Il
gathered myself up and lay thinking
now comfortable | was. Pretty soon
| began to doze, then to awake sud-
denly, when | received a more severe
blow than usual. | awoke once more
to see the half-breed sitting up and
bending eagerly over my face-and
then i was dead. Sensation, Volt
ton, all intelligence, had left me. In
thirty or forty minutes, an hour at
most, the paralysis would extend
from the brain into the spinal system,
stopping the function of respiration.
and the living action would cease for