The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-01-25
THREE FEET OF SNOW.
Story of the. North Caro-.
lima Railroad Blockade. a.
t,ym he Raleioh az e. Ncus Jan. 10.


Major w. w. Rollins, the President of
the Western North Carolina Railroad,
arrived in this city yesterday afternoon,
and gives graphic account Of his trip
between Henry's, the head of his road,
and Salisbury. The train left Henry's
on Monday morning last about seven
o'clock. Snow was falling at the time,
with the thermometer registering eigh-
teen degrees below zero. Soon after start
ing the track grew very heavy, but the
train. managed to reach Old Fort. The
snow was falling at a terrific rate, and
with each turn of the wheels progress be-
came more and more difficult. -Four
miles below Old Fort the engine gave
out of water and the train came to dead
stop. The locomotive was cnt loose, and
with Engineer Marsh, Route Agent
Ramsey and four negroes, started alone
to the tank, which was three miles dis
tant. About half way it ran into snow
drift, which stopped it entirely, and after
repeated efforts to get through and as
many failures, the engineer cssayed to
put back to the train and discovered to
his utter CONSERVATION that he could
neithergo forward nor backward. Bound
fast by the snow, the engineer and his
party remained there on tie track the
whole of that long and cold night, with
no covering save their ordinary clothing,
no shelter except what was afforded by
the cab aud no fire except what they
could keep in the furnace Of the. engine
by burning such fence rails land 4other
wood as they could dig out of the snow.
Provisions were sent to them from the
train, andthe next morning water was
carried in buckets for I distance OF q
quarter of a mile, through SNOW thirty
six inches in depth Oh level, reaching
to the waists of the men, until enough
was had to raise steam in the engine
Then by repeatedly running back, then
under full Roadway striking the snow
bank with the.plow-o on the pilot, the To-
comotive finally made its way through
this drift, to find the road filled
with Others almost as immovable. Mean
Itime large force oflconvicts had been
sent for, aud these pushed Che train back
to Marion, where the passengers, were
provided with all necessary comforts.
The bare engine proceeded down the
road at slow rate, the snow being shoy-
elled out before it in many places, until
about the third day it reached Icard,
where it found the up, train from Sails
bury. A special engine, the heaviest Oh
the road, had been sent out from Sails
bury, with the snow plough loaded down
with castings, and three engines, distrib
uted along the road, cleared the track in
FIVE days, and the train which left Hen
ry's Monday morning, reached Salisbury,
distance of III miles, Friday night at
twelve o'clock. Major Rollins states that
in many places the snow had drifted to
the depth of fifteen and twenty feet The
cuts of the railroad Oh top Of the STOW
were filled wittfalI kinds of birds, which
had frozen to death and dropped down
the banks. While waiting on the road
whole coyey of patridges were seen all
frozen to death, and some of the crowd
reached them and broke off the heads Of
some, their necks swapping like corn
stalks. AtCatawba Rivera yearling was
seen some little distance out in the
stream, its hind legs having sunk through
the ice, leaving its head and fore legs
upright. 1t was frozen to death. The
poor brute had no doubt gone out on the
ice to try to get some water. The rivers
and creeks all along the line of the road
having first frozen over, and then been
covered entirely by the snow, people and
animals 90 over them as over the level
earth. There is no sign anywhere of
running stream. With the apprehension
of the people that they and their stock
will freeze OF starve to death before the
snow melts is intermingled the dreadful
fear that wheu~ the thaw does scome,it'
will.deluge the whole face of the earth,
carving with it DISTINCTION and death.