Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-02-02
THREE FEET OF,
A Surprising story
lima RaurOa
Naior w. w Roll

Major w. W. Roll
dent of the Western
Railroad, arrived in th'
day afternoon, and give
account of his trip betwee.
the head of his road, and Salis,
The train left Henry's' on Monda
morning last about seven o'cloc.
Snow was falling at the time, with
the thermometer registering eight
cen degrees below zero. Soon after
starting the track grew very heavy,
but the train managed to reach Old
Fort. The snow was falling at
terrific rate, and with each turn of
the wheels progress became more
difficult. -Four miles below Old
Fort the engines gave out of water
and the train came to a dead stop.
The locomotive was cut loose, and
with Engineer Marsh, Route Agent
Ramsay and four negroes, started
alone to the tank, which was three
miles distant. About half way it ran
into snow-drift, which stopped 1t
entirely, and after repeapted efforts
to get through and as many failures,
the engineer essayed to put back to
the train, and discovered to his utter
CONSERVATION that he could neither
90 forward nor backward. Bound
fast by the snow, the engineer and
his party remained there on the
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, and no fire except what they
could keep in the furnace of the en-
gine by burning such fence rails and
other wood as they could dig out of
the snow. Provisions were sent to
them from the train, and the next
morning water was carried in buckets
for a distance of a quarter of mile
through snow thirty-six inches in
depth on a 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 headway striking the
snow bank with the plOw on the pi-
lot, the locomotive finally made its
way through this drift to find the
road filled with others almost as i'm
movable. Meantime a large force
of convicts had been sent for, and
these pushed the train back to Mar
ion, where the passengers were pro-
vided with all necessary comforts.
The bare engine proceeded down the
road at slow rate, the snow being
shovelled out before it in many
places, until about the third day it
reached Icard, where it found the up
train from Salisbury. A special en-
gine, the heaviest on the road, had
been sent out from Salisbury, with
the snow plow loaded down with
castings, and three engines, distribu-
ted along the road, cleared the track
in FIVE days, and the train which
left Henry's Monday morning, reach
ed Salisbury, distance of III miles,
Friday night at twelve o'clock. Ma
jor Rollins states that in many
places the snow had drifted to the
depth of fifteen and twenty feet.
The cuts of the railroad on top of
the snow were filled with all kinds
of birds, which had frozen to death
and dropped down the banks. While |
waiting on the road a whole covey
of partridges were seen all frozen to |
death, and some of the crowd reach
ed them and broke off the heads of |
some, their necks swapping like corn
stalks. At Catawba river a yearling
was seen some distance out in the |
stream, its hind legs having sunk
through the ice, leaving its head
and fore legs upright. 1t was froz-
en- 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 go over them as
over the level earth. There is no
sign anywhere of running stream.
With the apprehension of the peo-
pie that they and their stock will
freeze or starVe to death before the
snow melts is intermingled the
dreadful fear that when the thaw
does come it will deluge the whole
face of the earth, carrying with it
destruction and death.
Raleigh Neaos.