Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-28
ATgpgtBtg aiDs.
One Hundred and Twenty Miles in
a stage Coach as Forty Below
Zero.
Letter from Chief Justice Wade. Of Montana
to Judge AfcKiRBey. Of ClerelGad.

Letter from Chief Justice Wade. Of Montana.
to Judge AfcKiRBey, Of CierelGRd.
HELENA. MONTANA, January My
| DsarlfcKinaey: / arrived here on the
| evening of December 29. and must give
you an account of my winter journey.
| We arrived at Dillon, Montsns, the
terminus of the narrow gauge railroad,
! on the evening of the Goth Of December,
/ and prepared 10 start on the stage coach
| for Helena-a distance of one hundred
and twenty miles. During the night it
| became quite cold, and the thermometer
| being fifteen degrees below zero when we
| got into the coach in the morning. As
/ we went along the cold increased, and
soon the four horses were as white as
snow with frost. Arriving at the first
station, fifteen miles away, the horses
were changed for others and on we
| went. Very soon it commenced to snow
| and the wind to blow hurricane. 4
/ terrible storm was upon US. and the
| thermometer went down to thirty degrees
| below zero. There were three passen-
gers besides myself, one lady.
At noon We arrived at station called
| Salisbury and had dinner. The storm
ragged with great fury; we were in wide
valley, and there was nothing to obstruct
| the wind The snow was as hard and
| fine as very small shot. and it pelted in
the horses faces, almost binding them
and the driver, but on we went,
reaching the second station from the
| dinner station at four o'clock. Here
the driver lighted the lamps of the coach
and we all prepared for q night ride
to the next station, sixteen miles away,
| where we expected to remain for the
night I heard the driver say to the
| stableman who took care of the horses,
| he did not much expect to reach the next
station, but thought We should be lost in
the storm. We were still in wide val
| lev, covered with snow, with scarcely q
| house to be seen anywhere, and with no
| land marks except the mountains in the
| distance, and these the storm almost OBJ
| scured.
We started out, and very soon it was
| totally dark, the storm still bowling with
| great fury, and the cold having increas-
ed. We had proceeded but little way
| when the driver lost the road. The
snow and the storm had blotted out
| every appearance of a road, and the pelt-
| ing snow and the fierce wind made it
| almost impossible to look for one. NV
whiskers and eyelashes had become a
| solid mass of ice while riding in the
| coach The driver called out that he was
| lost, and asked some one of the passen-
| gers to take the side lamp of the coach
and go forward and look for the road.
| 1t was all he could do to keep the horses
| in order. l volunteered to go, and went
/ out to search for the road. The snow
l l-raa Aaer and vuac -,
| face the storm. The pelting snow seemed
to take the skin of every time it struck.
| | wandered around in the snow search
ing for road, and finally found it, and
called TO the driver to come on. This |
did for a long time, until completely
worn out and exhausted had to go
into the coach and rest, and
one of the other passengers took
the lamp and went ahead of
the horses, searching for the road l
found after l got into the coach that
both of my ears and my nose were frozen
stiff, and that my fingers holding on to
the heavy iron lamp were also frozen.
The second fellow that went out was a
failure. lie would not face the storm,
and every few rods would find him
walking with the storm. The driver
called Justify for me, and l went out
again, but soon lost all traces of the
road The prairie was as painless as the
ocean.
Oh. how the storm ragged. 1t seemed
greedy to find something upon which to
wreak its vengeance. Icould not find the
road. The driver thought he could, and
asked me TO take care of the horses
while he made the effort | stood at the
head of the horses. a fierce gust of
wind took my hat and carried it out of
sight in an instant l borrowed another
from a passenger. The driver was
equally unsuccessful Could not find
the road. We were lost The situation
was full of peril. TO remain in the
coach ell night was full Of danger, for
the cold was sufficient to freeze US, and
to wander about in the storm in search
of q road, which would do US no good
when found, was equally dangerous.
Finally the driver thought it best to
| try and follow the back track to a Ger
tain hill and there make an effort 10 find
another road which branched off from
the hill but also arrived at the station.
| We turned around, but all traces of the
back track had disappeared. We
searched for the hill for an hour and
/ finally found II; but the other road was
| equally obscured. could not walk any
farther; my legs refused to go and 1 got
up with the driver and We felt our way
along by the light Of the side
/ lamps, not attempting to follow or
ind the road. After going in
this way perhaps an hour, we came TO
/ fence The driver knew it, for they are
a great rarity in this country He also
| knew that there was another fence half
| a mile away, and if We could find the
| second fence We should be within half q
/ mile of the station. We searched for the
| second fence an hour, and at last found
| it, and then in short time blundered on
/ to the station. | do not think a fellow
was ever happier to find stage station
than to find that one.
The station is sixty miles from Helena,
| and the coach from Helena due there in
the evening did not arrive until the
next day. We reached the station at
half.pasE - o'clock at night. having wan
dered On the prairie eight hours, lost in
the storm. went to bed in a room with
an inch of snow on the floor, and it was
almost as uncomfortable as being out in
the storm. | believe / would much
rather freeze out on the prairie than in
bed.
We concluded not TO undertake
another ride, especially as we had to go
over two ranges of mountains TO reach
Helena, and so let the coach that came
in that afternoon start back without US.
1t was well we did, for it was from 3
o'clock in the afternoon until 8 o'clock in
the morning in going seventeen miles.
The day we remained at the station
the coach came down from Helena on
runners, and the next morning we started
in this open sleigh for Helena, the ther-
mometeF standing, when we left, forty
degrees below zero. We had six good
horses and not much load The snow
was two feet on the level, but we
could follow the track it msde the
day before in coming down to the
station. Soon We passed the Boulder
range Of mountains Besides the noun
tains always there, we found mountains
of snow. 1t seemed as though the earth
was wrapped in its everlasting winding
sheet. The day was still and clear The
silence of the mountains was oppressive.
It seemed as though the earth was dead.
Helena at six o'clock in the evening,
the thermometer standing when we ar
rived at thirty degrees below zero and
went down to forty before morning. !
found the town buried in snow. have
been here ten years, and never saw any