The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-02-10
The Great SieeI.

In the weather annals of the coming years, the 5tl
and 9th of February, 1881, will be referred to the
time of the great sleet" As nothing like it was
ever before experienced in this region, and may new
he again. shall observations of il at
some length, q matter of record for future refer
encc.
Commencing in December, and running through
December and January We had uniform cold wealth
er-generally extremely cold Most of that time, it
had been what might be called snowy weather,
with the popularity, however, that but compare
lively little fell. sufficient amount had been
on the ground to make pretty good seighing from
Christmas until the last of January. The january
thnw" failed altogether, except that Saturday, the
18th, was somewhat warm and sloppy. The next
two or three days were cold and cloudy, and there
was some sleet The ID of February, known us
'GroundHog's Day." n mi xture of clear and
cloudy the cloudy prcdominating. That night, the
wind shifted to the east, and all day Thursday blew
ominously from that direction, bringing the express
ION from almost every one, that "going to
catch it." Thursday night, it showed slightly, the
snow being almost in the nature of PARTICLES of hail
From that time until the next five or six days, the
Thermometer stood steadily about the freezing point
never marking more than two or three degrees above
or below it, Friday was dark and dreary but no
fall Of snow rain, until ABOUT o'clock at night,
when n snow somewhat like that of the preceding
night again set in, but somewhat more damp and
slippery. But during the night, it turned to genuine
sleet.
Here commences the record of the sleet. Satur-
day morning, the face of the earth covered with
coat of ice, and the seet still falling. 1t continued
to fall, with scarcely any interruption through the
day, and ut bedtime still falling. The trees
were heavily weighted with ice, and were bending
he hur md ,l,a H.
gan to succumb to the pressure. From that time,
continuously all through the night at very short in
tervals, a sharp, brief snap would be heard, and
then a ringing, metallic sound limb after limb
parted from the trees and FELL with its icy load up
on the icy earth beneath. As hours passed, these
reports became louder and more frequent, as the
large limbs gave way under pressure that had ut
first overcome only the smaller twigs Daylight
Sunday morning, found the slcet still falling more
fercey than ever; and the beholder took n
glance out of the window, a side of the house
where the sleet had not covered the glass scene of
widespread desolation met his gaze. Wherever
trees grew the ground in the vicinity was covered
with brush from the smallest twigs to the largest
branches, forks, and tops. As the time advanced,
still larger trees that had wthstood the assault gave
way. At o'clock, the sleet ceased falling, and
snow came. For time it seemed to cling to the icy
and cracking of breaking trees still went on The
snow fell fast all day, but toward evening the effect
upon the trees seemed to be lessened and the sound
of falling timber heard at long intervals. AT
night, the snow turned to rain, and continued all
night, clearing the trees of great portion of the ice
Monday afternoon, the wind shifted to the west the
sky cleared, and the weather became cooler
view of forests, groves and orchards on Sunday
morning sight well worth seeing, notwith-
standing the havoc Many trees were completely
broken down; others had large branches broken off;
others had the tops and all the branches gone and
nothing but the straight stem remained The ground
underneath looked as if the primer had been there
and left the remains of his work behind him or like
great clearing in which the bodies of the trees had
been hauled away, leaving the branches and tops |
where they had been Topped of. The trees that |
were not broken, bent down under the sleet, |
looking like weeping willows The standing trees |
after the sleot went off, reminded different persons
Of different things. One compared the groves to the
harbor of New York full of shipping, with sails fur
ed. Another was reminded of pine forest after a |
fire had swept through. Still another who had been
through the Rebellion, said the groves looked as if
great battle had taken place, and the timber had |
been shelled, to dislodge the enemy During Sun
lay, it impossible to 90 through orchards to ac
certain the damage. The branches were bent and
bowed to the ground, and so laden with ice and |
that one could not make his way through
Il reminded us of pictures We have of southern
'wamps, with the branches Of the trees bent down
md interlaeed and covered with vines and mosses
The destruction in Donphan County will be many
thousands of dollars. Shade and ornamental trees
md groves planted by farmers are fearfully dam
lged. Soft, brittle timber, like cOttonwoods and
oft naples, suffered the most. Fruit trees, being
han was feared. Besides, they so low-branched,
hat the icy tops of the branches reached and rested
the ground before they could break and thus the
tension relieved Peach trees suffered the most:
,herry trees not much, but considerably; apple
trees least of all. Wild plum trees are especial suf-
erers.
gentleman who lives near the banks of the Mis-
our River, says that all through Saturday night
nd Sunday morning he could hear the limbs falling
rom the immense trees in the bottom, on the Mis-
Ouri side, and that the crashing laundering sound
hat constantly came up from the deep woods was
ublime. hurricane could scarcely have done
reater damage-certanly not widespread.
The sleet, the following snow, and the subsequent
ain, produced m immense amount of water which
IL ran off, the ground hard frozen and cover
d with ice. Accounts, Monday, were to the cf-
ect that Wolf River was already out of its banks,
nd that the Missouri rising rapidly. This lat
er circumstance would seem to corroberate the re-
ort Of the breaking of the ice and the tremendous
Use ut Fort Benton.