The Fremont County record. [volume] (Canon City, Colo.) 1877-18??, 1881-04-16
CLIMATIC oeHTARIsoss.

Northern and Esstera STATE IS. the
Eastern Slope Of - Rscky
MeuntaInss
The wimter, which now about
ended. has beensnnpreeed ntiy severe
Throughout the United State and
Canada. From Maine to Dakota in
the north, and from tho III 70 the
gulf in the Ohio and Mississippi yal-
leys have como daily tales oflcqsy
snow storms, severe cold wo9<ber.
railroad blockadcs, and sufferinS 81
stock and people. This has been es-
pecially sosin the nqrihern part OF
Illinois, Wisconsin,, Iowa, Minnesota,
Dakota and Nebraska. The follow
ing from the Pioneer-Press of St.
Paul, Minnesota, gives slight idea
of what that country has experience
ed the past winter:
"The whole amount of snow which
has fallen during the months of De-
cember. January and February reach
es the extraordinary figure of 9.6S
feet, or adding the snowfall of No
yember, 1851 feet. The average
depth of snow remaining Oh the
ground all winter, in consequence of
the absence of any prolonged thaw,
has been from two feet in the first
half of the winter to four feet in the
latter half. The depth has, of course,
widely differed in different localities.
II has been less in northern MInneso-
IA and greater in the southern and
southwestern parts of the State.
Without being severely cold, the win
ter has been just cold enough TO pre-
serve an unusual proportion of the
snow which fell in such unprece-
dented volume, and to keep each sue
cessive layer in such n light, volatile
condition that it was swept like
thistle down before thc winds for
hundreds of miles across the naked
plains OF Minnesota and Dakota, and
was only stopped by some ravine or
| grove, or the trough of some river
or railroad cut, or other gap or OBJ
| struction, where it WAS piled up by
/ the winds in drifts of enormous
| depth. Moreover, the Writer began
. month earlier than usual. 1t set in
in early November with the features
that have distinguished it from all its
known predecessors, with very heavy
snow storms. In fact, the farmers
of southwestern Minnesota were sur
| prised in the middle of their fall
| plowing and threshiug by heavy
snowfall in October But this was
| local furry which did not extend
| beyond narrow belt. Commencing
| i'll mid-November, the winter has
continued without any. noticeable re-
| taxation of frs severity, tnvuSI of
course, with mild spells, from that
| time almost to the middle of March.
And even now, although we have
| had couple ofweeks OF more spring
like weather, it has been unusually
cold for the season.
This does not tell tho story OF suf-
fcring which the people of that State
and Dakota have had TO contend
with. Along the line of the North
western railroad between St. Paul
and Sleepy Eye, and Sioux City rail-
road, trains have been blockaded
most of the time, and starvation has
stared the people in tile face. One
of the most prominent incidents
; which we now call to mind is that
of u farmer in Dakota " bo raised up
on his farm crop which netted him
about ST 200. This amount he laid
out in food and fuel, aud when the
winter became so intensely bitter,
two of his neighbors, who were not
so well prepared, came to live with
him. These families had great diff
Guilty in keeping warm, and besides
burning up all of their furniture,
nearly destroyed two houses for fire.
wood. Another instance of farm
er is related who started with team
of five horses for railroad station,
and two days afterwards was found
dead in = snow-drift, frozen TO death,
with his team standing stiff and dead
in the harness. In one town in the
northern part of Iowa, corn was used
for fuel for time, because no
other kind could be had. That grain,
which is generally worth from Is to
90 cents per bushcl, went up TO 80
cents. 1t is related that in Minncso-
ia many people were frozen TO death.
In Wisconsin the railroad traffic WAS
almost entirely stopped for many
days and there was some suffering on
that account. No longer ago than
Wednesday OF last week. business
was almost suspended in Chicago on
account of snow aud ice in the streets,
which was being taken out with
picks and shovels and being carted
away by hundreds of wagon loads.
This all sounds very strange here, to
people ON the eastern slope of the
Rocky IN ountains, and can scarcely
b. realized. From Denver far down
into New Mexico and east to the
Kansas line, no such weather has
been experienced this winter nor at
any other time in the memory of the
oldest iuhabitant. We wish to call
attention more particulnrly. howsy-