Morning journal and courier., 1881-06-15
Storm at the Signal station, Mount
40 hi

[s A. Drake in Harper's Magazine for JulyI
Noticing that the sides of the summit were
strewed with boards. beams, and debris OF
all Sorts my guide explained that what saw
was the result of the great January gale,
which had demolished the large shed used as
an engine-house, scattering the loose frag-
ments far and wi 9. I begged him to give
me his recollection of it.
During the forenoon preceding the gale
we observed nothing very ususual; but the
clouds kept sinking and sinking until the
summit was quite above them Late In the
afternoon my comrade, Sergeant NJ, came
to where 1 was lying abed sick, and said
There is going to be the devil to pay, SO
guess I'll make everything snug
.sBy nine in the evening the wind had in
creased to one hundred miles an hour, with
heavy sleet At midnight the velocity of the
storm was one hundred and twenty miles, ana
the exposed thermometer recorded twer ty-
four degrees below zero. With the stove
red, we could hardly get it above freezing in
side the house. Water froZe within three
feet of the fire-in fact, where you are now
sitting.
'.At this time the noise outside was deaf
eninp About one O'Clock the wind rose to one
hundred and fifty miles. 1t was now blow
ing hurricane. The wind, gathering up all
the loose ice of the mountain, dashed 1t
against the house with one continued roar.
lay wondering how long the building would
stand this when all at once came crash
M-shouted to me to get up; but 1 had
tumbled out in a hurry on hearing the glass
90. You see, was dressed, to keep myself
warm in bed.
Our united efforts were hardly equal to
closing the storm shutters from the inside,
but we finally succeeded, though the lights
went out when the wind came In, ana we
worked in the dark."
He rose to show me how the shutters of
thick oak, we're first secured by an iron bar,
and secondly by strong wooden buttons firm
ly screwed in the window-frame.
ssWe had scarcely done this" resumed
DOYLE, land were shivering over the fire,
when a heavy gust of wind again burst open
the shutters, as easily as If they had never
been fastened at all. We sprang to our feet.
After a hard tussle We again secured the WIN
dows, by mailing cleat to the floor, against
which one end of board was fixed, using
the other end as a lever. You understanos
could do to force the shutters back into place
But we did it. We had to do it.
'sThe rest of the night was passed In mo-
mentary expectation that the building would
be blown into Tuckerman's and we with it.
At four O'Clock in the morning the WIND re-
gistered one hundred and elghty-slx miles.
1t had shifted then from east to nortneast.
From this time it steadily fell to ten miles, at
nine O'Clock. This was the biggest blow ever
experienced on the mountain"
ssSuppose the house had gone, and the no.
tel stood fast, could you have effected an en-
trance into the hotel?'' asked.
1--WE could not have faced the gale"
seNot for hundred feet? not in matter
of life and death7"
Impossible. The wind would have lifted
us from our feet like bags of wool. We
would have been dashed against the rocks
and smashed like egg-shells, F" was the quiet
reply.
s.And SO for some hours you expected to
be swept into eternity?"
''We did what we could. Each wrapped
himself IN blankets and quilts, binding these
tightly around him with ropes, to which were
attached bars of iron, SO that if the house
went by the board we might stand chance
"a slim one-of anchoring somewhere,
somehow f"
Somewhere, indeed!
When, on the following morning. busted
myself getting ready to go down the noun
tain, heard profound sigh, followed by
some half audible words, proceeding from
the adjoining room. These words rang In
my ears all that day:
'sAh, this horrible solitude!"
The Douglas Chapman house at Meriden,
built 100 years ago, has been torn down.
A daughter of Principal Emmett, of the
Middletown High school, has come down
with smallpox. .e.- +,-
The 107th annual session of the general as
sociation of Conversational ministers will bA