Daily Kennebec journal., 1881-06-27
NO. $50.
Storm on Mt. Washington.

Noticing that the sides of the summit were
strewn 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 large shed used as an
engine-house, scattering the loose fragments
tar and wide. begged him to give me his
recollection of it.
During the forenoon preceding the gale
we observed nothing very unusual; 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 was lying abed sick, and said.
There is going 10 be the devil to paw. so |
guess I'll make everything snug
Bv . in the evening the wind had increased
to 100 miles an honr, with heavy sleet. At
midnight the velocity of the storm was To
miles. and the exposed thermometer recorded
~ degrees below zero. With the stove red
we could hardly get il above freezing inside
the house. Water froze within three feet of
the fire-in fact, where you are now sitting.
At this time the noise outside WAS deafrn.
ing About onc o'clock the wind rose to one
hundred and fifty miles. Ii was now blowing
a hurricane. The wind, gathering up all the
loose ice of the mountain, dashed it against
the house with one continued roar. Law
wondering how long the building would stand
this, when all at once crash came. Nj
shouted to me TO get up but | had tumbled
out in hurry on hearing the glass go. You
see. was dressed, to keep myself warm in
bed.
Our united efforts were hardly equal To
closing the stora, shutters from the inside.
but we finally succeeded. though the lights
went out when the wind came in, and We
worked in the dark
He rose to show me how the shutters. of
thick oak, were first secured by an iron bar,
and secondly by strong wooden buttons firm
lv screwed into the window frame
I'VE had scarcely done this" resumed
Doyle, land were shvering over the FIRE
when 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
windows, nv mailing n cleat to the floor,
against which one end Of board was liked.
using the oth, r end as lever. You under
stan..?" | ned led well, even then il was
all we could do to force the shutters back in
to place But we did it. Wehrd to do it,
''rhe rest of the night was passed in mo-
mentary expectation that the building would
be blown into Tuckerman's and we with it,
At 4 o'clock in the morning the wind regis
tered ls6 miles Ii had shifted then from
east to northeast. From this time it steadily
biggest blow ever experienced on the noun
tain"
Suppose the house had gone. and the
hotel stood fast, could YOU have effected an
entrance into the hotel?" asked.
We could not have faced the gale"
"Not for hundred feet? not in a matter
of life and deaih?"
"lmpossibe. The wind would have lifted
us from our feet like bags of wool. We
would have been dashed against the
the rocks, and smashed like egg
shells" was the quiet reply.
''And so for some hours you expected to
be swept into eternity"
1--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 a chance
"A slim one-of anchoring somew here, some
how"
Somewhere, indeed
When, on the following morning, | busted
myself getting ready to go down the noun
tain, heard a profound sigh, followed by
some half-audible words proceeding from the
adjoining room. These words rang in my
ears all that day -
eAh, this horrible solitude IS 4.
Drake in Harper's for Jnty.