Richland beacon., 1881-04-30
SOuE HfRD WINTERS.

The winter of 1872 3 has passed into
the records of Northern Illinois as "the
hard winter" The early settlers of the
northern part of the State remember its
early w-fall, commencing Nov. Z and
continuing on the 10th the pinching
cold Of the long winter, the scarcity OF
food for stock, and the loss Of many cat
tie from hunger and cold, owing to that
scarcity and the lack of barns and eheds
for protection.
At that time the country was new, the
settlements were sparse, and it was often
miles across the dreary stretch of snowy
prairies between settlements. The
houses of the settlers were many of them
poor and open, without q brush, tree or
shrub to protect them from the driving
winds and penetrating SHOWS. Hence
that winter has passed into history, and
is now referred to as "the hard winter"
During that winter the snow averaged
thh ~ mCHCS Ottp. IL icA Dtioic tHc
ground froze up, and lay in such body
that the ground did not freeze at all ex-
cept in occasional places. During the
snowfall ii piled into great drifts, 80 that
it w.s even with tho tops of the rail
fences. 1t then soon froze SO hard that
it bore cattle, horses and men on its sur
face
During that winter great slaughter
was made among the deer men hunted
them with dogs, and the snow being 80
hard that it bore these up, while the deer
would break through in trying to run,
they feel an easy prey, and were slaught-
cred without sense or mercy. In fact,
the forests were cleared of them.
The next severe winter was that Of
1889. The first snowfall for that
winter was. We believe, Nov. 8. 1t fell
before the ground froze up, and lay i'll
such heavy coat that, like 1923,
the ground froze only in spots. The
snowfall that winter averaged two feet,
and furnished Lost excellent sleighing.
At that time there were no railroad con.
nections with Chicago, and the entire
grain crop Of the Northwest (Which was
then principally wheat) had to be taken
to the lake by teams. That winter was
peculiarly favorable one for the farm
ers. The roads were constantly lined
with teams and sleighs loaded with
grain for Chicago or lumber for the in
terioY. 1t was no unusuai sight to see
100 or $50 of these loaded teams in one
line. During that winter the writer of
this article made eight trips to Chicago,
one to Milwaukee, and one to Littlcfoot
(now Waukegan), ten in all, each trip
being made with q sleigh. 1t was the
almost universal custom in the "cOun-
try taverns" to keep a big black bottle
sitting on convenient shelf behind the
little counter or desk in the corner,
which would be set out with tumbler
as each man paid his bill, with a "Will
you have q smack before starting ?"
Very few, however, partoOk, and it was
rare thing to see any one of that i'm
lnense throng Of farmers and teamsters
under the influence of liquor. Whisky
at that time was only worth about 2J
cents gallon, about the same price as
kerosene and benzine now.
The winter Of 1901 was a much
colder and harder one than either of the
two above mentioned. The cold wealth
er set in as early Is either of the others,
but before the snowfall the ground, in
places not protected by straw or stubble,
WAS frozen to the depth of five feet. -
kan,kEord Hlll Journal