The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1883-02-10

ton. sent to st. Paul for lumber and |
worked all summer putting up house |
and barn. In the fall bought three |
horses and a snlky plough and began |
turning up the black prairie soil. Be-
fore the ground froz5 had about thirty |
acres ready to SOW with wheat in the
spring. Then I went East to see Mabel,
apd, after the holiday brought her back
with me. By the middle of January we
had got the furniture put to rights and
were settled down to enjoy married life.
A few things were wanted for the house,
however, and one bright, sunshiny morn
ing I hitched two of the horses to bob
sleigh, and Mabel and drove to the vii
lage, due north from my house six
miles. A pleasanter morning | never
saw. There was snow enough to make
excellent sleighing, and the air was
warm and balmy. It see ned as if spring
was near at hand, but worse delusion
never existed.
The village has but one street, being
merely row of twenty or thirty wooden
buildings parallel to and about ten rods
from the railroad track. They are
mainly used for stores, and when we
drove up there were three or four bob
sleds or pungs In front of each store.
Half the farming community of the town
ship appeared to be shopping. About
one o'clock, while we were in dry
goods store the merchant, who
had stepped out moment before, said
to us: 81 don't like to drive away my
customers, but blizzard is coming from
the west, and it is coming fast. The
telegraph announces that it has reached
Morris That is forty miles from here,
but it is coming at the rate OF forty miles
per hour, so you have got no time to
spare if you are going home to-day"
He rolled up our purchases as he
spoke, and appeared in hurry to get
rid of US. When we got outside the
store the first thing that attracted my
attention was the fact that of all the
| teams IN the street when we arrived, not
| one excepting mine remained. Every
| body had scudded for home. Even then
I did not hurry. The sun was still shin
ing brightly, with not the faintest sug-
gestion of storm apparent anywhere.
| Before we had got mile from town /
| had forgotten all about the coming storm,
and the horses we're Jogging at their
will
We were still two miles from home
when suddenly the sun was obscured,
and the air grew cold and chill in mo-
ment A darkness as of smoke swept
over everything. Then I remembered
| why We were going home and l gave
the horses the whip in earnest, flashing
them into run. Away off to the west
there appeared to be leaden wall COM
ing toward us. There was hum in the
air. A light breeze sprang up, grew
stronger, and in one minute became q
/ gale. The wall came down with railroad
] speed, the roar of its approach every in
! slant growing louder. From the top OF
a roll in the prairie we could see our
house, and it came pretty near being our
/ last glimpse of it. No words will ever
convey an intelligent idea of q blizzard
of the frightful roar with which ii
rolls down upon you, the bowling and
kissing of the wind. If you try to speak
the wind dashes the syllables from your
lips SO quickly that you do not hear
your own words. In thirty seconds
from the time the first snowflake fell
could not see my horses. The atmos.
phere appeared to be all snow, and
every flake of it was in hurry to get
somewhere before the rest could ge!
there I use the word flake, but that is
wrong. No flake could be distinguished.
The whole atmosphere was filled with
one big fake that hemmed us in on all
seids. Although Mabel's head wasn'i
over foot from mine, could see her
features, and not could only dimly see her
form. tried to peer downward beside
| the sleigh and see the track, but might
as well have tried to see the earth be-
meath snowbank. / could feel mo-
ton to the sleigh, SO I knew the sleigh
was moving. The cold was intense.
tried to ask my wife if she was suffering
but could not hear my own words
During the two or three minutes thai
intetyened between the time that
saw the storm approaching
aud the moment it struck III
the horses had run at the top of theil
speed. so we were not much over q mile
from home. It did not seem possible
for the horses to keep the track. Nc
one could live an hour in that storm
The only hope lay in the horses being
able to keep to track that was beins
buried deeper and deeper every instant
1t isn't pleasant to sit still and freeze to
death. In ten minutes I was chilled
through, and felt I was freezing. The
horses were still moving, and, although
could not see them, dashed them witt
the whip. It seemed hours since the
storm had shut us in, and was just be-
coming convinced that the horses haG
got out of the path and that we were los
on the prairie, when there came a sud
den lull In the fierce wind. The air was
still full of whirling snow, but I could
see objects about me, and it didn't take
long for me to ascertain that we were in
the barn and were safe. I had left the
barn doors open in the morning, and the
horses had found their way back; I think
by instinct, but my neighbors think il
was sheer accident, and declare that ii
wouldn't happen again in q thou.
sand years. Although We had
reached the barn, we were not in the
house yet. From the barn to the house
is about twenty yards, but as far as see
ing vas concerned, the house might as
we'll have been in the moon. The little
woman helped me unharness the horses
and put them in their stalls. Then
told her to remain where she was, and
made break for the house. It is diff
| cult for any one to believe that In blind
ing storm he cannot go twenty yards in
line sufficiently straight to find house
but try it sometime! Do you see thai
pump? / stumbled over it. It is twenty
feet to the right of the path from the
barn to the house. If it hadn't a-beer
for that pump would never again have
found either the house or the barn. ]
i knew that the handle of that pump
/ pointed directly toward the house, and
! that it was not over ten yards away.
| raised the handle and felt for my bear.