Barbour County index., 1885-04-17
A COLD DAY.
An Eastern Man Meets q Dakota
l.. Blizzard
Some Of the Stories with Which Old-Timer,
at Fargo Ressle the Wiso Men Of
the East on Their
First Visit.
dakota Cor. 81. Paul pav1

dakota Cor st. Paul Day.1
An Eastern man with culchah - and the
fragment OF fortune left over from q dis
sipated patrimony was at the Headquar.
ters Hotel yesterday afternoon, on his way
up the valley looking up q fine of land in
vestments. He wanted to be introduced to
some active Dakotian. The boys steered
him onto Old Bill Jones, and q friend who
had just come in from taking a sun-bath on
the platform, looking for pilgrims on the
incoming trains. They sized up the wise
man from the East, as the clerk introduced
them, for the old blizzard story.
The stranger opened the ball with: "Awi
1 am glad to meet you. Must be rather q
cold country out hero, should say.n
swell, yes, purity burned cold here now,
and-I reckon we1l get q blizzard before
long"
"a blizzard! Awi What's d blizzard,n
WHAT Didn't you never soc blizzardp
No! Well, IN be burned, Hank" turning
to comrade, ,"here's fellow as never saw
blizzard" He continued: 81 have,
though, an I'll tell We about it. A feller'n
get up some morning and he'll think it a
fine day. The sun will be shinin' and ten
to one he'll take drive in the country and
Long about noon itTl get little hazy
around the sun and purity soon the sky'n
git kinder black around the edges like a
feller's eye that got spoilt in a sluggin'
match, but it'll be all quiet and the wind'n
go sneakin' along as though it was 'fraid o.
scarin' somebody, an the sky will get lit.
tie darker round the edges Is if it was goin'
to put on mournin'. And you'll git scairt
and wonder If its goin' to snow. AM then
the stinkin' wind win hold its breath till
you git away from any house or everybody
gets out of his hole, am then the darn
thing'll begin.
"Blowl It'll blow horse right out of
the harness and snake a cutter over the
prairie at the rate of a mile mint And
then you've got to be mighty careful to
keep your hat on or it'll blow you bald
headed in less'n no time. Beats a Sioux
Indian on the war-path for raisin' hair.
That's the reason there are so many bald.
headed men in Dakota; that, am lyin,
bout the country. AM by gosh it'll blow
your cloes right of o. you, too, and then
your deader than an icicle. You have to
strap 'em on. Nobody goes out doc in
Dakota without some straps in his pock-
cts. Then you'll think it's gettin' cold but
you won't know how cold it is till you pull
out yer whisky bottle am find 1t froze SOL
id, specially il its Dakota whisky. Beats
all how little cold Dakota liquor can stand.
Then first thing you know it'll begin snow
in. Oh, the snow1l come from everv
where. Seems like the ground showed,
and you'll think you're in the middle Of
big whirlin' snow bank, an ten chances
to one youu git all tangled up in the
burned stuff, an go hoppin' OFF like q
big snow fake, and won't know nothin'
till you drop down somewhere in Mime
sofa. An that's what makes it so dry in
Dakota 1t SHOWS 'nough there, but I'll be-
cussed if tho stuff ever touches ground
till it gifts to Minnesota. II a man gifts out
OF one OF them billiards he'll have to carry
his own corpse out. Won't nothin' keep the
snow out 'cept buffaler skin, an it'll wear
that out in half an hour.
81 got caught In one of them an thought
l wuz dead man sure, but got out by the
durnedest luck you ever see. was big
cuss then, weighed two hundred and fifty
pounds, but was awful scairt and felt my
self shrinking under that blasted cold,
you know cold contracs as we used to say
ct school, until wasn't bigger'n a gopher.
w SAAS 90 was q SIOPlu' way IOunU
on the prairie put nay foot in q hole. 10
was . badger hole, am mebbs you won't
believe, but III be burned if didn't crawl
right into that badger hole, was that
| shrunk, all but my boots, an they was too
big an stuck on the outside an keep the
| snow out. Well, stayed there till the
wind quit howlin' an then / crawled out
an went home to Jimtown, where lived.
They thought ! was lost, an when I tols
'em who was they laughed at me, said I
wuz'n impostsr an dFuv me out Nv the
country. No, sir, don't want any more
billiards In mine, betcher life. I'd rather
be in an open claim shanty Tongside the
north pole or in fiery furnace with my
back broke.
We'll, skuse me, stranger" concluded
the Dakotian, al must go; come Hank"
nudging his partner, "did you see tha.
tenderfoot's eyes? Thought they'd drop
into his mouth. Guess he'll never stay in
Dakota. Jaw, what's q blizzard? but Pm
gettin' dryer'n Dakota; let's irrigate."
And the Western rustlers turned the corner
on bee line for the nearest place.