Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-03-16

pie Of many similar casss A core
.pondsnt Of Kansas City paper. wri,inI
from Fort Dodge. estimates the numbe
OF cattle frozen TO death within rAdiui
Of a hundred miles around For, Dodg'
to be i00. 900. and 100 human live, los
In the same wAy.--a statement which
fear is not ovsrdrawn.
All this happened with the themom'
e,er indicating only twenty.thre degrees
below zero. Does that sound like very
cold weather 10 any old resident Of OK.
ford County, There Is scarcely winter
In Maine that the Thermometer does not
register twenty.,hree degrees below zero,
and yet We never hear Of cattle freezing
there. What causes ell this loss. ther
many Of Jour readers will enquire. Some
Of them could say: "l've seen the ihsr.
mome,er down 10 forty below. but neither
cattle nor men frOze 10 death, and don,
think they oush, TO when it's only twen.
ty.,hre." one reason why they fresr,
!. through lack Of provision being made
for winter. There are no sheds 20 shell.
ter them. and IL the snow covers the
grass there IL nothing for them 10 eat
no, a straw TO feed TO them. and when a
severe storm comes they must DO
the bes, they can. This seems like cru
city TO animals. 10 have them ou, on the
prairie with no provision wha,eyer for
bad weather. The time is coming when
ranehmen will see that IL is TO their in
tsr,s, 20 provid. food and shelter for their
stock. This Is an exceptional winter. and
| |, may be years before we have another
like Il. ye, !, would be best 10 be pre-
pared for cold winters. Cattle have lived
for year. on the plains wiihou, winter
feeding. and no serious loss has been in.
CURED I'LL thi. winter. so no blame ought
to be attached 20 the owners for negli.
genee. As they have observed the regular
custom Of caring for them. The weather
clerk mus, bear all the blame. The di.
rec, cause however. was the blizzard. pre-.
ceded I. I, was by very heavy 'leet
and snow storm the week before is visit.
II the cattle could have got q, the grass.
the lo.. would have been much lighter.
Ba, they were wi,hou, sutiieisn, food .
week. then along came the blizzard.
Did you ever experience a blilIlrd ?
A snow and wind storm combined. when
the "b,auiijsl' docs no, fall 80 lightly
like downy feathers. but Is driven by the
cold north wind horizontally across the
prlirie.. stopping only in the sheltered
places. coming into the horses through
any and all eraeks.-even blown In under
the shingles on the roofs They can
never be fully appreciated ~i,hou, per.
.onal Acquaintance.
The genuine blizzard i' preceded by
very warm, plea'an, weather. having the
appearance Of spring instead Of winter.
Many take advantage Of these fine days
TO 20 TO the towns 10 procure the neoes.
.aries Of life. II the storm cones While
away from home they mus, try aud ge,
back the be., way they can. Our ~ors,
blixzrrd was. m usual. preceded by q
very warm and 'pring.like day. harry
cloud being seen abou, dark. in the
north. Az midnight. without waning
gust, the storm struck Us. Struck Is the
proper expression and bes, explains IL.
mode Of procedure. Houses ,rembled
from the ire, gust s though they had
been hi, with a heavy hammer. and all
knew wha, was coming. A, daybreak
,hi. scene l. changed. for the weather
clerk has said. "Pr,to change" and We
are living At the north pole-judging
from appearances. The Thermometer Is
steadily falling. and the air is 90 hlled
with srow and frost ,hA, objects ten rods
away are invisible. The north wind s
blowing a gale. and the snow instead OF
falling is being driven before IL, making
IL almo., impossible TO walk agains, the
storm. I, /. impossible to look ahead
while walking north and see the way;
the be., thing TO do II II Is necessary to
travel agsins, IL, Is to look 40 just long
enough TO get the direction Of some ob.
jee,iye point. then with the face well
protected and head down try and reach
!, As soon as possible. for the wind Is
penetrating and soon ehills person. no
matter how much clothing be has on. OF
course |. would be easier 10 90 south
with the storm for you could use the eyes
wi,hou, their becoming filed with snow.
bu, tie horizon is very small and II .
person Is not sure he knows the road.
the very be., and wises, thing to do is
TO keep a. near the Ere as possible in
some house and "wai, till the clouds
roll by"
Imagine IL you can the condition OF
herd Of cattle, say one thousand in num-
Der. ou, on the range when such storm
Is raging. In this case being deprived OF
food for week, and then ask yourself
IL il IL strange ths, they should die
There are no barns built for them TO be
shut into, no sheds. behind which they
could get away from Il, fury. no friendly
woods into which they might run and
avoid the wind; but they are lef, out
on the bleak open prairies TO "dfif,' s
ranch men say. That i' to travel south
with the storm. ,rampling each other to
death II any fall while drifting. crowd
ing into the streams aud drowning. Pill.
ing up agsins, wire fences wherever
they eross their line Of march. In all
these ways and by freezing the cattle were
killed by thousands. which might have
been alive had they been properly housed
and fed.
fear to take up any more space with
this article. but mus. say good word
for Kansas weather. We speak OF the
winter a. being past. having had 'ir
,ceeks Of Il. and now the roads are dusty.
wheat fields green, farmers plowing their
eo,c y,ound. and February il only q