The Republican journal., 1888-02-09
Dakota, Jan. 30, 1858.



Henry Stonebrakcr of Beard,!ev MINI. ar
| rived in Minneapolis on Tuesday, says the St.
Paul Pioneer Press. 1t is doubtful if any OF the
many recent sufferers from the hiizzard's fury
could tell a more eloquent tale than he does of
privations that have been endured in the west
ern part of Minnesota during the past month
Mr. StOnebrakcr explained the situation in de-
tail, and this is the tale he told:
Had l been aware before The last moment
that | was going to leave Bcard>ley. my home
for the past seven years, | should have made
out a statement. had il signed and verified hy
the people up there, and then laid il before the
governor with request for relief. No word of
mine can picture the terrible condition OF af-
fairs in that locality. Bearsley is little town
of 100 inhabitants, about fifteen miles west Of
GraceVllle, and some seven miles east of
Browns Valley. the terminus Of the Browns
Valley division of the Manitoba railroad. We
are right there on the open PRAIRIE without Il
stick of timber i'll reach of Us. And yet we
have managed to pull through since Dec. .G
| on which date the railroad brought in two ears
of wood ard one of coal. Since then we have
not seen railway train. We have practically
been cut OFT from all communication with the
rest of the world. Mail is 4 luxury we have
not dreant of for week. But that is a minor
consideration when tell you that for week
before lett, there was not a stick OF wood or
pound of coal i'll the whole region, and not q
drop of oil. How do we live: Well, l don't
know how we have kept soul and body to5etli-
er. by uniting several families in one and
keeping single fire going by the use Of twist
cd hay and straw, we have just managed to exc
out a precarious existence. You can hardly
call it living. 1t has been that way practically
nearly month; only a Very few had any wood
at all. We have literally heriel together
huddled up like sheep. and by the generous use
Of blankets and robes kept q little life in Us.
There have been but three deaths iron frecl-
ing. All this would be more endurabIc il we
had felt that it was necessary.
THEY BLAME THE RAILROAD.
But we can rishtfully blame the Manitoba
railroad officials for all the suffering there has
been there. In December the track was clear,
| and previously big orders had been sent in for
wood and coal. There We're seventy cars side
| tracked at Morris which the officials would not
| bring to Beardsly, although we begged ii almost
on our knees. The track from Morris to
| Browns valley is hardly more than two Streaks
| of rust. 1t is unballa>ted. the rails second
hand to begin on, have been in lise eighteen
years and no sane engineer darcs to drive his
| train over fifteen miles an hour in midsummer.
| and as for using a snow plow, it is out Of the
| question.
| WORSE AT BROWNS VALLEY.
At Browns Valley the situation is in some
| respects worse than with Us. There the people
| have been short of provisions for some tme
as well as without any lights; but by going out
| on the Indian reservation some green fuel can
| be obtained. 1t is almost impossible to stir
abroad. The snow is several feet deep and in
| many places the drifts are fully eighteen feet
| in height. have seen some pretty tough sights
| there within the past few weeks. At one place
| was woman with a babe but a day old. and
not sign of fire in the house. We cannot help
| but feel that the railroad deserted us il our
| time of need. and any one but an iron man
| would have taken some means of rendering us
| aid. l think this is a matter the railway COM
missioners should look up; it demands atten-
| tion and redress, and at once. On Sunday
| could endure the strain no longer, and as had
nothing to keep me at Beardsey took team
| and after couple of days Of tloundering man
aged to get to Morris, where | took the train
for Minneapolis. Here shall remain till spring,
but in the midst of the city luXuries and plenty
my heart goes out to my, suffering neighbors
| and friends up there on the prairie who have
| yet several weeks of exile before them.
WORSE AND WORSE.
Judge J. +. Kinney, agent of the Yankton
Sioux Indian Agency in Dakota, arrived at
Nebraska City Jan. Goth after being nine days
on the road. Five days We're necessary for the
party to travel thirty miles. The thermometer
zero most of the time. The judge says the loss
of life in Dakota has been greatly underestimate
ed, as the Dakota papers have tried to cover it
up. He describes the scene which took place
on board the ears. The coal was running low.
The passengers were crowded into one car,
trying to keep warm. Two babies perished
The men discarded all the outer garments they
could spare and gave them to the ladies and
children. Finding these not enough, they
brought mail-sacks from the postal-car and
| wrapped the children up in them. While at one
station in Bonhomme County, the Judge says,
nineteen frozen bodies were brought into the
depot in one day. In Bonhomme County the
list of dead will reach fully 16O The estimates
| as made at YanktOn of the loss through
out the Territory figure UP over 1000 lives
lost. The counties where the loss of life
was the largest are: Bonhomme, 16O: Hutchin-
son, IA; Lincoln, 13; Beadle, %; Sphinx, y !;
IIurd, 10; Ward, Is. The northern and cen
tral parts of the Territory had not been heard
from fully.
MI. Kinney named a number Of curious in
cidents relative to the wanderngs of those who
| went out in the storm. Mrs. Browning, of
Turner County, went from her house to the
stable, distance of 100 feet, and her body was
recovered Sunday seven miles from homc
Charles Dollinger, a farmer of Turner County,
perished seven feet from his house. A woman
name unknown, of the same county, went out
to care for her chickens. and was found two
| miles from her house. Roads from the agency
to Yankton were lined with dead cattle, many
farmers losing all they had. One man lost over
100. The loss of stock can not be estimated.
At Fort Keogh, NJ. T., the thermometer reg.
istered 65 degrees below zero during the late
blizzard. At the same point on one occasion
last summer it stood 1870 degrees above zero,
making range of 1875 degrees. 1t is doubtful
if any such extreme variation between summer
and winter temperature has been recorded at
any other spot on the globe.