Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1888-02-09
How a Teacher and His Pupils
Died Of Starvation Dur
ing the Blizzard.
The Adventure Of a Nebraska Young
Lady Who Was Three Days
Without Food.
The HerOism OF q Teacher Who Tried
to Save Three Little Ones
from Death.
Stories Of Actual Experience that Rival
the OuriOsities of Airy
Fiction.
Dubuque nowal apsoiai.

One OF the CHASTITY incidents OF the
recent furious blizzard in Dako Ia has lust
been made public. Mrs. Patrick, a widow.
VINO resides in the little town of Peosta,
about fourteen miles east of Dubuque, last
night received the shocking intelligence
that her son had been frozen to death in
the storm. George Patrick was school
teacher in an isolated district about forty
miles north Of Mandan, d. T. His school
consisted of FIVE pupils. On the day the
Dhzzard began raging, rather than brave
Its fury he concluded to remain over NIGHT
IN the school-house, expecting that the
storm would cease before morning.
But the following day il ragged fiercer
| tnan ever and the little school-house
standing all unprotected upon the wide
prairie was wrapped in the icy folds of the
arctic hurricane and shaken to its very
foundations. The horrors endured by
that doomed man and his little compan-
Ions. the walls and sobs OF the hungry and
norrlned children. must be left to the
imagination OF the reader. None of them
were left to tell tho story. Three days
later they were all found stretched upon
the floor OF the schoolhouse, frozen stiff.
their features distorted by the pains of cold
and hunger, and their forms huddled to-
gether as If In desperate effort to prolong
lie as long as possible. The heroism and
self-sacrifice of the dead school teacher
VIII be an enduring monumentto to his mem
ory. de had stripped himself Of his outer
garments and wrapped them about the
children. He had broken the desks to
pieces and torn up the floor Of the school,
mouse to provide fuel, and when everything
combustible that could be spared was gone.
tortured by hunger and by cold, he had |
iaid down with his pupils and with them |
dled: The scene presented when the grief |
stricken parents and friends entered the |
schoolhouse was one they will never for |
get. This is the most CHASTITY and painful
record yet given of the ravages Of that
awful storm by which so many lost their
hves' The remains Of Mr.. Patrick are ex-
Pected TO reach Peosta. He was reared in
-'''' Miss Koyce,s re Terrible ETporience.
Lincoln (Neb) spsciall
Stories of heroism and terrible suffering
during the great blizzard are coming in,
and some of them more { han rival the GU
riosities of fiction. The wise and cour-
ageous act of the young lady teacher who
strung her thirteen pupils together, tied
them to herself, and led them to q house
over q half mile distant, is familiar to ev-
erybody. But the case of q young lady
teacher named Louise Royce surpasses any
other instance, both in the splendid cour-
age displayed and in the protracted agony
endured.
Miss Royce was teaching eight miles
northeast Of Plainview. On that fatal day
she had three pupils-two little boys and
one little girl-all very young. When the
storm set In she started for the nearest
house, twenty rods distant, with the chill
dren, facing the sweeping, binding, bitter
blast-a very arctic gale. The children
soon caused her to become bewildered and
lose both the house and schoolhouse.
After wandering around trying to find shell
ter the children refused to move, in fact
chilled IA nnd sn Had with her back
to the storm, nestled the children under
her wraps, pressed them close to her, and
cheered and warmed them as best she
could.
The fury Of the storm increased con-
stantly. She called for help, but could
not be heard ten rods away. For six ter
rible hours she fought desperately with
death. She clasped the freezing hands and
feet Of the children. She spoke words OF
comfort, tried to ward off the keen arrows
of death from the north, did everything
possible to keep the little ones alive through
that terrible ordeal. But it could not be
done. At about 8 o'clock at night one little
boy fell asleep-foreyer-and was laid up
on the snow. Then began the battle for
the other children. Her own hands and
feet froze stiff. Chilled and almost ready
to fall with exhaustion, she kept them alive |
until about a. m, when the other little |
boy was overpowered by the cold and was |
stretched upon the snow. In three hours |
more the little girl also passed away and |
was placed beside the little boys.
The storm was then somewhat abateds |
and Miss Royce was able to see the house, |
about thirty rods distant, and, by sum-
moning all her courage and strength, waA
able to drag herself to the door and will
probably suavive, though both feet must be
amputated.