Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-02-03
SOUTHWEST H0WLER.
,,;,o Horrors AMI Loss of Life
Apf in tn Recent Binding
Blizzard
.,.,, 1875 People Reported Dead in Da.
kota, Minnesota, Nebraska
and Iowa.

,,,o oldest Inhabitant Fails to Remember
- ANYTHING Approaching the Severity
Of the Storm.
,c;,rx CITY, Iowa. Corrcspondence.l
rna blizzard which swept over the coun-
January 18th, was in many respects one
~, most remarkable winter storms
u -, i, wears. twas short, swift and fu-
~ ..ns Other storms have extended over a
, ,, period, and often there has been n
,;or fall of SNOW, accompanied with
o,ua] degree of cold, but there has rare
'.,oar such sudden rush of winter
,,rr;cone and such q wild rage of the
,so Storm King. 1t was the demoniac
..aa,w,niucling Of bowling. sweeping blasts
e L.tb Winding masses Of chaotic snow
VIZ l;.h cave the storm Il crown of added ter
WV S.' Even the most solidly built portions
l y; ot;es, and in the most sheltered places
.hars the storm swept irresistibly and man
Nv. .r Laost fed to shelter. Upon the open
sr,;,;e where the wind could wreak its full
Yanaence, the fury of the gale was terrific,
,nI his is the story Of all of the descrip-
. aar which have been sent over
t ti"' wires. The sorry feature is the
arso loss of human life which is
sr,rorted. The reports, too, are not COM
n ,1s rs vet. and there is ground for appre-
Eansion that when the list of missing has
b b,,r fully investigated it will be found
hat many more have persisted. The storm
coyared an enormous stretch of territory,
,cludinc all the region from Manitoba and
worth of the Ohio river, but it seems as if
vented its most malicious spite upon the
n,oirles of the northwest.
Iowa.
The storm was very severe at and in the
viepitv of Sioux City, but so far no lives
ore reported lost, though a number of per-
sops we're badly frozen. The storm began
lote in the afternoon, and continued during
The day and most of the night. The mer-
eury gradually settled to about 80 degrees
holnw zero. The blizzard was accompanied
with but little snow.
During the prevalence of the gale in
Sioux City fire occurred in the business
center of the place, and it required hard
fighting by the fire brigade to contine it to
tho buildings in which it started. 1t was
subdued after an all nights effort Many
of the tinmen report frozen hands or feet.
During the night men were kept busy hunt
ing for the supposed remains of missing
9-year-old boy, who was found ut neigh
boris house about half block away next
morning, where he stopped for safety. Sew
eml school children had narrow escapes
from being lost in the storm. Numerous
adults were unable to reach home. and
found shelter at a neighbours.
Two men persisted near Primghar, and
two boys and ninety five head of cattle
near hardwood.
The worst blizzard of the season is re-
ported in the vicinity of Muscatine. The
badly blocked.
1t snowed steadily NIL day at Des Moines,
delaying trains several hours. Next morn
storming violently. All trains were abnn-
easo, Burlington and Quincy and they
were much delayed.
The storm was very bad ut Knoxville.
The mercury stood l6 degrees below zero.
The snow fell all day at sIanilia, coming
iAplli VIC SoulllcdSt. Lie leulGIdUuIO was
% degrees below zero. Suddenly ut 5
o'clock, in an instant, it commenced to
blow violently from the northwest, hurting
the snow in such frightful gusts that it inn
medlately became dangerous to travel. The
temperature continued to fall rapidly until it
reached p degrees below at 7o'clock next
morning
It's impossible to fully realize the fierce
ness ne OF the blizzard that ragged at Council
bufts. 1t had been showing heavily dur
the day, but the wind was from the south
and the snow was falling through warm
atmosphere that rendered it wet and heavy.
Al o'clock when the snowfall was the
heaviest, the wind suddenly whirled to the
northwest and blew gale. 1t quickly
eneched the snow-iaden clouds, and pack
lS 'hem IN dense masses, sent them back
before " 1t in such density that almost
Egyptian darkness reigned. The cleo
INC hight machinery had to be started
up ana the gas and lamps lighted to
enable business to be continued. The
Sina blew with almost the force of a tor
s sH1o and gathering up the snow that had
aaileh mingled it with the mass in the air
anu anu Sc sent 1t bowling over the country in
Dllnulng volumes. The thermometer reg
S'efed "A below zero. At Pella the storm
Was equally severe.
e.. Al Dubuque the evening of the 18th the
oiillefature was 80 above zero. Next
n mofn,hs a tremendous hurricane wind pre-
Iaeu ana the mercury was 10 degrees be-
NV. os zero. Such blizzard has been I'M
d dnown for years. The snow piled in huge
mat :, completely blockading the highways
ana the railroads.
~. a9n 70 before the storm John Olney
t tnu bernard Bell, aged IL years each. left
- tneA homes, two miles north of Marathon,
W., 50 10 town. Their horses became wild
S "lel 'he storm struck them and they be-
.ane separated. Bell left his horse in a
i inn and went east with the storm, reach
FIJI ih!ufens more dead than alive. The
having how" day section men found Olney's
of ,e 'led to a snow fence two miles east
IN .o"A; A crowd Immediately started
a. a.. search and found him five miles east
frozen dead.
h., ' en- loss of life is shown to have beer
i II 4'f The largest in Dakota. The follow.
thoo.o summary shows the names o.
At If;,.v VINO ,perished, thus far reported
Geo ,'n,TnIcock, Emil Gilbetson; Mitchell
JamssA ' e ~, Joseph Anderson; Minot
W., VINES y Smith and two sons; Raymond
],nro,o fi ~ and two sons, Charles Heath
bcrs = T. e. Gilkeson, Robert Cham
Nr,snli' iiiil Gilman, Thomas and William
W;i,."' ana an unknown man. Abardaen