St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-03-22
Tfte Galedumian.
St. Johnsbury, Vt. Thursday, Mar. 2a. 1888
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
THE GREAT STORM.
Its Extent and Severity.--Some Interest
ing Incidents.


to be told in connection with unusual
storms and disasters, there is no ques-
ton but that the storm of last week
that brought nearly all the concerns of
men in New England and New York to
a stand still, will be remembered in
history as the greatest of a generation.
1t was as good a specimen of the biz
card as the East needs to see; men
who had wintered in Dakota said that
except for the intense cold of the real
Dakota article, we had the same thing
every other feature of the storm was
perfectly reproduced. Some expert
ences of the railroad men and some in
cidents of this memorable storm will
be of interest.
In Springfield, Mass, on Monday,
the noon train for New York was or
dered out at the usual time. Two en-
gines were to be run on the train. The
second engine was being backed down
to take its place at the head of the
train when it was stuck opposite the
south platform at the west end of the
depot. 1t took over an hour to get
the engine back to the train. Then
the train was ordered ahead, but it
could not be move d from out the cover
of the station. Large drifts had form
ed in the very center of the station,
and the spaces under the cars were
filled up completely. The train stood
there all day.
The Story of Stalled Train.
The train that left Boston at ii
o'clock Monday forenoon was stalled
IL IL
road, and was imprisoned in the snow
AZ hours. The conductor, finding that
he could not move the train, detached
the engine and went ahead, hoping to
find an extra freight engine at Indian
Orchard, but was stopped by the snow
before arriving in sight of the station.
He was obliged to leave his engine and
walk back i'll the binding storm to his
own train. The passengers ate up the
food in the dining room car during
Monday and passed the night very
comfortably as the car was warmed
with stoves. Tuesday morning there
were 100 passengers on the train.
Three men started out in search of
food. After wading for miles through
the snow, which was on an average
between four and five feet deep, they
the wants Cd the passengers on the
stalled train. The people at the farm
houses at once placed at the disposal
of the party such food as they had.
The men took back with them a few
lOaves of bread, some butter and eggs,
and arrived at about noon with the
first food the passengers had had since
the night before. News of the dis
tressed train was spread from neigh
Dor to neighbOr and reused up the peo-
pie to get food and carry it to the pas
sengers.
Behind this express train, miles,
was an accommodation train and the
conductor of that train got back to the
village of North Wilbraham and rOus-
ed up 20 men to take food aboard the
train. Early Tuesday morning the
supply of coal on both trains gave out,
and company of 40 men twas raised
at North WilbI aham to carry supply
of coal to both trains. By these exer-
tiOns the passengers were kept reason
ably comfortable. The women were
first fed and whatever was left the
men ate. One traveller says he had
three biscuits to eat Tuesday and two
biscuits aud cup of tea Wednesday.
owe kept alive" he says, "but there
was no such thing as square meal"
Every possible effort was made to
get at the trains from Springfield.
Five engines were sent out, but they
frequently had to go back. A gang of
men working Tuesday night became
so exhausted that they had to be pull
ed out of the bitches at the sides of
the tracks where they were shOveling
and were taken to Springfield. While
the train was stalled two women were
threatened with confinement and they
were removed to farmhouses in the
vicinity. The rescuing train that final
ly pushed through on Wednesday re-
ceived Il warm greeting AS the PROV
of the pillow hove in sight around the
curve the passengers of the train were
all on the platforms, at the windows,
and on the snow banks screaming,
waving hats and handkerchiefs, and
trying to express by gesticulatiOn the
exultation of their feelings. After As
hours imprisonment the passengers
were transferred to Springfield. The
experiences of these stalled passen
gers were duplicated on many New
England roads.
Shrewd Boston Bankers.
banking concern in Boston rather stole
a march on their competitors. All
communication with New York by
wire was cut off Monday night. An
attempt to get quotations from New
York via London through the ordinary
channels was unsuccessful. But the |
difficulty was overcome through the !
ingenuity of Kidder, Peabody & Co.'S |
manager, who cabled from RockpOrt to |
London to Vivian, Gray & Co., the /
brokers', and correspondents of the |
Boston and New York house, asking
them to get per Mackay Bennett cable
the principal New York quotations and |
cable them over to Boston via Rock
port. The first that the stock board |
here knew of this neat scheme was
an object lesson of great force
and beauty, which left its financial
on their minds and in their
pockets. For, given that a Boston
firm had sole and exclusive knowledge
of the quotations in New York "a to Is
hours ahead of any other firm, the pro
position is simple that all the other
fellows have got to quit.
Great Loss of Life.
1t is impossible to estimate the ex-
tent of the loss Of life. A great many
people are missing, and the snow will
have to be cleared away before all can
be accounted for. Almost all of the
reports coming in from the surround
ing country bring news of fatalities re-
sulting from the storm. 1t is feared
that over twenty lives have been lost
in Essex county, New York, alone. In
New Jersey a number are known to
have been lost. Albert Livingston,
4