The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-01-30

servers whose cotton IS stimulated by great
personal interest.
The Rocky mountains attain their great
tstGeight in the central part Of their course
and directly along their eastern base IA
storm from The west is very rare. One
,lly start in eastern Kansas facing fierce
wind from the west; but as he goes west
ward be lnds it moderating and there Is
calm al Denver and Cheyenne. Going
uOr.hward, however. The Rocky mountains
bend far toward the west and decline in
height. and on entering British America
there are low and broad passes through
which tho warm Chinook winds" from
lhe Pacific coast sweep into Manitoba and
northwestern Dakota. From these winds
often 90 degs warmer than the local air
u north DakOta--curiOus results appear.
The ice and snow sometimes melt Oh the
upper Missouri While the section OF that
stream below latitude az is still bound In
thick fee then the FOODS from above burst
no lh0 ice and we have those destructive
Jams" and OverAows, one Of which
wrought such havoc last winter But as
the warm wind moves southeastit rapidly
loses It's warmth; and as such wind is
temporary, there comes after ii behind IL,
we might say m increased cold from the
dampness-aud then the blizzard. The
cold wind from the far north comes down
across the track Of the warm wind. its
motion fearfully accelerated; the moisture
Is instantly condensed 10 powdery snow,
or "pOudre, ~ in some instances as sharp
as fragments Of steel, aud in the binding
cloud the benumbed traveller is hopelessly
lost When the vapor IL so suddenly con-
densed as TO form sharp spicules the Can
adam vOyageurs call IL the barber as IL
cuts the face Ike razor. Unfortunately
tbs Is about all that IS known OF the
BLIZZARD % f9retell is coming or forecast
ils course are alike impossible. Ih0re
have not been observations enough.
OF bllzZnrds both history and tradition
give many accounts. Al the early in
quirers into American archaeology were
amazed az the fact that the Indians had
very clear tradition OF creatures like I'm
mense elephants, which once inhabited the
Mississippi valley, and were eXterminated
by sudden cold; and 1t IS now conceded
that the disappearance of the mastodOn
was lgeologically spcaking) quite recent
The traditions OF the Sioux and Mondans
abound Ia accounts OF billiards which
destroyed whole bands Of Indians, and the
Asgniboines add that all the buffalo In
their territory We're killed IN single
night by Il storm which came earlier than
usual The poet Longfellow h,ss given us
10 "Hiawatha" his rendering OF one
Sioux tradition Of prolonged and terrible
cold A curious fact in this connection is
that one may travel northward till he gets
behind the blizzard as they say, in :
region where the cold Is intense, il is slue,
but does not come on suddenly with wind
aud lying snow; such Is the case az Win
uiYeg generally and on She Saskatchewan;
aud far 20 the west OF the Red river, at
the very base OF tho Canadian Rocky
mountains, the climate Of winter is singU.
iagly even. Going westward from central
Dakota. Nebraska or Kansas, "a similar
gain iu e,ouuess of winter climate is OBJ
serylb,e 50 the settlers are not far wrong
who say the blizzard must have Groom to
breed and turn itself ~
IN the last night of 1863 came a
storm which wrought havoc over every
section east Of the Rocky mountains;
the mercury fell 20 dogs. In some
places IN lew hours, causing Inn
mense suffering. The deaths due |
10 the cold New Years" ms II was
called, were pretty evenly distributed |
irom the lakes to the gulf, many soldiers
lying nom exposure on guard duty in
Doth Federal and Confederate armies.
Dakota then contained bnt few hundred
people, but there was much suffering in
Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.
Late ia 1871 a wind and snow storm Of
unusual violence swept the whole west
iOn Chicago to the Sierra Nevadas; the
Union Pacific railroad was blockaded for |
two months, and in some cnts the snow !
and ice packed so hard that imprisoned |