The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1888-03-02

CAAlS uCWh upon us roaring IKE an
ocean storm.
1t was an awful scene. Destruction
seemed at hand. Yet far to our left
and back of US the prairie cleaned in
the sunlight, and the mountains in the
south glittered as if it were summer
day.
There was no time TO do any thing
but prepare for the blizzard. The
dogs crOuched under the seats, the
horses stopped and refused to move,
and we had just time to wrap the
blankets around us and tuck in the
buffalo robe when the storm came in
all its fury.
A thousand .menageries let loose
would have been silence compared
with the noise of the storm. 1t was
impossible to see two rods in any direc-
ton. 1t was almost as dark as night,
and but for the snow which filled the
air, flying upward and downward and
from all parts of the' compass, we
should not have been able to see the
horses before us. We managed to turn
them around, but dared not leave the
wagon for fear the blankets and buffa-
10 robes would be swept away.
We now had the storm at our back,
and the wind, which howled like a
thousand fiends, blew the wagon be-
| fore it, forcing the horses to walk
along until we were crowded off the
| hard beaten road and almost upset,
when the wagon went down the snowy
embankment out on to the prairie.
/ Tho oo1I baooy,o intopsa CDoxry a.
/ fine as flour sifted under our wraps,
| got under our clothes-in fact, 1 could
| feel it down in my stockings almost
| freezing the life out of me. For a few
minutes the sensation was simply hor-
rible. We became bewildered and did
not KNOWN what direction to go should
we get the horses to move on. We
knew the direction of the storm when
/ it first came, but billiards always
| change few points to the north or
west Besides, even if we could re-
sumo our journey, there was a proba-
bility that we would miss the town en-
/ tirely and be frozen or force to stay
out on the prairie until morning. Our
only hope lay in the fact that there
were few ranches just outside of the
town with wire fences inclosing the
cultivated fields. We were sure to run
against the fences unless we lost our
reckoning entirely and double back on
our course.
But we soon found that the storm had
only just begun. 1t increased in viO-
lence every minute, and the temporal
ture ran down to what seemed twenty
eight or thirty degrees below zero. At
last we got the horses to move by get
ting out of the wagon and leading them.
The dogs, however, did not follow us.
They stayed in the wagon under the
seats. I believe they would have been
blown away then had they left the
wagon. The only way we managed to
stand was by hanging on to the horses.
/ tried to mount one of the animals,
while the deliver attempted to climb
upon the other, but it was impossible to
remain there. We would have been
frozen to death in ten minutes, so we
kept the horses between ourselves and
the wind, but might as we'll have had q
sieve.
We continued drifting along until
we reached what seemed to be a gulch
or ditch, which was half filled with
snow, and here, with a great effort,
we unhitched the horses from the
wagon, which was left behind. We
tumbled down the steep embankment
and got across it somehow, and
struggled on to keep from freezing.
fell something brush against my leg
but could see nothing, it was so dark.
put down my hands, and to my Joy
found the dogs were with us. 1t made
me positively happy for moment, be-
cause I knew they would keep us warm
for little time should the inevitable
hour come that nj ght.
The storm increased, the cold grew
more intense, and L got up alongside
the driver, put my mouth to his ear
that he might hear me and told hin
that l could not stand it much longer.
The man had seemed to me a gruf
surly fellow, with a thick head anC
very little intelligence on the previou,
day, but when he said to me in that
bowling storm:
brace up, old man. and keep NOV
ing, we will get out all right ]
thought he was the greatest man HAD
ever known.
After that we moved along befor,
the gale, very slowly it seemed to me,
and yet at times felt as if l were fly
ing, so furious did the wind beat upon
us. All the fiends of hell seemed to b,
in that storm. / have seen many
gale at sea, been shipwrecked twice
but nothing in my experience APP
proaches the terrible violence of that
night. 1 felt my feet freezing, theI
they grew very numb. and at last i
seemed as if 1 were walking on woode1
sticks.
Pains began to shoot up toward M
body, my head felt as it would burst
and then suddenly looking out, or try
ing to look into the blackness of the
night, l saw the sitting-room at HON,
with roaring fire in the stove. the
children seated around it and my wife
anxiously looking ut the clock.
Then all became black and remem
Der only that the dogs were on my
neck. When 1 awoke it was broaC
daylight. Where / was 1 had no idea
For moment l seemed to be in
I room; but arOusing myself, l saw
. patch of blue sky through little hol
which l found was in the snow. Or
each side of me We're the dogs. Rails
ing myself up on my elbow, I discov
, cred that l was buried in snow, and
digging around a little, / PRESENT.,
found the driver fast asleep. He, too
was covered with snow. / Attempted
to pull him out, but my feet wer
frozen so that l could not stand. TIL
dogs howled piteOusly as they seratche,
away the snow from the driver unit
they awoke him. He opened his eye