The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-02-02
ABOUT BLIZZARDS,
A Visit to Chicago During the Cold Snap.

ABOCI DLlZZAkDS,
A Visit to Chicago During the Cold Snap.
ATLANTA, January 25.-Out of the
blizzard Glad to get home, thaw the
icicles out of my whiskers and repair the
bites that Jack Frost gave me in Chicago
before vas aware of it. Sunday morn
ing, the 18th instant, started to hear
some of the fabulous boy choirs of Chi
cago, but ] only opened storm door of
the Grand Pacific hotel when I encoun-
tered blizzard, fourteen.degrees.b
zero blast. This was enough. retreated
to my room, and for twenty. -four hours
was prisoner in that great caravansary.
Not the worst shelter for such day, and
yet chilly in spite of its steam, stoves
and CRATES. The great corridors on the
first floor, extending through the entire
block from Clark street to La Sale street,
had a wintry air. The upper halls we're
cold, and in my room window scarcely
five feet from the hottest CRATE fire that
could be made, and sickly sun shining
upon the outside, was all day so thickly
coated with frost that>it looked like
block of ice from the north pole. And
this was in Chicago, more than three
hundred miles east of the blizzard's
track, where the thermometer was in
some places fifty-four degrees below zero
and the wind travelling from thirty to
sixty miles an hour. picture it, think
of it." you that cuddle down South of
the Piedmont range, and perhaps once
in three years have chance to record a
solemn VOW that you are "going to freeze
to death" before q hot fire when the
thermometer is only down to zero! Can
you realize the horrors of the late biz
zard in the treeless plains of the north
west, where so many lives have gone out
| in the icy sleep of death? l can--I am
not proud of it-be thankful that you
cannot. Years ago, in northern Mime
sofa, / was forced to an acquaintance
with this ghastly member of the storm
king family, which am not anxious to
renew. I never wish to be within a
thousand miles of blizzard again. With
the thermometer forty degrees below
zero, you cannot touch a piece of iron
with your bare hand without blisterlng
| it. The first sensations are different, but
the after affects are the same as if you
touched q red-hot iron. In such an
atmosphere you start to travel by stage
| ten or twelve miles on still, bright day.
| Inside the stage, which is like the body
of an omnibns, on bob runners, is little
stove with the pipe through the roof. If
this is fed often enough to keep it hot,
the passengers, if we'll wrapped, may
keep reasonably comfortable, but they
can enjoy no more Of scenery than if they
were in a "black Maria" on account of
frosty windows. The driver, when he
rolls down from his perch in front, and
stamps into the red hot stove at the first
way station, is curiosity. In his three
thickness of underwoolens and other
clothing, surmounted by fur skins of
bear, wolf, fox or beaver, he looks as
large as hogshesd. His "pealiug" is as
interesting as the unwinding of an Egyp-
tian mummy, and you observe as he
thaws the icicles from his eyes and nose
the only uncovered apertures about his
face-that be wears no boots, no stiff
leather about him to impede circulation.
Over his three pairs of woolen socks are
Indian moccasins of soft deer skin
everything soft and Aexible-and over
these "Arctics" and leggings. But this
is not travelling in blizzard, mind you.
This is only sort of pleasure excursion
in that latitude. You may think it
incredible, but it is nevertheless true,
that after sach q days exposure the
driver can eat the whole of a fat goose
the fatter the better.
Having thus limited at northern
pleasure excursion, let us come to few
of the casualties connected with the late
blizzards in the northwest, for you must
remember that there we're three of them
following each other in quick succession
all within ten days.
The day T left Chicago, Judge J. D.
Kinney, Indian agent, Yankton, Dakota,
arrived in Nebraska after nine days
travel by rail in these billiards, the last
five days averaging only six miles day,
and telegraphed to an acquaintance of
mine in Chicago that in only one county
of Dakota 160 lives we're known to be
lost and that over 1000 had perished in
Dakota alone. Up to this time only 225
deaths had been reported to the Chicago
papers from the whole blizzard region,
which includes Minnesota, Dakota,
Nebraska, Kansas, and the whole western
plains beyond. From what know of
this region and the severity of the storm
am satisfied that not less than 5000
human beings and over a million dollars
worth of live stock were in those ten days
of billiards. sacrificed to the ice king-an
Unsuitable monster, much more to be
dreaded than the erlking of Teutonic
legend. During this fearful trip, Judge
Kinney says, as the coal run low and
other fuel became exhausted, the passen.
gers crowded into one car, and the men
gave to the women and children their
outer garments, aud even wrapped chill
dren in the mail sacks. In spite of all,
two children in their car froze to death.
But this was nothing as compared to the,
mortality of those caught in the open air
by the blizzard blasts. A Mr.. Clark and
his wife we're going in sleigh to Yank
ton, when the blizzard struck them.
Their horses refused to face the storm.
They turned loose the horses, fastened
themselves together with leather strap
and went before the wind-anything 10
keep in motion-till they came to hay.
stack. Into this they burrowed and
stayed all night. In the morning, dis.
covering house near by, Mr.. Clark
crawled to it on his hands and knees (he
was too badly frozen to walk and sent
assistance to his wife. When it arrived
she was dead. A Mr.. Chambers and his
boy lost their way within half a mile of
home. He saved the boys life by bury
ing him in the snow, but perished him.
self. The boy says his father kept call
ing for help all night, and only died one
hour before rescuing. party reached
them. The boy was not badly frozen.
A farmer started to water his stock
only few rods from the house-became
blinded by the fine frozen particles that
filled the air, lost his way, determined to
keep in motion, and walked upon the
open prairie all the next night and the
following day, to find his house, and was
rescued twenty miles from his home.
Others, under similar circumstances,
walked in circle all night and saved
their lives by violent exercise, knowing
that it was death to stop. The Indians
in thot rapinn geeno I'm understand this |