St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-13
THE RAILROADS BLOCKADED.
In Dakota and Many Parts of Min
nesOta There Was a Perfect
RIOckade

nesota There Was a Perfect
Blockade.
Reports indicate that the storm was
wide spread, extending from the Rocky
mountains east to Chicago and from the
British possessions to the interior of
Iowa. OF course, it varied great deal
in severity. In Montana it moderated
from the eastern portion of the territory
west towards the mountains, and east
of Minnesota and Wisconsin it was less
severe as it proceeded eastward. Its
greatest severity was all through Da-
kOta, Minnesota and Iowa. 1t hit all
the railroads very hard. its greatest
force seems to have been let loose in
Dakota, where it blocked up all the
railroads. in some places stopping travel
entirely and in most localities
delaying trains so that they
might as well have been stopped en-
tlrely. The Northern Pacific made the
best fight it could against the blizzard
that swept through Dakota from one
end to the other. The snow fell and
the wind blew gale all day long, so
that it was almost impossible to see a
hundred feet distant. Yesterday after
noon the storm had not abated. A dis
patch, dated at Mandan, OAK, says the
storm does not abate but rather in
creases. The wind is blowing from the
northwest a regular gale. The cuts
must all be filled, and the wind is tax
ing all the SNOW off the ground. This
is what railroad men say is one of the
worst features of the storm, for where
it cleans the snow off the ground
tho irf
when it does this, it leaves the
dirt on the track which wedges down
in between the rails and there freezes
so as to lift the trains off the track and
run them cut on the prairie. 1t is i'm
possible to give much of an idea of the
situation of the trains or their locations.
So much snow fell and the wind was so
furious and strong as to move it onto
the tracks in immense quantities, and
as the storm was continuous, it was
useless to attempt
TO CLEAR THE TRACKS
till there was a lull in the wind. The
result is that all along the line the
Northern Pacific trains were being laid
up. Only five freight trains were NOV
ing on the road yesterday afternoon.
and few passenger trains. The through
train that left here yesterday forenoon
was stopped at Minneapolis. At o'clock,
however, another train was sent
out which was to have taken the pas
SengerS on the train that was stopped.
How far the last train succeeded in
going is not known. The Manitoba road
Jared no better Not wheel was turn
ing west of Darwin yesterday afternoon
and the storm was as furious and as
fierce as ever. The wind was bitter
cold, and the snow was whirled around
III every direction, rendering it impos-
Slble 10 work the trains. On Wednes-
day night the fall of snow between st.
Cloud and CroOkston was the heaviest
ever known in that locality.
Mr. Ainsly. assistant general
manager of the Northern Pacific.
went up the road, but he found the
storm so heavy that he stopped off at
Fargo. All along the lines of the Mani
tOba road the storm was the worst ever
seen, and every where trains we've
stopped entirely or so delayed that
there was no telling anything about
their getting through. Even between
st. Paul and Minneapolis there was
more or less delay. All along through
Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa
the storm appeared in unusual severity.
and all trains OH all the roads in that
region were more or less delayed, and
Ill many instances
ENTIRELY STOPPED.
The Hastings IL Dakota road was
blocked up entirely. The trains on all the
roads running east of st. Paul suffered
good deal of delay, running behind
from one TO twelve or fifteen hours.
The Minnesota 4 Northwestern train,
due here at $50 a. m. was delayed till
far into the night. For 10 miles south
OF st. Paul the storm was extending all
over this road with great fury. A part
of the day the Omaha road west on the
Sioux division was kept open. but it
was expected it would be closed bv
night. and all-day trains on it were very
much behind time. On the eastern end