Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-03-03
SOME SOLID TRUTHS.
A Preacher Answers a Few of the
Eastern Lies.

A Preacher Answers a Few of the
Eastern Lies.
Rev. Palmetto In Christian Advocate.
Meager reports, developed by vivid
imagination, haye made some wonderful
tales of suffering and death in Dakota.
This is especially true of the storm OF
Jan. IL, 1883, when, according to reports.
snow was from ten to twenty-one feet
deep, railroads blockaded, people out of
food and fuel. while hundreds, caught in
the storm and unable to find shelter or
lacking the necessaries of life, persisted.
These tales haye been read, letters Of
anxious inquiry from friends in tho east
answered, and having possessed our
souls in patience for nearly a month in
order to become fully aware of the facts,
we now want to say something in Justice
to North Dakota. And we hope that those
who have been the most ready to publish
the highIy-developed rumors, will also
seek earnestly to circulate tho actual
facts. 1t Is truo there was a storm, and
that considerable snow was flying in the
air for about twenty-four hours; that we
missed our mails fora few days, aud that
all this happened III cold weather. These
things are all true, and apply to q good
portion of North America. "Oh, we'll,
but you had 30 much snow everything
was blockaded, and so many frozen to
DEATH" Here is where imagination be-
gins. We had, speaking Of North Da-
kota, q little more snow than usual, saw
twenty or thirty inches, instead of thirty
feet, We failed to haye a mail from the
east from Wednesday to the following
Monday, and this. not because OF the
blockade in North Dakota. but in the
park region of Minnesota. AS Mani
toba railway official remarked, "The
main limo in North Dakota Is all right;
it Is the Minnesota sidetrack." I do not
thiLk there was a day when a train could
not have been run on the northern di-
vision from GAINESVILLE to Neche, and
but a couple Of days from Crookston to
Minot, covering a territory 200 miles
square. This applies, also, to most OF
the branches in the above territory, none
of which, however, were closed over a
weelS. Even this is unusual, nothing OF
the kind happening before since I have
been in tho country. For four years l
have been presiding elder over a district
# $50 to 800 miles travelling a good share
of the time, making trips of from afty |
TO 300 miles always once, and sometimes
twice, a week over the Manitoba railway, (
travelling by team twenty to forty miles
1t q trip when occasion required, which
was quite frequently, and YET in four
years I haye only missed one service by
the failure OF a train and II by the in.
Utility Of u team, the latter failing to
reach the place on time. having to break
its own road.
Now, an to the number of deaths, l
have taken special pains to ascertain in
travels through the district az above, the
exact number who have persisted and
the amount of suffering by the late biz
zard. The result is that out of between
$4,000 to loo, 900 people dwelling on these
prairies and exposed to tho "pitilcss
blasts Of DEATH" only three persisted,
and I have found no particular cases Of
suffering. II Da he Runor reports cor
rectly there was considerable more suf-
feriag and q number moro deaths In
Texas and other states than there were
in North Dakota. In this article I have
referred particularly to North Dakota,
for Off I know, and while the reports
may say the fatalities were in the south
ern part of the territory three or four
hundred miles south, yet I have not the
least doubt that the number is greatly
exaggerated. We hear occasionally Of a
blizzard coming suddenly and without
warning, as come the cyclone, tornado,
and earthquake in other parts of the
country, and while such may be tho case.
yet In q residence of Ave years In the
territory I have not seon a storm of that
character. Sometimes I ain asked about
1.-The thermometer" and chow low mer.
curry FALLS" and whether this or that one
''can stand the rigorous climate" In
answer I would say that Thermometers
tell all kinds of stories down to 10 de-.
grees below zero, and I guess that is Az
FAR down as an eastern ''tenderfoot"
cares to hear about. But a comparison
Of zero east and here is no comparison at
all. Zero is delightful weather, and such
as Dakotans really enjoy. During the
past week some OF our Canadian A,neri-
can citizens returned from holiday OK
cursions to Ontario, where they had read
oil kinds of reports concerning the land
Of their adoption, which they were
pleased to find untrue, aud, as the wealth.
or was exceedingly fine, remarked that
1t was ahead of anything enjoyed during
their visit. The weather scarecrvw ia
not very substantial, and anyone, wheth.
or Weighing 100 pounds or tipping the
scale at 200, need not be afraid of a Da-
kota winter providing they use a rea-
sonable amount OF good common sense.
-
The CHILD REoovERED.-My little
Girl, aged seven years, was afflicted with
\ severe cough and cold. She could moi
sleep but cough6 almost necessarily
| WA induced by a friend to try Cham.
berlain's Cough Remedy and was an.
tonished at the immediate relief it gave
her and the cure it produced. would
not be without it In the house for anv
price. I have tried many remedies for
coughs and colds, but this is superior to
awning l have ever tried. Prot. j. nj,
Mehan. Capital City Commercial Col.
8 Des Moines, Iowa. Sold by G. @,
Aalensy.