The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-01-14
"BlizxaHds. St. Paul Pioneer Press,


 There are no words in the English language more persistently ovcrwork' ed and misrepresented than "cyclones and "blizzard." Fitting in with tht universal desire for sensationalism and the disposition to cultivate it by hy- perbole, each of these words in its season comes to be so overloaded with & work that to one half the people i, conveys no impression at all, and, to the other, one distinctly and wrong fully exaggerated. We understand how, by this msgnifying of every lit- tie wind storm to the proportions oi a tornado, certain territory in the west has come to have a reputation that it does not deserve, and to possess to the non- resident terrors which its own inhabitants never imagined. | Through the same circle of imitation. the word "blizzard" is on its travels, helping to confirm, in the minds of those who still believe that the Great American Desert covers great part of Dakota, an equally firm convic- tion that the northwest in winter is stot H-sNCHl UN lHtCi &dltH DSiOlV which no animal life can stand,
 Uniform as is the verbal concession thus made to the necessity for mak- i ing out a stirring news report, there i has seldom been an instance of the abuse of this word so palpable and..fia- grant as that which is now going the rounds, describing the storm that | n1 fhrr,.., h.N,,t h., l. few days ago as "blizzard" This application Is worse than absurd. The snow storm of Thursday was exactly such as are frequent during the win ter months in southern New York and Pennsvlvania. The fall was unusu- ally heavy for this section at this season of the year. It came down in great, tleecy flakes, like soft punches of wool. It was partially melted, clinging to the clothing and exuding moisture as it fell. And for twenty four hours after the faii ceased the temperature remained, as it stood dur ing nearly all of the snowfall, above the freezing point. The storm had just as much likeness to a blizzard as a good sailing breeze to tornado, or d mill-race to a waterspout.
 Of all the people familiar with the word "blizzard," probably not one in thousand ever saw anything re- motely resembling the thing which that word was coined 10 describe. In the absence of Photographic authority, the definition of the term is best sup piled by personal experience. 4 bliz- zard means something as nearly as possible like the sand-storm of the desert, with pulverized ice in the place of sand, and temperature as many degrees below freezing as the other marks above. Its accompani- ments are perfectly well defined They are very low temperature, never in a genuine blizzard rising above the zero point a tremendous wind vc- locity, equal to that of the most vio- lent gales of the stormy season at sea :; and the filling of the air with needle points of ice, which blind the eyes and cut and sting like miniature arrows wherever they strike. This is the storm which benumbs. bewilders and destroys life in its path. It has been felt in rare instances by the settlers on the trceless plains of the north. It seems, rather singularly, to occur less frequently as population and cultiva- ton increase There are comparatively few people in Minnesota who have ever had personal acquaintance with ii. Indeed, to-day it is much rarer than cyclone, and it is infinitely less to be dreaded; since there is some warning of its approach, and 1t k harmless to those who have found shelter. There will probably be bliz- zards in the northwest in the future, as there will be earthquakes in New York the one just about as frequent, and, with the increase of settlement, about as dangerous as the other. Not only, however, is 1t An abuse of Ian guage to use the word of even the se- verest snow storm, but it is gratui- tous islander upon winter climate which is neither incorporate nor un- healthful. The correspondents and re- porters should give the cyclone and blizzard a rest.
 French VU;ra Co~a