The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-01-17
SORROWFUL
STORY OF THE RAVAGES OF
THE DREADED ICE KING.
Terrible Loss OF Life in the Storm.
Swept West.
An Unprecedented Storm and the
Accompanying Fatalities.
Touching Tales Of SeIfsacriilce
and Death.
Noble School Teachers Who Per-
ished in the Storm
While Trying to Save Their Little
Charges From Freezing.

west, bluckading railroads in FIVE statea, is
now over.
The victims Of It's fury arc baing count
ed, and the piliful List Is growing almost
every hour.
It Is not improbable, when the record is
compile, tha! it will show hundred lives
sacrificed to thesWful fury Of tho blizzard.
Next to this the worst blizzard the
Northwest ever experienced occurred jan
nary 7, s and 0, 1873. In that seventy
people were frozsn TO death and thousands
OF dollsrs' worth OF property destroyed.
The present storm promises to be even
more terrible In its results. Iscame with.
out warning. At sunrise last Wednesday
Dakota never had more lovely winter
weather. The air was clear as crystal, and
every point about the horizon was dis
tinctly visible. The wind was from the
south, warm and balmy, and before the
sun was high IN the SKY, decided thaw
had set in. Farmers took advantage OF
the beautiful weather to go to town to
draw wood, hay, etc.
About noon q cloud was seen along tho
IuOEInNtbteEu uutlhOhi Iyluk ClOS0 W bAo
ground, but stretching from the west to
the north in dark asmi.ctrcle. Little at
tention Was paid to 1t, but an hour later
the cloud had swept over the country, the
sun was obscure, the snow was falling fast
and gale was sweeping from the North.
west with terrible fury,
THE BLIZzARD's FURY.
The mercury fell rapidly, and by FIVE
O'Clock it was 10 degrees below zero, and
the next morning it regiOtersd 80 degrees
below, All the while the wind increased
In fury-the snow fell thicker, and the
large amount OF snow that was already on
the ground was blown into powder and
hurled along by the wind. On the prairie
an object forty feet distant could not be
seen, A mans voice could not be heard
six feet distant. The air was full OF snow
"a fne as -four, and the roaring OF the
wind and the darkness caused by so much
snow In the air, made the sCene the most
disnal, dreary and forsaken that man ever
looked upon. Every railroad in Dakota
and Minnesota, and many Iowa, NebraskR
and Wisconsin railroads, were blocked.
Telegraph wires everywhere were down,
and 1t was not until yesterday that the full
extent and awful results OF the storm be-
came apparent. The telegraph hourly
brings the most pitiful stories Of suffering,
TERRIBLE srBUaeLRs FOR LIFE,
and heroic deeds Of traye men and wo-
msn OF the storm.stricken sections that
have never been equallsd.
Mary Connell, q little school teacher
near Cavour, started home with two Of
her pupils, q boy and girl. The boy left
them and perished. Miss Connsll put
her dresS folds about the little girl and
made her walk all night, sheltering her
charge with her body. They were found
thenextm morning alive, butterribly frozen.
Another teacher, Miss jacobson, near
st, Olei atRrted home with little girl and
both perished. When found Miss Jacob
SON Wss,crouched in Q little hollow inthe
ground with her arms about the little girl,
and her dress skirt was wrapped about
her, Her own bonnet was of her head
and her hand clutched her dress at her
throat, but there was gmile on her face.
Two children, boy and girl, Of Jo-
seph Gary, were lest going home from
school. twenty-five men at once started
on the search for them, and the mother
could not be kept from going along. The
poor woman was with the party who topnd
Them. They were lying close together,
and the boy had his sisters hands be-
tween his own.
sUFFo0ATED BY ICE dust.
Thursday afternoon, just before the big
zard struck this point, party OF seven
farmers, about twenty-five miles northeast
Of here, started for their homes, having
been here with wheat. The report comes
that the bodies OF four Of them have been
found dead. Searching parties are out
looking for the others, Mrs. Knutson, OF
Bushmore, was found frozen to death
within forty feet Of her door. Her hus-
hand was absent, and becoming uneasy,
she started in search ot him, loslng her
life in the act.
These are but a few OF tho many ter
rible stories which have come IN, the ma
iority Of which have been briefly mention
ed before in these dispatches. A number
OF the dead had the appearance o. having
died from sufIocstion. Some hsd torn
their clothing away from their thIoats
and Others had thrown away their head
covering and we're clutchinE at their
throsta na though struggling for breath.
During genuine blizzard the cir is hl!ed
with fine ice dust, driven with terrific
force, which ohokes the unfortunate vic.
tim In RahorE time il he attempts TO stand
against II,
a dispatch from Aberdeen, Dak., aays:
BeSeIe stsnsdsld, pretty l9'year'oid
teacher, left school during the storm to go
to farmers house, thirty yerds distance.
Her dead body was found nearly in front
Of the school house. Four children froSe
to death in 9 school houae st Melette. The
teacher left them to get assistance and her
body has not yet been found. Miss Steu-
bYiner, another teacher, twelve miles
northwest Of Aberdeen, was out all night
in the blizzard. When found she was
barely alive and died shortly atterward.
William Morrell, q 50year.old farm
laborer, six miles west, went out oil the
houee Thursday evening 10 80 few rods
to the barn. He became confused and
was found dead two miles away,
II. s. Chaplin, Of Minneapolis, collector
for threshiDg machine firm, left North
vile, near Aberdeen, Thursday morning
With 9 liyOEymRn TO visit farmers near by.
They have mot been heard from, and are
probably dead. 0. 7. Ovens and wife, Of
Wentworth, OAK, were lost on the prairie
Friday night. They were out eighteen
snd ppe.hAli hours, and when found Mrs.
Owens NaS dead and her husband badly
frozen-WaS travelling in circls-but will
: survive.
At Pierre, OAK, Ills reported woman
} and child were frozen 10 death near Can.
ming; not yet confirmed. No trains have
moved ct Pierre since Thursday.
} In the 6WeediAh settlement, about
twenty miles from Princeton, q lArmel