Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-02-07
Explanation and regulation,

Ysnkton, ID. t., Feb. 9th, 1SSS.-The
Yankton board of trade, with the full
knowledge OF the facts obtained by care.
ful and thorough inquiry, request the
eastern papers and press associations to
give place to a true statement in regard
to the blizzard of January 18th. The
story of Agent Kinney has been sup
plemented by one sent out from Sharon,
Pa, both TO the effect that a thousand
lives were lost and great numbers of
stock destroyed.
The storm was phenomenal in sudden
ness and severity. Upon g warm day
when it was thawing, With q slight snow
fall or rain in places, into an atmosphere
loaded with moisture, came a severe
northwest wind. The moisture was
frozen IN it's ultimate PARTICLES, and came
with the wind like doubled fog or q
wave OF dense smoke. and it grew colder
for twelve hours. In southeastern Da-
kota the storm came in the middle Of
the day, at a time when the most people
were abroad.
The day WAS pleasant and many
thousands OF people were u upon their
farms and upon the psairies upon every
kind of business, mostly clad for the
pleasant day. There were probably
rs 900 children in school. OF all these,
sc caught hY the storm, over al areh in
Dakota of $50 GOO square miles not over
l75 lives in all were lost, or at the out
side 200.
Reports, rumors and wild imagination
exaggerated everything, and two men
have added glarlng falsehood. Major Kin.
ney saw nothing that he pretended to or
is credited with reporting. He drove by a
team from the Indian agency to Yankton.
stopping over q night or two on the way.
He made no complaint here OF suffering
by himself and wife, and went forward
comfortably in the cars. To ne one did
he make his great report till he was ont
OF the country. His statement that rail.
road passengers suffered from cold and
that children were frozen TO death in
passenger cars was q pure fabrication,
totally devoid of truth or semblance of
truth. The other man specifies one death
and reports five hundred. Both clinch
their falsehood with the reports that the
facts were suppressed. Every local
Pa per printed all the facts, Minneapolis,
st. Paul, Sioux City and other papers
had agents every where that gathered
the details. From Yankton as q news
center ell the fact within a hundred
miles were reported. Similar activity
prevailed at other ~centers. There was o
reduplloatlon of everything false and
true.
La Yankton county three lives we're
lost. These we're all in one neighbor-
hood whore all the people were out and
all lightly clothed. This was the total
loss among Thousand of people and
school children who were exposed.
As to live stock the exaggeration is
still worse. OF She 5000 horses, 1000
sheep. 10000 cattle and 1900 hogs in
oAp SooaeJ INV OfCk htty ALI AL WSEo lOsbs
The herds that were reported in this
county and others to line the roadside
with carcasses are alive and fat. Some
of these herds have since been shipped
from this place. Similar reckless re-
ports we're made from other localities.
The storm was u~nexampled. Nothing
just like it ever occurred before. For
fifteen years nothing comparable with
it has happened. The worst storm in
the northwest Was Dec. 81, 1858, and
January l, 1864. and caused suffering
and death in hi army clear down tie
the gulf states. The worst cold oil the
storm of January 18th was not in Da.
kota, but in Wisconsin and Michigan,
and q storm SURPRISING II In snow and
equaling IL in all other respects has
since swept over New York and New
England, an area about equal to to that
of Dakota. The further reckless repeti-
tions about the Dakota storm ought in
truth to cease.
GEO. r. SooUaAn,
President Board of Trade.