Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1889-01-13
In A SAND STORM.
AWFUL EXPERIENCE OF HUNTERS IN THE
DESERT
A Blizzard Of Almost Overwhelming Heat Instead Of
COld-Safsty at Last Found in the Waters
Of a Little Pool.
8 1919 Glob..Dlmocrat.

companions saw what at first APPEARED to
be a low lying cloud, which seemed to
curtain the horizon. 1t grew in blacllness
"a it increased in extent. FlanBiDg col
umns, tawny.and dense, rose rapidly fTom
left to right. a long sheet Of what at
first seemed purple flame, something like
2 hill on fire, where the rays CT the sun
touched it, it leapsd from the earth, and
shot with the ppeed Of 8 race horse across
the wide expanse of wind-swept sand. Ii
was a rayless curtain of dust. Nothing
bayond it wss visible. Even the air and
the heavens grew iaky, IS the blackening
curtain lifted itself like wall stretching
up from the ground into the
clouds, before the aw-stIuck eyes Of the
etartlei men. In front OF this frowniDg
horizon quick flashes o. light sho1e for an
instant upon gigantic spiral columns,
wich sp7ang 100 feet in the air, as If by
meg'c, and then, curling into fantastic
forms, merged instantly into denser ma SEES
of clouds. And ell the while tie air
shrieked snd moaned like an animal In
pain. The clashing clouds would jar
one against another, as 10 some fearful
gorge ia the Arctic seas the great ice Hoes
are hurled che upon another. And these
walls Of sand, instinct with life and COM
motion, whirled and circled around teen.
coming every instant nearer and nearer.
Back to the water hole, shouted Foot.
They turrei 10 retrace their steps. All
around them was blackneHs and sand. The
wind. in the rushing clouds OF dust deaf
eued the or with its elemental cannonsde.
Tne men were b. fled their last hope.
The direction of the water hole was lost.
They were at the mercy of the storm.
DON'T SEPARATE shouted Foot. join
hands and stay togsther- "
The tempest OF SAID burst upon them
nov with intense violence. 1t swept In
binding sheets into their faces. 1t pene-
trated their ears and nOstrils and parched
their lips with its burning PARTICLES.
Their clothing was scarcely any defense
against the subtle and penetrating dust,
which cut to ths skin with a sensa-
lion like the thrust OF innumerable
needles. The air was filed with whlrl-
ing masses of gritty, powdered earth The
ground waved in little pillows OF sand.
Whichever way the hunters turned they
were met by a whirlwind, against which 1t
was impossible to make Roadway. Tostand
still was death They would have been
buried alive in few minutes. Yet how
could they walk OF? They were clearly the
centre of q circle to which the storm con-
vereed from all directions. 1t looked 80 if
the desert forces had conspired to over
whelm and destroy them. While Foote
was Ia a measure familiar with the terri
BILE sgitations which ut times O. vulse the
desert, the fearful experience "as new
to his companions. They had nsysr be-
fore seen anything like - r..,-o5
e1@-' sifet daie peeTi 'dered them. They felt
assailed by forces OF once I'M
nalbable ard irresistible. The earth, the
mir and the heavens were c>nfederated
against them. Yet they pushed BACK men
by inch in what they supposed to be the d.
rection of the waior hole. 10 reacn IL
meant safety. If they failed OF thai haven
of shelter they must inevitably perish mis-
e-abIv in the desert. Aud so they tolled
on through what appeared 10 them ages Of
doubt. uncertainty and misirust. But
thew made little progress. Struggle as
they would they could not combat the
deepening currents Of sand which, Ike an
immense food, dashed or them its eheeted
volumes Of dust.
And so the hours went by. Their
ih1oats we're parcbed-a consuming thirst
sssailsd them. The dust laden air had
choked their lungs and almost sitlso
res,iration. Their eyes were inhAmed aud
and almost sightless. TheIr feet sank
ankle deep, in the soft, shifting sand,
while around and above them whirled the
black, dense canopy which baifi9d all
their efforts TO penetrate and pass.
An row young Hughes, unable longer
TO maintain the desperate struggle, sank
helpless upon the ground. bus frame
delicately nurtured, WAS not built for
work like this. His canteen was ex-
hausted; his paTched and swollen tongue
vsjnly appealed for water. HE COM
rades had given him the lat drep oil
their own supplies. But Foot never
last courage. His gigantic frame and
indomitable heart seemed to take on new
canscities fer assis ance es the situation
grew more and more menaeing. The faint
inc form of the exhausted boy was thrown
acTcss his shoulder, and with this addi-
ticnal burden ne kept his place at the
head of the little file of hunters, slcwly
breasting the storm. Every step they
now took was made against the fierce drift
that nesrly lifted them from their feet.
Every b.eath they drew was choked with
duet Still they struggled on. A few
hundred yards away ftom the water pool
was little sand dune which had attracted
their attention early in toe eaily morn
ing. They suddenly stumbled upon
this. 1t was pure accident, for
they had long since lost sceu-
rate knowledge of the route they were pur-
suing They could not tell, until this for
tunate discovery was made, IL they were
going in the proper direction. But 70"
they were suddenly full OfhOpe. The dis
coyery of the little sand dune had convert
ed them from despair to hopefulness. i
would afford them al least partial shelter
from the wave-like drift of the sand; enc
IL gave them the assurance that the life
sustairing water was bat few yards away
Pushing close up under the lee of th'
cooe-like deposit, they felt a sense o
almost instantaneous relief as the dust
laden wind swept over them. The terrible
drift at all events, no longer beat 10 thei
faces. filing their ears, nOstrils anC
ewes with the grit that pierced them a
with the thrust of uesdles Ordinarily tnel
would have regarded their condition nos
q, desperate; but it was in 90 many respect
an Improvement upon that Of few mo
ments since that they felt the sand dune Il
be as it in reality WAS positive bensiac
ton. 81, .
And here they rested for awhile, thei
hearts kindling every Instant with new
hope. They had only few hundred yard
more of drift and sand to fight before reach
inc their haven CT safety. It was true TIT
air wa, still full of blackness; The wind still
screeched and whirled in spirsl columns o
dust: the drift still rose and beat upon thel
breasts. b1t their hearts were lighter and
new sense of energy and strength vitaliz sC
their frames They bad only TO make ont
more desperate effort and their work of re
demptjon from terrible peril would be com
plete. g,
Little Hughes lay uron the ground
drawing his breath in quick, painful gssps
Every nerve was strained, every muscle
ouiveIins. Toe heat and fatigue had zen