The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-11-09
DEADLY SAND STORMS.
One of the Dangers of Travelling Aero,
Deserts and Steppes.


Deserts and Steppes.
mo hot winds here, ANYHOW. N
drink up your very life at one gust
and leave you limp as a wet rag.n
said l, as we sat on deck in the dreamy
Mediterranean twilight. II got caught
by them once in Egypt, and a passing
Arab howled after me, None but a no
and a Christian can face the khamst,fn
(hot wind). "And l answered, Sol
see, my friend, for you and 1 are the
only living things abroadn"
well, I'd sooner face that than such
a sand storm as we had once in Ari.
zona," said a gaunt. wiry, keen-eyed
man beside me. who looked like an
old soldier. "All in one moment the
whole sky seemed to rush down upon
us as if it were big pepper-box with
lid off, and instantly all was dark as
night, and felt as if forty Thousand
ants were eating me up at once. You
should have seen how the beasts
whisked round to get their backs to il,
and ducked their heads down! And
how the men shut their eyes and pulled
their hats down over their faces, and
covered their mouths with their hand!
But it was no use trying to keep tie
dust out; it seemed to get inside ones
very skin. When it cleared off weyS;
looked as if we'd been bathing -
brown sugar, and you might havt
raked match on any part of my skin,
and it would have lit right away"
"Youneed not go to Arizona for thss"
cried his English neighbor. "Youtan
see the same thing on the outskiIs OF
Moscow any summer day you like. The
moment the wind rises all you sur
roundings are clean blotted on, and
the whole air is whirl of hot 5rickly
dust, making you smart and tintle from
head to foot. Passing wagoIs loom
dimly through the driving storm; ladies
hold down their wells with the grasp of
desperation; men shut theireyes and
plunge blindly on, like mad pulls; and
every time you draw your breath you
feel as if you were taking stuff at the
rate of half a bushel a second"
"Most Russian towns are like that"
said /; ''but the worst sard-storm |
ever saw was in the Kara-KOom (Black
SANDY Desert, between the Jral noun
tains and the Syr-Daria (Jaxartes),
when poor McGahan and were fol-
lowing the Russian army in its march
upon Khiva. 1t was just about sunset
on the third day. and was half across
the desert, when a detachment OF
mounted Cossacks appeared in the dis
lance, coming slowly from the north
ward. They had got near enough to be
plainly seen, when suddenly one of the
biggest of the three camels that drew
my Tartar wagon stopped short and be-
gan to snuff the air uneasily. Its I'M
easiness seemed shared by my Kirghiz
driver, who, with his lean, wolfish
face fairly quivering with excitement,
goaded the beasts to their full speed
with yells and whip cracks up low
ridge in front of us. ~-.~
We lIuu ICdSuCo bl1O up
when l saw the advancing Cossacks
leap from their horses and fling them
selves on the ground, with the grayish-
white dust of which their grayish-
white dresses mingled so completely
that it seemed as if the earth had
swallowed them. Just then my camels
fell fiat to the earth, and the Kirghiz,
screaming 'Tebbadr (sand- STORMY
threw himself beside them. I had
just time to notice that the horizon had
suddenly grown blurred and dim, as if
seen through wet glass. when my Tar
tar servant dragged me down beside
him into the bottom of the wagon, and
pulled heavy shawl tightly over us
both. The next moment came a rush
and roar, rocking the huge wagon
like toy, the air grew thick and
close, as if we were in an overheated
room, and the skirr of the sand against
the tilt was like the chirping of thou
sand grasshoppers.
''But Just as we were almost stiAed,
the noise began to abate, and we ven-
tured to peep forth. The passing of
the storm had left the air bitterly cold,
and in the dim moonlight we saw the
whole plain dashed into huge ridges,
like a stormy sea. My wagons and
camels were more than half buried,
and the Kirghiz was gone altogether,
and when he started up out of thesand,
in his long white robe, it was just like
a corpse rising from the grave. But
for that high ground, which kept he
sand from burying us, we should all
have been dead men. AS for the Cos
sacks, they got up, shook themselves.
and went on as if nothing had hap
pened." - David Kerr, in Harpers
Weekly.
Wine at 100000 a Bottle.
Wine at $4,000, 900 bottle is drink
that in EXPENSE would rival the Inv