St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-01-10
4 RAILROAD TRAIN IN 4 FOREST
FIRE

The train. lessening its speed, was
soon obliged to creep cautiously be
tween banks of rose-red embers of
solid cords of roaring wood-the
wood which had been cut and piled for
commerce The pine branches on the
hat-car ignited, driving the brass
band into an inclosed carriage for
shelter Men with buckets dropped
to bitches beside the track and dipped
up water to throw on the train, creep
ing on the platforms again with
Scorched clothes and hands and faces
bliStered.
One who has never been in 4 forest
fire can scarcely imagine its intense
heat, the arid binding smoke, the
! suddenness with which the trees flash
from root to crown, and grass blazes
far from any spark, as if earth itself
were burning, the furnace glow of
piled logs, the heated air from baked
ground.
Incredible sights showed through
that nightmare of fire. MoSS-in-
closed stumps spurted flames many
times their own height. Young ferns,
scarce unrolled, sprang green and
fresh from one side of log, while the
other side quivered in living Goals.
The train stopped. 1t could creep
in retreat no farther, for its track
was burned, the rails warped into
fantastic curves. Blackened and
blistercd paint ran down the car sides.
The doors and windows had all
been closed to keep out smoke and
sickening heat. Every passenger in
the carriage gasped for breath. The
floor was so hot it burned their feet.
The window glass could not be
touched. They could all see the
wooden sides of the inclosure warp.
When the doomed train had hung
4 minute III the midst of this furnace,
some one opened Il door and shouted
that it was on fire Into the blister
ing, smoke-darkcned air, out upon a
forest floor spread With embers and
quivering With heat, the people all
rushed. Women tainted and were
dragged up and were carried by their
fathers or brothers. The escape
valve of the locomotive was left open
by its flying engineer, but it uttered
its steam wall briefly, being relieved
by explosion.
When DAYS had cooled the forest to
blackncSs, distorted boiler and some
rows OfirOn wheels were found where
the train came to stop st. Mich
olas for January.
A DAKOTA BLIZZARD.
Little or no snow falls in Dakota
from November to April. 1t is too
n TO Il .,,-1
Il snowStOrm Tin the ordinary sense
of the word), but cold wind which
comes sweeping down from Behring's
Strait with Il velocity of from fifty to
sixty miles an hour, bringing with it
q blast of fnely-powdered ice.
Imagine q thick fog, all of ice, blown
along by a high wind. The tiny
particles, coming With such velocity,
sting like q blow from Il whip-lash.
Nothing can stand before it. Those
buifalOcs and cattle who are used to
it, make for the Ice side of the nearest
hill, hay-stack or building, and huddle
close together for safety, trusting to
being covered by the snow and thus
kept warm; when, if the storm does
not last too long, they may escape
alive. You cannot see across the
street from one house to another,
and men have been frozen to death
swithin few feet of home aud safety.
The thermometer falls many degrees
below zero, beyond the power of ner-
curry to measure it; only the best
spirit thermometer can be used for
these low temperatures. When going
with the wind YOU are driven along
with rcsistlcss force; if against it you
are knocked down and buflctcd about.
Unless YOU are so fortunate as to find
speedy help and shelter you are al
most sure to be frozen to DEATH st.
Nicholas.