Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-04-04
LOVE In n SNOW DRIFT.
The W0oing OF q Kansas Maid was As.
sisted bY q Snow Plow.
from the Chicago He-e,d.l

"Speaking of marriages" said tn 1eapgre-
gational minister, s'one of the briefesf -,
most exciting courtships on record was that
of an acquaintance of mine who found his
wife In Kansas. It was in the winter of 1873
20 and the fall of snow was phenomenal In
that section. Beginning with Christmas
there was good sleighing for five weeks and
huge drifts covered the prairies much longer.
The snow had entirely stopped trains on the
Kansas City, Burlington and Santa Fe road
and ACROSS q section of the country known ea
the French Ridge the farmers had been using
the cut made through the hills by the rail-
road company as a short and extremely good
roadway to town. Long after the snow had
melted from the dirt highway teams were
driven down this valley, and one night this
young man of whom I speak took neighbor
girl out for what threatened to be the last
sleighride Of the season. They had never met
half . dozen times in their lives, but that did
not seriously embarrass them, and they drove :
down the railway track on the well-beaten
snow. It happened that the railway company
had secured an immense snow plow with
which they meant that night to open the road
from Ottawa to Burlington. They had two
engines behind II, and came laundering down
to French Ridge at great rate, and the cou-
pie in the sleigh heard with dismay the roar
and clang of the huge machine behind them.
1.-THE little ravine between the hills was
too narrow to allow them to turn out, and
there was nothing for it but to run. So the
horses were urged to their highest speed and
the sleigh went tearing over the snow with
the monster behind and gaining every instant.
Of course the engineer could see nothing
ahead through the tossing macs of snow, and
certainly did not expect anything alive on
that desolate plain, especially after nightfall.
All that horsefssh could do was invoked,
but 1t was not enough, for right in the deep
est place in the cut the great plough struck
them, tossing team, sled and shrieking riders
high into the air. They landed in a mass
more or less confused high up the bank, with
snow about them 30 thick they could not fall
back on the track. As the train rushed past
the horses aoundered out and pulled away
the fragments of the sled. The young woman
stood up, shook the snow from her muff,
which she had unconsciously kept in her
hand pushed her way to the bare railroad and
said calmly:
"Well, we can walk homel''
ga view 80 philosophic in view of the re.s.
markable loss they had suffered quite won
the young mans heart. He also waded out
of the snowdrift, walked out to where she
stood, and put the question direct:
"Will you marry me?"
"'I'll think about it," responded the her.
oine; and she did, with the result of finally
accepting the young man, collapsed sleigh
and all. They live in Kansas City nov, aud
told me last winter when visited their pas
tor that they never had moments reason to
regret the sleigh ride, the tossing received at
the hands of the snow plough, or the infor-
NAL manner in which their dessinies were
united"