The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-27
THE EEL CLUB.

Speaking about hot weather." said the
old resident, as he mopped his streaming
brow and reached for a palm leaf, "re-
minds me of the time l was caught by
rotary snow-plow up in Idaho"
The members were too exhausted by the
heat to kick and the man with the remit
niscence took long pull at something
with straw in it and went on:
ut was four years ago last fall went
mp TO the big Chico ranch to winter and
we had pretty severe season. One day
along in January started over TO Rath.
drum. seven miles away, to get the ranch
mail. was mounted on q stout little
pony and well wrapped up in furs, for il
was mighty cold and the wind was blow
ing hard. The snow was deep and had
drifted badly and the pony wallowed along
most OF his time up to his belly in the
drifts. l was slouched down in the sad
die with my hands in my pockets, paying
no attention to my surroundings, for the
pony knew the trail as we'll as did. /
was thinking about the friends in the East
and wondering if the new rife had
ordered had come, and l made up my
mind L would give 1t a trial on the
bear hunt we were then organizing
And then / got to thinking about
what treat the magazines would be, and
from that began specializing about what
kind of horse trade l could make at
Rathdrum and debating whether |
wouldn't send the mail back by Injun
Bob and 90 over to Spokane for a few
unnEC. and incr oc fhinEf hour
good some of Black Jacks hot whisky
would taste and was reveling in the an
ticipation of long, hot drink, heard a
tremendous whiz-z-z-z and b-r-r-r-r almost
under me. L set my spurs into the pony
and we both jumped, and then there
seemed to be a sort OF cataclysm, and
when | got at myself / was buried in a
snow bank twenty feet away, and about
the worst mussed up COW puncher YOU
ever saw. | dug myself out and it didn't
take long to convince me what had hap
pened. / had been riding along right
over the railroad track. The cut was
about four feet deep there and filled full
of snow. With the wind blowing hard In
my face, / hadn't heard the train coming
up behind me till it was right on to me-
1t was running about twenty-five miles an
hour, too. l don't know how il was | es-
CdDtu DtJHR klOuAlu uD EpItdO I'LL
over the landscape. 1t was close call, l
tell you. l was thrown one way and the
pony another. lost the pony and my
hat and had to walk into Rathdrum bare
headed, and the pony didn't get home for
over week"
II got showed in once up on the Mani
toba road-thev call it the Great Northern,
now, think-up in North Dakota" said
the man from Kansas I've stuck in
big drift about three miles west of Man
dan and everybody had to walk in. The
blizzard lasted three days and then they
started in to open I'D the road. Our train
was dead out there in the drift where we
stuck and they got out three big mogul
engines and one OF those old-fashioned
plows, and went out after it. A lot of us
went out on snow shoes to see the fun.
The drift was about hall mile long and
from five to eight feet deep. and the fine,
dry snow was packed as hard az a sand
bank by the heavy wind. Those engines
would back off up the track half mile or
so, put on a full headof steam, and then
rush down into that snow bank with
shock that would make you see stars. 1t
was exciting work and well worth the
six-mile walk in the cold to see. There
was tenderfOOt in our party from New
York named Johnson who got immensely
wrought up over it, and insisted on stand
ing close to the track to see the fun
We warned him TO stand back and
look out for avalanches, but he said he
knew his business and if we were afraid
we needn't follow him. He took his stand
about twenty feet to one side of the track
and waited. Down came the string of
engines thirty miles an hour with the big
pIow rocking and plunging along in front.
When they struck the drift there was
tremendous conclusion and an upheaval OF
snow as though big dynamite mine had
been exploded beneath. While l was
lodging a flake about as big as a peck
measure | saw a section of that drift as
large as a miners shack sail up in the air,
and when it lit, the man from New York
was sponged off the map. We went down
and sunk few prospect holes and finally
struck him. When we got him out, he
didn't have any use for the earth. He
surrendered his charter and went out of
business. It'll be long day before he
monkeys with a snow-plow in action
again.
81 was out in Idaho myself, once" said
the chief. "Once was enough for me. It's
a story don't very often tell and no man
who witnessed the incident am about to
relate will ever forget it. | used to wake
in the middle of the night with that horri-
BILE nightmare upon me. It's long time
ago, however" he continued thoughtfully
after a short pause, land / presume / am
almost the only one left OF the little party
who were concerned in the tragic Incl
dent. Anyway, it can do no harm to tell
it.
Several years ago we made up a party
of fifteen at Bannock City to prospect for
gold in the Yellowstone region. We
started in the early DAYS of April. and by
the Iniddln OF May there Yere only ten of