The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1892-04-02
DON'T GO TO DAKOTA.
1t Is Cold Enough to Freeze Brass Mon
key, and the Thunderstorms Jar the
Earth-Women Occasionally Go
Crazy, and the Rats are Leav-
ing the State-Dogs Don't
Bark Very Loud.

1t matters little how hot or cold.
wet or dry, climate is, the people
who live in the country are ready to
claim many advantages for the place
which they have chosen for their
home. The solitary exception to
this statement is Dakota. During
residence there OF fourteen months
parts Of two winters and one summer
NOT word was said in my hearing
on the subject OF the climate, except
to relate some new horror OF it.
The Indians, it was averred, went
to Dakota because they thought
that no white man would follow
them to such a place. The bitter
ness Of the cold Of the winters, he
torrid heat OF the summers, the
wellnigh ceaseless wind, the violent
storms of thunder and lightning and
rain, the long drouths, the dust
storms, the hailstorms, must be
experienced to be appreciated.
Everything seems to be on an exces-
sive scale in Dakota. The velocity
of the wind, when the mercury is
standing at 4oo below ze:o, if one is
out in it, will take the animal heat
out of one in a few minutes. No
amount OF clothing can prevent
intense suffering. One feels as if
one had forgotten to put on clothes,
and were encounterlng that cruel
wind naked. Pehaps the wind is
the feature of the climate. When
it is blowing on a cold night, people
who live out on the prairies fire.
quently do not 60 to bed. They
sit all night as close as they can to
a red hot stove. Even then the
side that is turned from the stove
is cold.
One day, when the mercury was
250 below zero, end the wind was
high. the thermometer where | sat
by the stove indicated II50 above
zero; and, eight feet off, the ther-
mometer on the bureau stood at 2oo
"a difference Of 95 1t was neces-
sary On winter nights to get up at
least once to put wood in the stove
but in what was called bad weather
this had to be done several times
during the night. OF course, every
thing treezes-the eggs within few
feet of the hot stove, the kerosene
oil in the corner, the cabbages and
turnipS and potatoes and meat in
the hole in the ground under the
house. Every night an iron bucket
of live Goals is put down into this
six foot hole, to save part of the
winter stores from being destroyed
by freezing One hears that people
take things into their beds with
them when they want to save them,
for it will not do to let things run
out in winter. 1t would be impos-
sible to transport many of them
across the prairies, as they would be
frozen. All windows and all unnec-
essary doors are nailed up and
chinked as closely as possible before
this weather sets IN; an embankment
of earth is thrown up around the
house to keep the wind from coming
up under the floor; four or five fur
rows are run with a pillow around the
house at a sufficient distance to save
it form prairie fires, and wood for a
two weeks siege, when going out OF
doors will be well nigh unendurabl.
is piled high against the wall and
stored under the bed and wherever
else space can be found. In this
weather, if one winks out of doors,
the eyelasheS freeze to the cheek,
and have to be thawed out before
the eyes can be opened.
One hears that many women
become insane in Dakota. Some
say it is the lonely life; but lives as
lonely are borne cheertully elsewhere
My theory is that insanity is caused
by the wind, which intensihes the
loneliness. The moaning and wall
ing, the lashing and swishing, the
rushing and roaring, the bowling
and surging OF the wind go on night
and day for weeks at time, without
a moments lull. 1t becomes mad
dening. One feels as if it were beat.
ing on the brain. One longs fol
even one moment or rest from thai
eternal sound that seems to fill the
universe. 1t is IN vain to put one 5
fingers in ones S ears, for the timber.
of the little house are creaking: the
house itself it swaying on its ioun
dations.
1t is not women alone who are
depressed by some influence II
Dakota. This influence, whatever
it may be, seems to extend to the
lower orders of creation, also. We
had heard that no hcn cackled there
This was true of my sisters anC
mine, but l recall hearing a Httl,
| c,cEl;n1r tla Tho, ,I,.