New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-05
sTILTY MORGAN'S BLIZZARD.
AZ ADVENTURE IN ONE OF DAKOTA's WILD
STORMS.
,r CANE IN THE FORM OF A wHIRLING ILAcK
KNOT-sTILTs's STRUGGLES IN THE CoULEr
NAypF TT WAS "TIIE LITTLE

Ss Morgan had lived three Wlnters III D""''"
without having once bIzzard lie had CONF
n h,vc his doubts about the OF such thing
To be sure, he often read In the Eastern papers "'
n blizzard had swept over his STATE ana haa ooi'
all sorts OF dreadful things But 1t had never come
his way and he firmly believed that ines" s'o''''
wcre the malicious inventions 81 dishonest he"sp"p
correspondents In the pay OF railroads ana 'o"hs'e
cOmpanlcs anxious to divert Immigration 'ro'" ~"
kota. Stills used to inveigh against these crue
stories bitterly. To mention the word blizzard III
his presence was the signal for such STORM o. P'o
test as suggested that II he had never ac'u'ns {"
countcrcd one lie kept the possibility OF II ai""''
with him.
silts was "proving up" on claim NOT iar iron
the city OF Watcr0wn. lie kept cigar store IN INC
city, but left It early afternoon In charge VI
his brother so as be able 20 s.cep on BIS cia' W
had 70 walk four miles the PRAIRIE out "c
argued that the walking did Lin good' ana IL oVc""'
at last a very simple matter. lie I't low" o'o
afternoon I'm February u little later than usual bi'
still I'm ample time 10 reach his snack Deio'e "''"
II had been n warm, beautiful day" Inc sui" ""u
blazcd out OF a perfectly clear sky. and aithouoh
the air was sharp, everybody had gone arouhu WIN
his topcoat on his arm, H. indeed. he had bothered
with IT ut all stills knew that the weather changed
quickly sometimes, and he never ventuco o' '9 io7
walk without plenty OF protection. 30 ne 'ooh h''
big coat with hlm-a heavy. o!d-'ime Du""io-"''"
hs arm oopcd over 1t and his hands In his trousers
pockets.
Nothing momentous Is apt to occur nowadays In
wall, across a Dakota prairie The Indians, wolves
buffalo and everything else # former Interest nave
gone forever. tiophcrs shoot around through the
grass, but gophers snail OF account rs spar
rows in Ncw-lork turkey buzzards III lrhidad'
Now and then n iackrabbt would rear himself Oh
If, hind legs point his long toward you and bound
ncctly away. Sometimes II coyOt" would bark SHINY
far beyond In the distance and 1t might b" possible
To catch glimpse Of him, and once IN great whilr
you might stumble on colony OF dogs. but wh''
all these Incidents had occurred the possibilities OF
the prairles were exhausted and you were left To
your own resources for entertainment. In this as
poet Of his case stills fortunate. lie had little
to think Of but he possessed the rare faculty at VIII
Of not thinking at ALL and would move on, mile after
mile without being conscious OF anything
ON the February afternoon mentioned Sis was
thus occupied that is he was p0dlng along mechan-
Ically With his mind In condition OF simple rcposc.
suddenly. and II awakened from drenmcss sleep,
the though. app cred IN his mind That he was cold
II had probably been there quite while before he
Perceived IT, that he did perceive IT, he seemci
to recollect In "a dim sort Of way that he had been
for some time uneasy He Iens,lmed control Of III,
mental operations and looked around lin. some
thing queer was In the air. When he last noticed
things the weather clear. sunny and warin Now
II very cold and the chill seemed to deepen pro
foundry every instant. The northern ana eastern
n
western wor" sickiy red nu,. The atmosphere was
strangely s;ill and thick. There visible.
and vet IL could not have gone down. silt, was OPP
prc ,,d lie seemed to feel that something dreadful
was about TO happen lie began 10 take his bearings
Les than a third Of mile In front Of him he saw
hi, shack. For an Instant he could make IL out
plainly and yet even he looked il seemed to be
come indl>tinc. Half way between him ana the
house thcc ran n deep coulcc and he fixed the spot
vIf his here
observations. from the particular second OF time
he first thought lie felt cold, had certainly con-
suinei no more than thrce minutes. but now the entire
dome above him was lcadrn. the shack was lst 10
vicw and Ly the time he had got his big coat on
and blttoncd up he sensible Of quick motion
Of the air and distant bn, RAPIDLY approaching
noise. The sky. rather the atmospheric cone
within which hi, siah' lni ed. seemed to dathcn
and close him. At one point Just over HIS
right shoulder and apparently stones throw dis-
taut In the air. there black knot about the
Size Of cannoubal II looked rs II 1t were spin
ming around and vhrlng darkness ana confusion far
Ia all directions.
God save mo |" gaspcd stills. " ] d. "A bnVaru
now
rillts WIS not his real name. don't think /
heard fs real name and 1t doesn't signify. any
how. Evcrybody called him stilts ON account OF
his abnormally long and tin legs. lie was tall
but his body WAS not we'll proportional. Tie most
II
weight ana muscle. II Hike flash into Stilt''s
mind TINT II he ever let that twiring black knot
stlbc tim 1t would carry him So far and turn him
over often that even II 70" got away from IL
nv. h., would have lost his bearings completely
and would have no notion whatever rs To the drec-
tlou I'm which To walk All the stories he had
heard or read about people getting lost in the snow
came surglng upon him. lie remembered one case
where a man started out In n blizzard to close his
barn door. and persisted In vain effort To find It,
Another where man and his young daughter LETT
4 clarch building In which, with Others III" blizzard
caught them thinking they could surely reach their
home on the other side Of the street aud only few
doors below t.. church. They were fonnd dead In
the snow not ten feet from The fence that Enclosed
their house. stills threw himself his stomach.
nntt tened out and dug his fingers and toes into The
ground icrccy.
lie did the right thing aud did 1t moment too
soon. The noise which had directed his attention
the black knot had become a startling thindcr.
Wild nurrics OF dlrted ana spread. and In
! another instant the blizzard broke. Ten million
demons surchargcd with fury could not have made
a Wilder nprOar, produced more fearful force.
The uchis, thing that happened Ia stills In all
his life his thinn"S, ut i!a; moment. lie held
himself down In the cured grass and ir"mblcd. Stif
rs h. with cold. the Precipitation of fear wet
his face. How long he lay he did not know, bat
he knew the SHOW heavy on him ana he began
To be- afraid of losing consciousness tn widest
passion Of the storm had paSScd-of that h" felt
certain. iut II still ragged ard roared. The snow
fell in litc flakes that struck h' face like whip
snaps He could foot In front Of his eyes
If, WAS afraid. indeed 10 open them. and Ncnturcd
to do so only for n second now and then. lie los'
slowly. testing his strength against the storm with
! every movement until at last Ec stood upright with
his face SET he sire. directly towards hi, little
shack. one third Of Il milc away.
stills had heard about the tendency OF u man IN
walking without visible marks to guide hin. TO move
In circle and he argued that there danger OF
his missing the shack while being very near IT, As
the thing had been explained 10 him. the muscles OF
the right leg being stronger and morn vigorous gen
orally than those OF the left, II Il circular move
mcnt toward the left. lie concluded therefore, TO
rikn ont for n pOint 10 the right. north OF his