Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-04-13
BLINDED BY THE SNOW

81 The SNOW.
An Awful Tragedy or En-. p,.,
Winter Long Ago.
~ was ten o'clock in the morn;no
wnen we got down to the plain. Sin
Ancnes OF snow had fallen since mid.
night The plain was fourteen miles
woe at that point, while its distance
east ana west was one hundred. twas
almost as level as floor, and the first
sight OF it elected EXPLANATIONS Of as.
constituent No snow ever seemed 90
"hite. Not tree or bush, not the
eA Oh deer or wild beast, not the
Iaineest trace that life existed between
US ana the far-away fort The dead
Wnlte OF that plain made me think of
the face of a corpse
ne wrlnkled-faced old sergeant, who
nao superintendent our work of bridg-
ing a chasm in the mountain pass.
looked up to the sky and across to the
aootnhis and seemed to be in doubt.
Let's chance it," called three or four
OF the men in chorus, and this decided
the matter. In single file, the sergeant
ieadlng, the fourteen of us struck out
across the plain. As soon as clear of
the trees and brush every man feels a
sort OF giddiness We had not gone
Two miles when the man in front of me
seemed to have suddenly increased his
neignt oy foot / was puzzling over
1t when he just as suddenly became a
owart 1 heard the men laughing and
knew that it was an optical delusion,
out 1T frightened me. The sergeant
mad mountain peak in view and
seemed to strike straight course, but
when 1 looked back saw that our
trail zigzagged in a curious way.
we had made five miles of the jour.
ney when there was a sudden halt. and
q groan of despair went down the line.
The clouds were driving away and the
sun threatening to come out. Even as
we turned and looked back and won
dered If there was time to retrace our
steps the gray film drove off to the
south and the sun burst forth like an
explosion.
Every man cried out in alarm, whiel
half the column swayed and reeled as
IT wounded by bullets. What was the
peril? What had the vet eran soldier to
fear? Something more dreaded that
band of Indians in war-paint; some.
thing less merciful thar pack of starv.
ing wolves-snow blindness! In one
brief minute every mans eyes seemed
aaame. To open them was to see
purple flame dancing about in a fan.
tastic way; the giddiness increased all
of sudden, and we sank down in our
tracks for fear of falling.
1.-THE ropei The rope- was walled
along the line. but the sergeant had al
ready taken it from his knapsack. 1t
was light rope fifty feet long, and he
made one end fast to his own body.
Each man then passed the free end
bach to his comrade till the end Of
the line was reached. We were to
turn back and attempt to reach the
spot from which we started. There
was no such thing as seeing. If
you opened your eyes after long
interval the snow was bold red. The
sergeant felt for the trail with his
feet, and we proceeded at snail's
pace. We had not made half a mile on
the return journey when every man in
the column was weeping or cursing.
1t was a-species of drunkenness. Later
on some shouted at the top of their
voices. In the swaying about the SER
geant was pulled from the trail and
could not find it again, and one of the
men would have killed him with
knife if he could have laid hold of him
by CROPPING. During a moment of
silence the official said:
"Boys. am sorry for this, but I am
not to blame. If you will lie down
and cover your heads with your blank
cts you will be all right when the sun
goes down."
OF the fourteen only four of us did
-
lost all reason. They sobbed like chill
dren; they cursed in a way. to make
you chill; they sang hymns and ribald
songs; they CROPPED about to
find each other and fight like
furies. 1t was midafternoon before /
lost the sound of their voices At FIVE
o'clock the sun was out of sight, and a
bitter, biting wind blew down from the
mountains. Our eyes still ached. but
we could see our way, and we took the
snowy trail back to the hills. The
night came down with blizzard, and
even in the shelter of thicket, with a
great fire blazing, ears and toes were
frozen. Next morning, with a cold,
gray sky and the air full of snowfiakes.
which seemed to burn as they touched
the flesh, we went down on the plain to
look for our lost comrades. They were
lying here and there. to the right and
left Of the trail. Notwo were together.
Some had walked about in circles, and
some had crept for mile on hands and
knees. Everyone was dead and frozen
stiff-ten out of fourteen!-Chicagc
Times.
The Making of scissors.
Though no complexities are involved
in the making of scissors, or much skill
rennirad. vet the process of manu-