Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-02-16
THE NEWS IN BRIEF.
A Great Storm

which Swept the whole Central ,,,a
Eastern Section, and Caused the Io.s
of Many Lives In the Far West.
Inc storm which reached this section Of
new England Monday night in the shane
OF the heaviest snowfall of this winter
was OF wide extent, apparently covering
almost the whole of the country east of
the Rocky mountains. In the northern
and middle sections there was snow. ac-
companied by severe cold, and in the
southern section rain. From the far West
to the Atlantic seaboard the storm tool, ON
the character of bowling blizzard which
beginning with light breeze and gentle
tall OF snow Monday afternoon, develoned
into the worst storm of the winter, raging
with fearful intensity during the entire
night and early morning The snow was
SO light that it was whirled in all directions.
forming great drifts wherever the slightest
obstruction to its progress was presented
and making all kinds of locomotion diff
cult in the extreme. 1t was worse. If
| possible, at sea than on land, the whirling
snow making it impossible to see a ships
length, and ship captains report it as be-
ing the worst night they have experienced
| in Boston harbor for many wears. An
delayed
In New York the storm was a gentle
reminder of the disastrous blizzard of 1888.
In Chicago the wind reached a velocity
! of so miles an hour. Pedestrians were
thrown down by its violence on street
corners, and on the lake front the breakers
made magnificent spectacle. The storm
is the worst known in Chicago since an
official record began to be kept there %
years ago.
Lives Lost in Oklahoma.
A despatch from Guthrie says: Terrible
cold has been experienced during the
storm that has swept over the territory
within the last few days, and stories of
awful suffering are coming in from various
points Twenty persons have been frozen
to death. A report comes from the north
ern part of the territory that six persons
of one family were murdered by the father
to prevent their suffering while dying of
the cold.
At Red Rock, James Blount and his
wife and two children were almost frozen
to death. Mrs. Fanny Spencer, a home
steader, II miles from Cross, was found
frozen to death. Many persons are still
living in the tents, and as fuel is scarce,
their condition is awful. At Ponca, Mrs.
Jennie Cramer and two children, Lizzie
and Salie, were discovered frozen stiff in
coyotes burrow 10 yards from their
house Col. Henry Melton, cowboy, and
brave Indian fighter, was discovered by q
party of hunters early Monday morning
dead under his horse near New Kirk.
The Loss of Life in Oklahoma.
A later despatch says that reports re.
ceived at Kansas City, Mo-, from Okla
homa and the Indian territory make i
almost certain that at least 80 lives were
lost during the great storm of Sunday
Many isolated homesteads where the
families were poorly prepared for tn
winter cannot be heard from for days anC
possibly weeks and there is reason t.
believe that 80 will not represent the tota
number of the dead. In western ant
southwestern Kansas there was grea
suffering and it is probable that in NOR
than one sod house dead bodies will som
day be found.
In Mississippi and Louisiana.
Dispatches from New Orleans indicate
= that storm approaching in violence to
cyclone swept over Louisiana and Missis
sippi and left in its wake many casualtie
and vast amount of destruction. New
town is said to have been wiped out. A
Beauregard, Miss, four houses were blow
r down and four persons were injured.
e special from jackson, Miss, says terrib
f cyclone passed between Martinsville an