Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-02-15
The Storms Work.

The Storms Work.
The last snow storm will be remembered
as the worst that has visited this section
in years, and in point of personal discom-
future, probably has no equal within
recollection. The snow began falling on
Thursday morning of last week and con-
tinued all that day. By night only six
+ inches had fallen, but it was very light and
dry as powder. Then set in tempest
of whirling wind that swept the snow be-
fore it in binding masses and heaped it In
mighty drifts. Intense cold accompanied
the blizzard, and for more than AZ hours
the thermometer ranged about and below
| the zero mark.
In point of general scope the storm took
! in almost the entire country, being much
worse in the lower Valley and Piedmont
| Virginia than in this section. Here it
suspended railroad traffic and completely
blocked the county roads. In many places
high fences were covered and deep cuts
were filled up even to the tops. The
overland star mail route to Highland was
in terrible shape and there was no mail Fri
day from that quarter. The mail hacks
had proceeded with great difficulty from
Monterey, and from Staunton as far as
West Augusta, where the jaded teams and
frozen drivers laid up for the night. Next
day they exchanged mail pouches and re-
turned to their respective starting points.
There was only one passenger, a Mrs.
Huppman. on the Staunton hack, bound
for Mcdowell. The difficulties and hard
ships Of the trip were SO great, that she
abandoned the hack at West Augusta, and
after waiting several days for the road to
be opened was finally compelled to proceed
bad condition near there, at point on Shen-
andoah mountain, known as Horseshoe
Bend, (" that the road was abandoned and a
better, though very dangerous route along
the mountain side was taken. AS a large
force of men were at work on the drifts
near by, the mail driver took risks that un-
der other circumstances he would not have
thought of. The hackmen from both ends
of the line suffered intensely from exposure
and on arriving at their meeting point
West Augusta-were found to be in Sc
riOuS condition.
Mr.. M. J. Warmers face and feet were
frozen, and his partner to suffering, Mr..
Charles Cross from Monterey,-had his
hands badly frostbitten.
The Arbor Hill and Middlebrook star
route was also blocked, and from Thurs
day to Tuesday only one trip had been
made. At one point the team stuck fast
in drift, and the driver, Mr.. VIM. Dull,
had toprocure the assistance of some farm
hands near by to dig his team out. When
he arrived here both his face and hands
were frozen. In the north eastern end of
the county, served by the Mt. Meridian
route, conditions were no better, and up
to Tuesday only one trip had been accom-
plished-the hack only getting few miles
to Annex, which is the first post-of1ice on
the route.
By rail, Staunton was completely cut
off from the n forth, and there were no mails
from that quarter. The B. & . had nc
South bound trains from Thursday to
| Tuesday evening, and the &. & o. West
bound Vestibule limited, was held up neal
Manassas, for over SO hours. In the vicin
ity of CharlestOwn, w. Va, the storm
seems to have been particularly severe.
The B & o. South bound train with double
| hoo Jo,, In ,oI int III hof oil h.
merged the train. Other engines were sent
to the rescue and likewise became fast in
the treacherous drifts. The Norfolk &
Western trains were also delayed there fol
several days. At that point the valley is
wide and smooth and comparatively bare
of wood land, so that the wind has mighty
sweep, and had banked the snow in long
stretches across the tracks. At one point
the operator telegraphed there was 40 feet
of snow above the rails, and that he could
not tell when trains would be able to pass.
Along the Il. u o., between Charlestown
and Winchester. A corps of engineers
sent out after the storm, reported drift
six and a quarter miles long, with an aver
age depth of from to IA feet. It was
this drift that buried the trains that Tar
into it and baffied the railroad company fol
so many days. Mr.. Louis Barton, a prom
inent citizen living near Winchester, wrote
friend here, that from his window ht
could command fine view of the B. &
o. road, and that all he could see of dis
abled engine was the smoke stack, and thai
he fed the crew of this train from
Thursday until they were dug out
And SO, from every quarter comes the tale
of blockade and woe. The following pa.
thetic wall from we'll VINDICArOI
subscriber and farmer, explains itself. Il
is one out of many received at this office
Dear Internationally send me something
to read,-I'm almost dead,-no mails o.
, trains to Mint Spring since Friday morn
ing last Roads blockaded and thunder tt
pay generally. Plenty to eat, good fires
and warm beds are all that we have left.
Did you know the last fall Of snow wa
the 18th IN number, since the 9Th Nov
l 'e4?-truly an unlucky number. Then
3 too, am Informed by intelligent person.
that there were two OF three times during
: the day of the End Of Feb. in which tn
t ground hog could have seen his shadow
4. Spectator to the contrary. 1t looks nov
0 as if it will snow again before night. 1
4 so, don't suppose 1 will ever see yo1
again on this earth, but hope you vii
e meet me where the snow comes from in al
it's purity. [ haven't got last weeks Vim
CICATOR-none of us haye-0r any Rich
y mond papers since Thursday. Any ex
changes you don't want, will be thankful
Z. appreciated by, Yours truly
Monday, Feb. 11-'95. --=