The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-02-13
THE GROUaDHOG'S INNING.
Coolest Weather Known in
twenty-five Years.

c5ldeSt weather Known IN
twenty-five Years.
S. & C. R. r. Blocked for 80 Hours
County Roads Impassabla.-
Much Suffering Caused
by the Coll.
Shat off from the outside world for
foriy-eight hours, the only means of
communication being by telegraph, was
the experience of most Somerset county
people Saturday and Sunday. II was
no; a pleasant experience and, with the
consent of Mr.. Grounding. we do not
care 10 repeat it, A majority of the poo-
| pie kept indoors from Thursday until
Sunday. making no effort TO perform
their accustomed daily work. but vainiy
endeavoring TO keep warm. Few, If any,
persons from the surrounding country
had the courage to brave the storm. and
as a consequence stores and offices were
! deserted. The backbone of the blizzard
was broken Saturday night, and Sunday
was a mildly pleasant day when com
| pared with any of the previous days Of
last week. Friday 9 large number
/ of local families were threatened with
( coal famine, ali of the roads leading from
| town 10 the various mines being block
AIDED with snow drifts; bat the LiStie
people fortunately had a car load of coal
at the railroad station, which was foaud
a.
were in greatest distress until Monday,
when a number of the mine owners open
ed up the blockaded roads and COM
menced supplying their customers.
The mercury did not get above zero
Wednesday, and Thursday the railroad
trac.Smen were advised to be on the look
out for the worst storm Of the season,
ing day. The manager of the local
weather bureaG-Capt. Schrocll-gave out
similar information, and the reports in
the daily papers were to the same import.
i ''howling blizzard was raging at the
time, tine worst ia twenty -four years, and
Mr.. Johnsing, of the Dsmocrai, remarked
that ''it would simply be a holy terror"
And he was ri -ht.
Friday morning the mercury dropped
To ISo below zero in Captain Schrock's
thermometer, and al other points about
town it registered FIVE degrees lower
The condition of the weather Thursday,
Friday and Saturday WAS simply awful.
An intensely cold wind, moving at
speed of sixty miles an hour, prevailed,
driving clouds of snow ahead and piling
il into banks ten feet high
SOMERSET a CAMBRIA TRAINS TIED Up.
The north-bound :. q {. train was an
hour late arriving here from Rociwood
Friday. Two engines were puiiing the
train, and before they lcf the station
Conductor Waite said To the engineers,
get your machines hot If you don't
want TO stick in the snow before We reach
the top of the Hill. .'-Goiger's station.
The firemen Immediately began piling
in coal. and IN few minutes the huge
engines were suorting and Kissing as If
anxious 10 be of. All went well until
the second deep cut-less than mile dis
tant from the sia.ion-was reached. The
cut was even fall OF snow, . feet deep.
when the train bolted into il under fall
head of steam, only u come 20 a stand
still before it had traversed one-haif the
distance of the cut. The trainmen de-
SPARED of proceeding further, and in at
tempting 20 back the train 20 the station
the second engine lefl the track. a7d all /
efforts 10 replace it proved unsuccessful. /!
There were nineteen passengers on board, {
including the members OF THE Dazzler'
theatrical company. Conductor Waite I
walked back to the station and tele- I
graphed TO Superintendent Cutter for 4
assistance. Two engines leii lockwood I
AZ O'Clock Friday afternoon for the par 4
pose of pulling the passenger train ont Of 1
the snow, but both run into snow dri.ts 4
= short distance north of Milford station
and stuck fast. Station Agent Kinney, /
Of Rock wood, who was on one of the en-
gines, walked through the storm to SOM
eTset. arriving here a, ont midnight.
Early Saturday morning MeasrS. Waite
and Kinney secured several livery teams
and drove 10 the snow-bound train, where
the passengers had passed an anxious
night. The Thermometer al this time
marked I27 below zero, but the passen-
gers were very willing to abandon the
ears, which they had found hard to keep
warm. and drive 10 the SOM
erset House. where they were provided ]
with comfortable rooms. Three or four
ladies i.I the party almost perished before
they reached the hotel.
At 6 O'Clock Saturday morning Super
intendent Cutter and Train Master
Spencer left lockwood with an engine /
and fifty men for the purpose Of releas-
ing the four engines and passenger train.
The party arrived in Somerset az six
O'Clock that evening. having spent twelve
hours in traversing distance Of ten
miles. They encountered numerous
snow drifts, several OF which had packed
- hard - to form ice and coGld only he
removed with picks and shoyels.
Sunday morning = force of sixty or
seventy men was SET to work shoyeling
the snow out of the cut in which the pas
senger train had stuck, and by noon they
had accomplished their object, and the
train was run onto siding At the Somer-
set station.
The road was cleared of snow between
Somerset and Geiger's II ; o'clock Sun
day afternoon. aud at that hour the pas
senger train started for Johnstown, being
pulled by two engines. Two additional
engines carrying a force of laborers run
a half-hour ahead of the passenger train.
Tb,, trim To JohnSfovru WAS made withou: |
incident, and Monday morning passen-
ger trains over the Somerset & Cambria
were running on schedule.
All of the trainmen worked for forty
eight consecutive hours, and We're conf
pletely tired out.
Household Popularity.
The popularity OF the Cinderella Range
i well established by its great sale in