The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1895-03-15
BAD BLIzzARDS.
Some OF the Terrors OF the West
ern Prairie Snowstorns.
xhs Settlers Cabin Poor Refuge from
theIcy Blasts-Appalting Losses Among
the Herds and T1ocks of
the Plaips.

The blizzard, as the plain mans YER
nacular designates the prairie snow
storm, is utterly incomprehensible to
one who has not experienced 1t. Gem
Grated in the great storm-breeding re-
gions Of barren British America, and
swept on arctic blasts along the vast
level reaches that stretch eastward
from the Rocky mountains, with no
| forest to break its force, it becomes q
| demon of the air, second only to the
tornado or cyclone in destructiveness.
The moisture Is ground as between
fnillstones, hurled with bullet-like en-
ergy over hundreds of miles of level
plain, and finally transformed into
yeasty sleet by the softening effects of
lower latitudes, falls in bleak showers
on the ranges of Texas and No Mans
| Land.
Lack of cheap building material and
the brevity of the winter season on the
prairies contribute tomale the settlers
cabin q poor refuge When the blizzard
comes every resource of fuel is hus-
banded, and 1t is faced with grim de-
termination to see it through, says the
Detroit Free Press.
But not all are prepared even so well
as the settler. Occasionally belated
emigrant, en- route either to chosen
claim on the frontier or toward the
pleasantly remembered east, where he
hopes to find old friends and helpers, is
caught by the blast. He may have
tiny stove inside the canvas-topped
prairie schooner, but its heat can do
little against the power of the storm.
Sheltered by the low bluff Of some ra-
vine or water course he may weather
the dragging hours of suffering, but the
chances are that team and driver will
be found ghastly monument to the
storm kings strength.
The farmer who has hurried ten or
fifteen miles to the nearest village to
secure supplies for the impending vis-
itation is often overtaken before reach
ing his waiting family and perishes on
the road, for no matter how well he
knows the path, when the blizzard
RACES his way is as that of the mariner
without a compass.
At the prairie schoolhouses, where
the settlers children are gathered
from a territory covering many miles
in every direction, the blizzard brings
terror to the pupils as well as to their
parents Rescue is impossible until the
lull comes, and awful possibilities lurlr
in the bosom of the storm. A Dakota
schoolmistress last winter failed to dis
miss her scholars in time for them to
reach home, and found herself and
them prisoners from blizzard's APP
proach. A night and day at least
were before her, during which her lit
tie charges must be protected. Deliber-
ately she apportioned the food remain
ing in the dinner pals, divided
the larger BOYS into squads and
put the younger pupils to sleep
on the benches. Then through the
bitter night she sang, declaimed, told
stories, invented games, and kept the
frightened children amused and cheered
as best she could. The following day
passed much the same, but still no
abatement of the storm nor any rescue. |
The second night was dreary indeed. |
The children cried themselves to sleep,
hungry and cold. With her own hands |
the teacher broke up desks and black |
board to feed the voracious stove. |
With the morning came shout at the |
door as the settlers shovcled away the |
snow, and then the pluclSy girl to whom
the children owed their lives showed |
her womanliness and tainted.
The loss among stock on the plains |
by each blizzard Is appalling. There is
less exposure Of herds and Hocks now
than in earlier times, yet every season |
causes the destruction of thousands of |
head of cattle and sheep on the ranges
and in the unsheltered corrals. Sew
cral years ago, during the height of the
Texas cattle trade, blizzard in west
erng Kansas early in December de-
stroyed more than half of 100000 cattle
that were being herded on the open
prairie At one railway station after
the storm, $4,000 hides Were shipped;
at another, 10000. One ranchnan
found but 225 head alive out of 1900
that had been grazing before the catas-
trophe. Severalhundred ponies and q
score OF herders also perished.
The blizzard is permanent feature
of the prairie winter. Nothing but q
decided climatic revolution can secure
to the great trans-Mississippl region
immunity from its death-bearing pres
ence. Better preparations are yearly
being made to withstand its fury, and
to protect more generously the dumb
animals who suffer equally with their
masters. The signal service is render
ing aid in warning communitiesreached
by telegraph Of the storms approach,
while the settlers, taught by bitter ex-
perience, take with each season better
and provide more intelli-
gently for tiaeir time Of need, which is
sure to come.
But with all mans care and defense,
the blizzard remains tinconquered. 1t
is crucl, relentless and unmerciful as
some Morse god, from whose kingdom
it comes. It is one of the vests pos
sessions which is wholly and irredeem-
ably detestable. In its forefront is APP
prehension; at its height, terror; in its