St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-02-22

TWENTY FEET or SNOW

in the Sierras to-day is one Of surprising
mapnifcence. it seems rs il the route oil
the Central Pacific were laid through the
line of the greatest snowfall. With
drifts forty feet deep on the level at the
summit, the utmost energies OF the rail-
road people are put to the test The ro-
taries are tossing snow in continuous
streams from the road-bed, but from
Gold Run TO Truckee snow is falling at
the rate OF an inch or more an hour"
Thrown off the track IN the desert,
where half the cars of the train ! rode
on were wrecked, Iescaped from that
peril only to find myself blocked Tor
two days in the Sierras by this very
snow OF which the reporter speaks
and from that blockade | have Hfst
emerged into this lively town. |
know, therefore, that the account is
not an exaggerated one. The snow
was twelve feet deep on the level when
! was in the mountains, the houses IN
the valleys were all but buried the cars
ran in pure white alleys between i'm
maculate walls, and the snow, which
had been falling more or less steadily
for weeks. was still being hurled from
the skies in phenomenal quantities.
realized that, long as have lived
in the North, and much as have
travelled in Canada | never knew
what winter could b. at its worst; |
never dreamed what snow could do.
Tired of the cars, which were then
tied up at Eni2rant Cap, | lett them
under a great snow shed, and plnng-
ctidown a steep hillside into the vii
lage below, which was but family
indicated by few cbimneys that
here and there broke through the
beautiful undulating blanket that
lay high and thick upon the noun
tains, the knobs, and the valleys all
around me. The trees, numbered
with deep white snow upon every
projection, rested their middle
branches upon the soft bedding OF
snow, so that they looked dwaried
and misshapen. In places great
granite powders sat in hollow wells
scooped out by the wind, and on the
tops OF such stones rested nightcaps
Of snow that were taller than the
rocks themselves. Drifts rose in
corkscrew shapes that ended in fan
tastic curls upon their tops. The
way to some of the houses was by
tunnels; but looking straight down
from above them, there could only
be seen a little white walled shaft
opposite the door, as if hole had
been dug there to let in breath to the
people indoors. The snow had bank
ed against the houses up to the root
line, and then had mounted upon it.
self and grown in weight and depth
until there was danger that the roofs
would be crushed in. That was why
! saw men on Norwegian snow
shoes walking over their own roofs,
and stopping there to shovel snow
into battlementrd walls beside them.
Thus they walled their houses in
each day, only to find them submerg-
ed on the morrow, as the snow con.
tinued to fall.
My short walk to the nearest tav-
ern was a chain of lively adventures.
Keep on stamping the path under
your feet" cried the natives. ngen.
eral that was good advice, but
sometimes-I am very heavy-I
stamped too hard, and broke
through and sank to my waist, or |
stepped an inch to one side of the
path and instantly lost a leg-that
temporarily disappeared in the direc-
ton of Picking. Twice l was hauled
up and out by friendly hands, and
once when the Others were them
selves in trouble | escaped only by
sitting down, very hard and very
often, in order to make a series Of
steps upon which to mount to the
surface, then above my head. Safe
inside the tavern door, | saw row
ct Norwegian sn0wshoes dripping
against the wall | found that upon
them the villagers travel in winter,
and that without them they would
be jailed in their homes, Canadian
network shoes would not serve.
The snow is too fine and dry. There
fore the shoe in use is a board four
inches wide and from nine to doz-
cn feet long. The women go shop
ping and visiting upon them. The
doctors travel 25 miles at time up
IN them on their rounds. The girls
coast upon the roofs and smaller
knolls upon them. The venturesome
Young men actually race down the
mountain-sides upon them at 20
miles an hour, and even jumpravines
and leap over cabins and houses
with these shoes in the course o.
their wagers and their dangerou.
Inn.
That and nightly dances in thu
snowvillages are all the fun the PEG
pie get. There is too much winter
IN the Sierras for carnival irolic,
such as are had in Canada. White,
On these Californian terraces is toe
severe to be trifed with or turned
mtothe basis OF long role of sports
in the larger towns the people di,
tunnels from house to house, ant
house to store, and at one station
went in to supper by way of tun
mel from the cars to the depot res
taurant. saw no horses or sleighs
but was told that when the snov
depths cease to deepen and the trail
are pressed down hard, horses ar