The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-05-17
BAD BILLIARDS..
Some Of the Tsrors Of the West
ern Prairie SnOwstOrms-
The Settlers Cabin Poor Refuge from
the Icy BIasts-A ppaIIinE Losses Among
the Herds and FIocks of
the Plains

the Plains
The BLIZZARD. a the plain mans YER
naeular dcsirnatcs the prairie snow
storm. Is utterly incomprchcnSihle 10
u-7s. who has not experienced H. Gen
Grated I'm the great >tprIn-hrcctlnE re-
fianS Of barren British America. and
swept ON arctic blasts along the vast
level reaches that stretch eastward
from the Rocky mountains with Dn
forest To- break its force. il becomes
demon of the air second only to taso
tornado or cyclone ia dv>fructIvencsS-
The moisture Is ground a. between
millstuneS. hurled with hullct-lize en-
,r---v over hundreds of miles uf level
plain. and finally transformed into
y,a-tv Slcet hy thc ~aft,uiu- effects II
lower latitudcS. falls In bleak Showers
ON the ranges of Texas ana No-Nan'~-
Land
Lack Of cheap building material anf.
the Ilrcvity of the winter season ou ta,s
r1rairics coutributc toInalJe the settlers
cabin "a poor refuge When the h'iEzsird
comes every resource of fuel ~ hn~-
banded. and Il Il faced with grim do
-minatiou "a see II through says In,
Detroit Free Press
But not all are prepared even 50 well
aS the settler Occasionally a hslatrd
,.lnirrant. en- route either 10 a chosen
claim ON the frontier OF toward the
TIea=.ntIv remembered east where Dee
lo!se~ 10 find old friends ana helpers. iS
caught 10y the blast He may have "a
tiny stove inside the canvas-topped
prairie schooner. but It's heat can ao
little against the power Of the storm
vine coz water course he may weather
the dragging hours of suffering hut tae
chances are that team and driver wil
Toe found a ghastlE monument 10 the
storm kings strength
The. farmer who has hurried ten or
fifteen miles To the nearest village In
secure supplies for the Impending Wis
i-a-fau l. often Dvprtsllysu before reach
ira his waiting family and peri~he~ on
th,. ROAD. for no matter hov yvgil he
Knows she path. when thc blizzard
r-a,-- his WAY * a~ that of the mariner
without e. compass
~ the prairie @choo'hou~cs. where
sT., settlers children are gathered
from al territory covering maay miles
g.. .sv.rv direction the h.izza-o brings
error tl the pupils as tEea a- e. their
cents I..-.u, Is lalFrr--iH.l. uusEl t..e
.--I COMES. and arviul possibilities lark
T. the Iu-am II -hg storm A Iaszara
s.E.arIu5 stress last winter failed ra dis
---.- her scholars iu iirle inr tiiem 70
-h Ioue- and found herself and
I1em prisoners from 81 hifzzlrl~ $ APP
rrrauh- \ night and a. dag at least
--er.. before her, during which Beer lit
tl,. .har-e~ must ic protected b..l'rgE--
-faI- she aanar-ioneI th. fn1I r MAIN
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- todd
stories. invented games and kept the
frightened children amused and ahecrCd
as best she could- The following day
ua~-.1 much the same hUt still no
abatement of the storm nor any rescue
Tn, second night was dreary indeed
The. children cried themselves tp sleep
hungry and cold With her own hands
the teacher broke up desks and black
board To feed the voraeiuu~ stove
With the morning came a. shout al the
door as the settlers ~hpvelcd away the
snow. and then the pluglSy girl Ia whom
the children owed their lives showed
her yyomanIineSs and tainted
bv each blizzard Is appalling There II
les exposure OF herds and ioclzS now
than in earlier times. vet every season
causes the destruction OF thousands Of
head of cattle and sheep on the ranges
and in the unshcltered corralS- Sev-
t.raI wears ago during the height of the
Texas cattle trade. blizzard in west
crn Kansas early in December de-
strovcd more than half of 3OO-gu0 cattle
that were being herdod ON the open
rrairie. At one railway station after
the storm. $1,000 hides were shipped;
1T another, 10000. One raucEmau
-1uud hut - head alive ont of 800
that had been grazing before the cataS-
trophe- Several hundred ponies and a
| score of hcrIcr~ also perishgd-
The blizzard l. a permanent feature
| cfthc prairie winter. Nothing but a
decided climatic revolution can secure
| Il the great Mississippi region
immunity from it, dcatk-bearing pres
! clce. Better preparations are yearly
| icing made to withstand its fury and
| Il protect more generously the dumb
! animals who suffer equally with their
! zllsters. The signal service X render.
| i-r- aid IN warming communities reached
| by telegraph Of the storms approach
while the settlers Taught 10y bitter eS
/ rgricncc. take with each season hsttol
| precautions, and provide more intclIi
| reu-iv for their time of need which /.
sure to come.
5ut with al mans care and defense
| t7r. blizzard remains uncouuuercd Il
| Is cruel. relentless and Iumerclful as
some Morse god. from whose kingdom
it comes It Is one IF the yve~t's pos
s=sious which l. wholly and irr-Gecm
ably dctostahlc. In its forefront Is ap
--ehenSiou; at lis height terror: in Its
AXE dcsolation and suffering some
times death.