The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-03-21
BAD BLIzzARDs.
Some of tho Torrors Of the West
ern Prairie s5nowstornas.
Tho Settlers Cabin u Poor Refuge from
eIcy lsiasts-Appnl,ing Losses Among
shc Herds nnd Eiooks oS
tho Platps-

e Tho blizzard, as the plain mans yer.
Inncular dcsignatcs tho prairio snow
istor1n, is utterly incomprohensible to
one who has not experienoed.it. Con
eraked in tho great storm-brced1ng re-
gions of barren British America, and
swept on arctic blasts along tho vast
level reaches TINT stretch eastward
! from the Rocky mountains, with no
forest to break it's foroc, 1t becomes
demon of tho DIR, second only to the
tornado Or cyclone in destruct1venees.
Tho rloisturo Is ground as between
miD.tones, hurled with b,lllot-lilze en-
ergy ever hundreds Of miles OF level
plain, and finally TRANSFORMED into
yeasty sleet by tho softening effects OF
ON the ranges of Texas and No-Man's-
Land.
Lack of cheap building material nnd
the brevity of tho winter season on the
prairies contribute to mako tho settlers
cabin poor refuge. When tho blizzard
comes every resource of fuel Is hus-
bonded, and it is faced with grim de-
termination to sec it through, says the
Detroit FREQ Press.
But not all arc prepared even so well
as the settler. Occasionally bolatcd
cmigrant, en- route either to n chosen
claim on tho frontier OK toward the
pleasantly remembered cost, whore he
hopes to find old friends and helpers, is
caught by tho blast. Ho may hnvo q
tiny stove inside tho canvas-topped
prairie schooner, but its heat can do
little against tho power Of tho storm.
Sheltered by tho low bluff OF some RI
vino on water course he may weather
tho dragging hours of suffering, but tho
!dilaDces are that tcom and driver will
DO found ghastly monument to the
;l5stos1n kings strength.
Tho farmor who haa huxried ton or
!aiftosn milea TO tho noaros8 Village TO
YsocsirS supplies for tho impending Wis
titat4sn is often ovcrtnlson before reach
ing his waiting family nnd perishes ON
thS road, For no mettor how wo1l he
as1sos~s the path, when tho blizzard
rages his way Is as that OF tia mariner
without n compass
AZ the prairie sohooihosaes, where
tho settlers children aro gathered
from territory covering many miles
in c~ary direction, the blinrard brings
terror to tho pupils ns wolf aa DO thoir
parents. Rescue is impossible until the
i3uiit comes, and awful possibilities lurl,
in thu bosom Of tho storm A Dakota
sclDaimistress last winter failed to dis
ndas her scholars in time for them to
roach homo, and found heraelf and
thorn prisoners from blizsardh up
pronch- A night and day at leost
wcfo before her, during which her lit
tie charges must DO protected De1ber~
isytoiy che apportioncd tho food remain
ing IN tho dinner polls, divided
tho larger boys into squads and
pA tho .youngffl pupdla to sleep
On tho banobfou !, Then through the
iaitAcr night sleft ling, dsclaimcd, told
xsto.aae, invent9 ynanoa, and kept the
frightened o}lildron amused and cheered
sas bast she could. The following dag
ipaa0ed much tho sauna, but stifl no
abatement Of tho storm nor any rescue
The second might wac dreary indeed
Tho children cried themselves to sleep,
flK,l9ry and GOLD. With her,orvn hands
+tho teacher broke up deslcs ind black
.:board to feed the voracious stove.
With the morning came shout ut the
4doox ms the settlers shoveled away the
sznox, and then the plucky girl to whom
the children owed their lives, showed
3ller womanliness md faintod.
T The Toss among stock on tho plains
by each blizzard is appalling. There is
Ices exposure of herds and flocl1s 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 unshcltorcd corrals. Sew
eral years ago, during the height of the
Texas cattle trade, Il blizzard IN west
crn Kansas carly in December do
stroycd more than BALI Of 100000 cattle
that were being hcrdcd on the open
prairie. At one railway station after
the storm, $4,000 hides wero shipped;
Mt another, 10000. One rauchman
found but 225 head alive out of 1900
that had been grazing before the catas-
trophc. Several hundred ponies and
score of herders also perished
The blizzard is 4 permanent feature
of the prairie winter. Nothing but "a
decided climatic revolution cnn secure
to the great ans-Mississippi region
immunity from its death-beoring pres
enoe. Better preparations are yearly
being made to withstand it's fury, and
to protect moro generously the dumb
animals who suffer equally with their
masters. The signal service Is render
ing aid in warning communities reached
by telegraph OF the storms approach,
while the settlers, taught by bitter cx-
lperience, take with each season bother
precautions, md provide more intelli-
gently for their time OF mood, which 10
cure to come.
!, Dnt with al mans care and Defense.
tho blizzard romans unconquered. Il |
is cruel, relentless and unmerciful as
some Morse god, from whose kingdom
IL no,,,nc Il e c,,aa Ct tia azt,a Ma