Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-02-14

shifter engine helped it back to town.
saturday morning two more engines
were added, and the four of them, with
as many snow shovelers as could be
hired, again started southwark. They
kept on steadily but slowly. When
big drift was reached the four immense
locomotives would make a terrific
rush for it. If they couldn't force
their way through the shovelers would
dig them out and hustle the snow
away. Sunday the force reached
Antietam. Here were the heaviest
drifts on the road, but Supervisor
Thomas Fitzgerald, who was in charge,
had his blood up, and was making the
snow fly. Water in the engines got
scarce, but snow was shoveled into the
tanks and melted, thus keeping up a
supply. At Antietam one of the
engines got disabled and was side
tracked. Sunday about noon the
drifts at Antietam were bested, and
start made for Shepherdstown.
Things looked so squally in the big
cuts on the other side of the river that
the front engineer got nervous. He
whistled frantically for down brakes, !"
but under orders from Mr.. Fitzgerald
the other engineers kept on a-shoving
and they all burst through and pulled
into Shepherdstown about l.So Sun
day afternoon.
The engines were sight. They
were covered with ice and snow from
top to bottom, while headlights were
smashed in and cab windows boarded
up. The big gang of snow shovelers
and the train men got dinner here and
then pushed on toward the south.
They ran right through four-foot drifts
on the Osbourn farm, above town, but
a big bank of snow at Ruse's necessi-
tated shoveling. The train got short
distance beyond Shenandoah Junction
Sunday evening, when it returned to
Shepherdstown to spend the night.
Monday they went out again to finish
the job. In the meantime force of
several hundred men had been work.
ing on the drifts at Charlestown and
at Berryville and from White Post
northward. About noon on Monday
the forces met near Ripon and the
way was clear.
After the tracks had been cleared
between Hagerstown and Antietam
on Saturday the snow that still drift
ed again blocked them up in the cuts.
Agents Charles NJ. Futterer and
Charles Sisler spent Sunday and part
of Monday opening up the way again.
About 2 o'clock Monday afternoon
they pushed through to Shepherdstown,
just as Supervisor Fitzgerald's gang
got back from Ripon. The welcome
news was then flashed along the wires
that the whole road was clear from
Roanoke to Ha 5erstown. The belated
passenger trains were started on their
ways. About $50 passenger train
from the South passed through Shop
herdstown, followed by two others dur
ing the evening. The first train from
the North arrived about ten o'clock
Monday night Tuesday the schedule
was Strengthened out and the passenger
trains ran pretty nearly on time.
The other railroads Of this section
were blockaded as badly as the N. &
w. The Western Maryland was
opened up on Monday after hard
struggle, but the Cumberland Valley
was victim until Tuesday. No New
York or Philadelphia papers, which
come by the G. V. route, were received
until Tuesday. The B. g. 0. kept its
through trains running at irregular
intervals, but its branch lines were al
tied up.
Another inconvenience was the COM
plete stoppage of the mails. The last
mail received was at 8 o'clock Thurs
day night, and from that time until !
o'clock Monday evening not letter
nor a paper came. Tuesday morning
however, Postmaster Reinhart and his
assistants were kept busy distributing
the accumulation of mail matter, which
came in by the sack full.
From Thursday until Monday Shep'
herdstown was cut off from the balance
of the world; no mails, no railroad com
| munication, no travel over the roads
A body got sick for the sight of 8
| daily newspaper. Every one was an1
ious to hear from other parts of EN-
country to know how the storm affect
ed various places Perhaps hal
dozen or so persons came in from tn
country on Saturday on horseback O
by walking, but the roads were drift