The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-09
WHEN STORMS RAGE
Some Of the Terrors Of the West
ern Prairie SnowstOrTns.
The Settlers Cabin Poor Refuge from
the Icy Blasts-appai'ing Losses Among
tho Herds and tIocks OF
the Plains.

The blizzard, as tie plain mans yer.
nacular designates the prairie snow
storm, is utterly .ncomprehonsible to
one who has not experienced 1t. Gen
Grated in the great storrn-breoding 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, il becomes a
demon of the air, second only to the
tornado or cyclone N dest.r7lctiveless-
The moisture Is ground as between
imillstones, hurled with bIiLlet-liike en-
,ergv over hundreds of m1es OF level
plain. and finally transformed into
lyeasty slect by The softczlinc effects Of
lower ATTITUDES, falls il bleak showers
on the ranges Of Texas and No-Aan s.
Land
Lack Of cheap building material and
the brevity Of the winter season on the
urairies contribute 20 make the settlers
cabin a poor refuge. When the blizzard
comes every resource OF fuel is hus-
handed. and II is faced with q grim de-
Termination 70 see II through, says the
detroit Free Press.
But not all are prepared even so well
as the settler. Occasionally a belated
ornigrant, en- route either TO q chosen
claim on the frontier or toward the
pLeasantlv remem bered east. where ne
hopes TO find old friends and helpers, is
caught by the blast. He may have
tiDy stove inside the c2nyas-topDed
7,rsirie schooner, bat its heat can do
little against the power OF the storm.
Sheltered By the low bluff of some ra-
wine or water course he may weather
the dragging hours Of Suffering but the
chances are that team ana driver will
lbe found a ghasGIy monument to the
storm kings strength.
The farmer who has hurried ten or
fifteen mics 10 the nearest village to
secure supplies for the impending Wis
.itation is often overtaizen before reach
ling his waiting family and perishes on
the road. for no matter how well he
r)fnows the path, when the blizzard
nagas his way is as that of the mariner
without a compass.
J At the prairie schoolhouses, where
The settlers children are gathered
from territory covering many miles
i'm every direction, the blizzard brings
ferror to Jhe pupils as well as to their
parents Rescue is impossible until the
auN comes, and awful possibilities luric
I'm the bosom of the storm. A Dakota
schooinIistress last winter failed 20 dis
aniss her scholars in time for them To-
reach home. and found herself and
them prisoners hTOIa billiards. ap-
proach 4 night AID 4 day at least
kvere before her. during which her lit
tile ctsirges mast be projected. Do4iber-
ately she appoPtioned the food rasnain-
sug IN the dinner pals, divided
the larger boys into squads and
pat the yeenger pupils to sheep
on the benches. Then through the
hitter night She sang, deolaimed, told
stories, inyeated games, and kept the
frightened cllildreElSaEnuSed aud cheeled
as best she cSuld. The following day
passed much the same, but stu no
q batement of the Storm nor any rescRe. |
The second night was dreary indeed. |
The children cried themselves to Saeop, /
hungry and oalJL With her own hands |
board to feed the roracions stove !
With the morning came shout at the I
door as the settlers shove,ed away the |
SNOW, and then the plucl1y girl to whom |
lrhe children owed their lives showed |
llser Nvonanliness ard tainted
The loss among stock on the plains !
10y each blizzard rs appalling. There is
less exposure of herds and Hooks now /
Khan ia earlier times, yet every season
icauses the destruction of thousands Of (
he2d OF cutie and sheep ON the r1nres /
and IN the unsheltered corrals. Sew /
-eral years ago, during the height Of the |
rTexas cattle trade, a blizzard in west /
tern Kansas early in December de- /
strcteG more than half Of 100000 cattle |
that were being herded on the open /
prairie. At one railway station after
the storm. $1,000 hides were shipped; |
at another, 10000. One rarch1nan |
found but 225 head alive out of $500 .
that had been grazing before the catas-
itrophe. Several hundred ponies and a
score of herders also persisted
The blizzard is permanent feature ,
of the prairie winter. Nothing but q
decided climatic revolution can secure
50 the great trans-Mississippi region
srmunity from its death-bearing pres
ence- Better preparations are yearly
being made to withstand its fury, and
Ito protect more 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 ex-
perience. take with each season better
precautions, and provide more intelli-
gently for their time OF need, which is
sure TO come.
But with all mans care and defense.
the blizzard remains unconquered. Il
is cruel, relentless and unmercifnl as
some Morse god. from whose kingdom
az comes. 1t is one OF the VESTS pos
sessions which is wholly and irredeem'
ably detestGbic. In its forefront is ap-
prehension: at its height, terror: in It's
wake. desolation and sufTering-some-
times death.