The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1896-03-05
BLIZZARD STORIES.

1 BLIZZARD STORIES. 81
|Recsllections of Awfully Cold Snaps ~
imaginative R.contcurs. In
II remember the winter of 1878 very
WELL" said Tom Anderson. II was
moving a small bunch of cattle from
rarrant county, Text, near Fort Worth.
to Greeley, COL, at the time. The rail-
road was completed only to Wichita
falls, and we had to drive across No
Mans Land to Colorado, it taking
three months to accomplish the trip.
1t had been warm and rainy, which
was an occasion OF great rejoicing in
that drought-infested country. When
we left Wichita falls it was muddy, and
driving was slow work. A blizzard
struck us suddenly. I was feeling
warm and comfortable, when, in mo-
lncnt, I seemed to be paralyzed, and,
looking around me in a dazed sort of
way, realized what had happened. The
ground was frozen solidly, and, of
course, each one of the steers had three
feet caught fast, having been stuck in
the mud. The other foot, which had
been lifted to step with when the hliz.
gard struck us, was on top of the frozen
earth. Something had to be done at
once, or we would lose every steer; SO
I called ali of my men. Fortunately,
we had plenty of matches in the COM
naissary, and the supply of dead mes
quite bushes was unlimited, so it did
not take long to determine upon plan
Of action. We started a fire under each,
steer, and watched them carefully.
We had 20 men, and you never saw fires
built so rapidly in yorlr life. Within
two hours they were all blazing. We
could not thaw the cattle out of the.
earth, but they were kept alive, and
two days later the sun came out, as it
does in Texas, suddenly and strong
and in another day we were moving
along the trail again Us if nothing had,
happened" :, :.,. ,rsss
"That blizzard must have been very
general said Silas Adams. II was
living in Peoria, ILL.,, at the same time.
tfeoria is built. along the western bank
of the Illinois river, which widens into
lake at that point. Back of the bust
ness portion Of the city,;a little over q
mile from. the river; is,a bluff, upon
which some, of the leading citizens,
have erected handsome residences, /
lived near the street car stables on the
bluff. I had IN office on South Adams
street, near Main, and started for home
early in the evening. It began to turn
cold just as I passed the soldiers mon,
ument, and, meeting Bob Burdette,
i who was sat that time editing the eview
there, he remarked that it was going to
lbe. cold enough to freeze all the pipes
Eand even the lknobs off the doors, which
/ would boom the plumbing and hard:
ware trades. left the humorist ut
the post Office. one block farther on.
and by the time I reached the foot Of
the bluff l. realized that he was right;
TT seemed to me that could never live
Fto get home. The exposed portions ST
my face were frozen, and it took a long
time to thaw myself out with ice be-s
fore venturing into the house. When
] entered my wife screamed, and
looking into mirror I saw that my
beard, which was then long, was white
as snow. 1t was not simply frosted;
the roots of the hair had frozen, and
every vestige of color had been taken
out. The next day we went to Pekin,
ten miles below Peoria, to attend the
wedding of friend of my wife. I had
never been there, and it was evident
that my wife's friends were astonished
at my seeming age. made up my
/ b. &ho II ~{T
as returned to Peoria. AS we sat in
the parlor of the house where the we'd
ding was to occur I noticed first one
and then another turn and gaze upon
Inc. 1t seemed that some peculiar fas-
cination existed in my beard. Their
eyes opened wider and wider, and they
sat spellbound. All conversation
ceased. I felt so uncomfortable that,
making some excuse, started to leave
the house. In doing so passed mir
ror in the hall, and a part Of my beard
showed up as black as it ever was.
One by one the hairs would take on
their natural color-the roots were
! thawing out. In an hour the transfer
nation process was complete, but,
while the guests were too polite to say
anything, when an explanation was
made, 1 felt that they did not believe
me, and that there was something I'M
caEny about man whose beard
changed color like mine."-Washing-
ton Star.
| A Dutchman's Question.
An agent for one of the large jewelry
stores in Cincinnati was canvassing