Oakes weekly Republican. (Oakes, Dickey County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1898, 1896-12-18
A TRIP ON THE SNOW PLOW
How the 500 Line was opened to Kuhn.

About th rec weeks ago, directly
after the blizzard which shut the
door Of Nor tn Dakota in the face of
commerce the 500 Limo attempted to
open its road to traffic, by means of
a rotary snow plow from Hanlsinson
to Kuhn, After all extended siege
they succeeded in reaching Oakes,
but before Fullerton was reached the
plow was disabled and returned to
Minneapolis. No other attempt was
made to open the road from Oalies to
Kuhn until last Wednesday when a
JUL Centrifugal Snow Excavator
was sent up the line. The principle
of the JUL Plow makes it better
adapted for work in hard snow. The
snow wheel has greater velocity
than that of the Rotary, and has a
spiral cutting edge which chops th.'
snow, while she snow wheel of the
rotary presents Il large flat surface to
the snow, which demands about 200
horse power more to work in ordin-
AIRY light snow, and which could not
DE worked with any satisfactory re-
suits whatever in snow as hard as
that which the JUL plow had to en-
counter between this city and Kuhn.
The pillow was making its initial
trip since a recent reconstruction and
was in charge of Mel Mckay an en-
pert machinist of the 500 shops,
Chas. w. Otis, of Brooklyn, n V, a
prominent official of tho Jull Plow
Co, was also on board. Engineer
Brwner, was on the locomotive, and
Fred l.. Quimby, the best conductor
Oh the 500 Line and the best fellow
in the world had charge of the train.
The shovel gang, of fifteen men,
were under orders of Jerr, O'Connor
Of this city, man who knows how
work should be done. The incorrig-
able little Ungashich. was one of the
brakemen, and proved beyond Il
doubt that he can look back to a
cookery school as his Alma Mater,
by the excellent collation. that he
spread before the trains crew on the
first day out.
No snow of any importance was en-
countered until Fullerton was reach
ed, where crowd was collected to
see bank of SNOW removed that
stretched along the track for fifty
feet west of the depot. The plow
threw binding deluge of snow into
the faces of the eXpectant crowd and
left Fullerton and a clean track be :
hind. About four miles west of Ful-
lertcn drift six feet in depth and
one hundred feet long was tuuncled
through. The next snow the plow
had to battle with was found direct
ly west of the Milwaukee railroad
crossing, where for over nine hua
dred feet the snow was from five to
eight feet in depth. The plow went
through this without stop.
At Kilbernie station Il side track
had to be cleaned out, and conduc
tor Quinby thought it best to return
to Fullerton and take water before
the journey was continued, Tho de-
lay occasioned by this return of eight
miles made the hour rather late when
the plow reached the big cut, three
miles East of Kuhn. For nearly a
mile the snow is piled in drifts from
ten to twenty feet in depth, and
nearl y as hard as Ice.
Thinking it impracticable to at
tempt reaching Kuhn that night the
plow returned to Fullerton, and the
hungry men on board did justice to
the substantial food SGT before them
by the agreeable proprietor of the
Carroll House, Mr.. Royce.
At most dusky hour the next
morning thunderous rappiugs and
sonorous admonitions directed at
sleepy people in general, anr ounced
that it was time to breakfast, and
depart for the snow banks. One
fellow amongst the souls domiciled
beneath the hospital roof Of the Car
roll House, hailed the summons to
arise as an inestimable blessing
1t had been his misfortune TO be the
bed fellow of Neil Mckay; no better
fellow lives than Neil when he is
awake, but the nasal music he rem
ders during his trip in the Land of
Nod. would make fog horn or a
Chicago tug boat turn green with
envy. But Neil subsidized after a
great deal of shaking and great
many Intellectual attempts to begin
again, and joined us at the breakfast
table, his face wreathed in smiles
wholly unconcious of the fiend he
had been for the last six hours.
1t was still dark when we loft Ful-
lerton, but when the drift was reach
ed the sun was pushing it's golden
rim above the horizon Aud the
first snow that the wheel hurled high
in the air served as a fitting salutation
to the luminary ofday.
Through the solid embankment
the plow worked its way inch by inch
and it was nearly eleven o'clock
when the drift was tunneled. Kuhn
was out enmasse to welcome the
plow, and they were treated to an ar
tificial blizzard that made the event
of three weeks ago mere whirlwind
while it lasted. The crowd cheered,
the train pulled up to the station,
and the 500 Line was open from
Hankinson to Kuhn for the first time
in three weeks.