The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1896-12-30
SOME BAD WEATHER.
a PIONEER RECALLS HOW TWO MILD
pEceMBERs ENDED.

Snow HID the Tops OF Trces-The Weeth-
, o. That Followed Young Hen Coxs Wish
Tor . Sudden Freeze.
"I have always noticed" said an octo-
genarian resident Of this city, "that when
early December Is mild and fair we're sure
to have old Boreas howlnc about our cars,
sharp and sudden, towrrd the latter part
of the month. But never knew him to
come down and shov his teeth quite 80
terribly at the far erG of mild December
as he used to on tho illinois prairies In tho
pioneer days. / vas an Illinois poineer.
My folks settle in piece Of timber In
Mclean count known as Keg grove. The
grove got II anne from the circumstance
OF Its bav' been traded to white man
by its Ir' owners for keg of whisky.
The CT Bloomington occupies the site
OF X rove now. We settled there In
1872 mere were only 1000 people In
tb' Jle state of Illinois then. Neighbors
y few and far between about Keg
s.Ue.
THE fall and early winter Of 1880 were
very dry and mild. Late in December,
and with very little warning, snow began
falling 1t didn't fall either. 1t tumbled
1t came down In regular ready made snow
banks and continued without moments
let up for two days and nights. You may
have some idea of how deep the snow fell
when tell you that when 1t went away
In the spring the stumps Of trees that had
been cut for firewood as the choppers stood
on the snow during the winter were feet
high, that being as low down as the chop
pers could get at the trees. In going to
neighbours drove over the tops Of their
orchard trees and did not know 1t. 1t was
b fortunate thing that the corn crop had
been good that year, for many families
were SO blockaded by the snow that they
could not get out of their houses. They
would have starved to death, but they
hved on corn, which they pounded into
coarse meal or hominy, and that was 80
generally the case that the winter was ever
afterward known to the pioneers as the
hominy winter.
Deer, wolves and wild turkeys were
more plentiful than domestic animals and
fowls In Mclean county then. Deer grew
20 bold from hunger during that deep snow
that when they heard men chopping down
trees they would come up and eat the
branches as the trees fell Hundreds of
= deer were caught in this way, and the
wolves killed hundreds more. One settler
named Cowen caught / 0 deer, penned them
mp and fattened them on corn. Wild tur-
keys hovered about the cabins, and fed
scores of them out of the window of our
house. We had drove of 90 hogs covered
by the deep snow, and they remained be-
meath 10 six weeks, In a space not more
than 80 feet across. When we found them,
there were only 12 Of the drove left, and
they were as fat as fat could be. They had
feasted on the other 13 So many deer were
crowded into piece of timber known as
Buckles grove that they killed every tree
In the grove by girdliDg to get the bark to
eat. Cattle died by the score during the
six weeks that snow lay on the ground,
because no one could get to them to dig
them out and care for them.
"There was heavy frost every month In
the year after that deep snow. Corn
couldn't ripen, and there wasn't enough
gathered for seed to plant the next season.
There wasn't bushel of seed corn to be
had nearer than Ohio in 1882. 1t cost %
q bushel John Duffy came in that year
with few bushels of small, yellow corn
from Pennsylvania. That was planted 1t
matured early, and some people out there
raise Duffy corn yet.
"But In December, 1885, the prairie
pioneers got some weather that made them
quiz QdIiuB tuluSS lTOu buo WinOof VI Suo
deep snow. The month had been warm and
moist. Everything was slush and elop and
mud. Young Ben Cox's father had been
to Chicago with a drove of hogs, and he
brought Ben pair Of skates. There wasn't
another pair In all that part of the state.
but there was no ice, and young Ben got
desperate because he couldn't use his new
skates. One day he was SO mad that no
yelled out:
"'I wish to the Lord it d get so cold that
things'd freeze before they knew it'
II don't suppose that what followed was
owing 10 Bens wish, but when he made
it rain was falling and the thermometer
stood at 40 degrees above zero. Suddenly
She wind began to blow gale. ItrAme
out of the northwest, and no VIM that
ever swept over those prairies before or
6jnce came 90 near being blast from the
1oYth pole as that one was. Almost in.
Stantly the mercury dropped from 40 de-
grees above to 90 degrees below zero, and
the falling rain was turned at once to pei
let's and barbs of ice The damp air froze
90 quickly that It became one great cloud
Of flying frost.
"This polar blast swept down upon us
at 8 O'Clock in the afternoon. John Daw-
son was on his way from Williams mill,
six miles down Salt creek. He had gone
half mile from the mill when he heard q
roar like thunder. The noise was behind
him. Looking around he saw the storm
coming and the rain freezing before 1t.
When IL struck him, he turned to 60 back
TO the mill. Before his horse was headed
about Dawson was frozen fast in the sad
die. The slush had been moro than fet-
look deep. BY the time Dawson had urged
bis horse around a hundred yards the slush
was frozen SO 1t bore the horses weight,
and 1t was with great difficulty that Daw-
son got back to the mill, the water in the
TOAD having become such glare Of loo
that his horse could scarcely make his way
over It.
"Fowls that were out on the soft ground
when this unheard Of change OF weather
came were frozen fast where they stood.
Cows froze In their tracks Our folks had
three hogs frozen to death while they were
hurrying from their feeding places to their
pen, less than 300 yards away.
"John Lapham had forded tho Mack