The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-02-22
COLD-SNAP STORIES.
a Blizzard That Paralyzed Every
Living Thing Instantly.
The Feet of Cattle Frozen to the Earth
Where They Stood-An Illinois
Mans Remarkable Story About
HIS Whiskers

1 '
well.' said Tom Anderson. II was
moving a small bunch of cattle from
| Tarrant county, Tex, near Fort Worth
TO Greeley, Col, at the time. The rail-
road was completed only TO Wichita
| ialls, 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 IL was muddy, and
driving was slow work. A blizzard
struck US suddenly. 1 was feeling
warm and comfortable, when, in mo-
Inent, 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 biz
card struck US, was on top of the frozen
earth. Something had to be done at
once. or we would lose every steer; so
l called all of my men. Fortunately,
we had plenty of matches in the COM
nissaIy, and the supply of dead mes
quite bushes was unlimited, so it did
not take long to determine upon a plan
of action. We started q fire under each
steer, and watched them carefully.
We had 20 men, and you never saw fires
built so rapidly in your 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 as if nothing had
happened
That blizzard must have been very
general" said Silas Adams. 81 was
living in Peoria, Ill, at the same time.
Peoria is built along the western bank
of the Illinois river, which widens into
q lake at that point. Back of the bust
ness portion of the city, little over
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. 1 had an Office on South Adams
street, near Main, and started for home
early in the evening. 1t began to turn
cold just as passed the soldiers mon
unent, and. meeting Bob Burdette,
who wasat that time editingtheR Review
there, he remarked that it was going TO
be cold enough TO freeze all the pipes
and even the knobs off the doors, which
would boom the plumbing and hard
ware trades. L left the humorist at
the post Office, one block farther on.
and by the time / reached the foot OF
the bluff 1 realized that he was right.
1t seemed to me that could never live
to get home. The exposed portions OF
my face were frozen. and it took long
time to thaw myself out with ice be-
fore venturing into the house. When
] entered my wife screamed, and ,
looking into mirror / 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
out. The next day we went to Pekin,
ten miles below Peoria, to attend the |
of friend of my wife 1 had |
never been there, and it was evident |
that my wife's friends were astonished |
at my seeming age. I made up my |
mind to have the beard cut off as soon |
as I returned to Peoria. AS we sat in |
the parlor of the house where the we'd |
ding was to occur l noticed first one |
and then another turn and gaze upon |
me. 1t seemed that some peculiar fas-
existed in my beard Their
eyes opened wider and wider, and they |
sat spellbound. All conversation |
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
when an explanation was
made, / felt that they did not believe
me, and that there was something IN
ranny about a man whose beard
color like Misunderstanding
ton Star.