The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-01-01
SOME BAD WEATHER.
A Pioneer Recalls How Two Mild
Decembers Ended.
Illinois Hominy Winter I'm 1880, When
Snow Hid the Tops Of Trees.


come down and show his teeth quite Sc
terribly at the far end of mild December
as he used to on the Illinois prairies IN the
pioneer days. / was an Illinois poineer.
My folks settled I'm a piece Of timber In
Mclean county known as Kog grove. The
grove got It's name from the circumstance
Of its having been traded To a white man
by its Indian owners for a keg of whisky.
The city of Bloomington occupies the site
of Keg grove now. We settled thero In
1929 There were only 1000 people In
tho whole state of Illinois then. Neighbors
wcrc few and far between about kog
grove
"The foil and early winter Of 1880 were
very dry and mild. Late in December,
and with very little warming, snow began
falling. IL didn't fall eithor. 1t tumbled.
Ii came down In regular ready made snow
banks and continued withouta a moments
let up for two days and nights. You may
have somc idea of how deep tho snow fell
when / tell you that when 1t went away
In the spring tho stumps of trees that had
been cut for flrowood as tho choppers stood
on tho snow during the winter were feet
high, that boing as low down as the chop
pers could get ut the trees. In going to
neighbours drove over ths tops OF their
orchard trees and did not know IL. IL was
fortunate thing that the corn crop had
been good that year, for many families
were so blockadod by the snow that they
could not get out of thoir houses They
would have starved TO death, but they
lived on corn, which they pounded into
coarse meal or hominy, and that was so
generally the case that the winter was ever
nfterwnrd known to the pioneers as the
hominy winter.
deer, wolves and wild turkeys were
moro plentiful than domestic animals and
fowls in Mclean county then. Deer grew
so bold from hunger during that deep snow
that when they hoard men chopping down
trees they would como up and cat the
branches as tho trees fell Hundreds OF
deer were caught In this way, and the
wolves killed hundreds more One settler
named Cowen caught 10 deer, penned them
up and fattened them on corn. Wild tur-
keys hovorad about the cabins and fed
scores Of them out Of the window Of our
house. We had drove OF e5 hogs covered
by tho deep snow, and they remained be-
meath 1t six weeks, in a space not more
than 30 feet across. When we found them,
there were only IL Of the drove left, and
they were as fat as fat could be. They bad
feasted on the other g. So many deer were
crowded into piece of timber known as
Buckles grove that they killed every tree
IN the grove by Rirdling 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
tho 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 SO
a bushei John Duffy came in that year
with few bushels Of small, yellow corn
from Pennsylvania. That was planted. IL
matured early, ard some people out there
raise Duffy corn yet.
But ,n December, 1886, the prairie
pioneers got some weather that made them
quit dating things from the winter OF the
deep snow. The month had been warm and
moist. K orything was slush and slop and
mud. Young Ben Cox's father had been
to Chicago with drove of hogs, and he
brought Zen pair of skates. There wasn't
another pair In nll that part of the state.
But there was no ice, and young Ben got
desperate because he couldn't use his new
skates. Ono day lao was SO mad that he
yelled out:
al wish to tho Lord it'd get SO cold that
things'd freeze before they knew itP
81 don't suppose that what followed was
owing TO Dcn's wish, but when be made
IL rain was falling and the thermometer
stood at 40 degrees above zero. Suddenly
tho wind began to blow gale. 1t came
out of tho northwest, and no wind that
ever swept over those prairios before or
since camo so near being a blast from the
north polo as that one was. Almost in
stantly the mercury dropped from 40 de-
grces abovp Co 90 degrees below zero, ard
tho falling rain was turned at once to pei
let's and hasis of ice The damp air froze
80 auickly that IL became one great cloud
Of flying frnst---
"This polar blast swept down upon us
at 3 O'Clock in the afternoon. John Daw-
son was on his way from Williams mill,
six miles down Salt creek. Ho had gone
half mile from tho mill whom no heard
roar like thunder. The noise was behind
him. Looking around no saw the storm
coming and the rain freezing before it.
Nhcn il struck him, ho turned TO go back
to the mill. Before his horse was headed
about Dawson was frozen fast in the sad
Jock deep. by tho timo Dawson had urged
his horse around a hundred yards tho slush
wns frozen so 1t boro the horses weight,
anil IL was with great difficulty that Daw-
son got back 20 the mill, tho wator in tho
road having become such glare of leo
that his horse could scarcely make his way
over It,
Fowls that were out on the soft ground
when this unhoard OF change OF weather
camo were frozen fast whore they stood.
Cows froze In their tracks. Our folks had
three hogs frozen 60 death whilo they wcro
hurrying from their feeding places TO their
pen, less than 300 yards away.
John LApham had forded tho Mack
inaw and his horse slipped OF a rim Of leo
ut tho edgo Of the stream and got in the
mud between tho shore and tho ice. At
TINT moment tho cold wave rushed upon
them. Lapham jumped from his horse 60
assist 10 In getting FREQ from the mud and
Ice, but the horse was frozen fast thoro be-
fore 1t recovered sufficiently To move. and
Lapham had to abandon 10 to its fGte, sue
cecding with great difficulty himself In
reaching house only hall milo AWAY.