St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-11-20
AT THE MERCY
:. OF THE WIND.

N FRANK L poll0Cx.
eoaeeeeeeeeeoeeeeeoaeeR
I'll r to the New Year tie north On.
VI tario winter had been unusually
souowleas and cid. 90 that Lake Huron
ss1s0s frozen to IN almost unprecedented
sdfstance from the shore. The long har.
bor Of Parry sound was dazzling belt
se9 thick glare ice, and from the mouth
s<of its steamboat channel the great
40oorgian bay stretched out to north,
west and south. white and still to the
very horizon.
AZ tho ice was in perfect condition
nDr skating. the harbor wAs usuallywel,
Apsinkled with moving figures on fine
safternoons, and I WAS generally among
Nhe skaters.
One day. - walked down to the
Banding. / noticed that the wesx was
s1ark with ominous-looking gray clouds,
among which the sun was already dis.
appearing. A fresh nortr.eas& wind
blew down the sound, ar "a this decided
me to take the south. channel. in or.
der to have the bree at nv back. AZ
for returning, th., wfn1 might n *
pected TO 90 dU - ~ evening" advanced.
The Ice va + snperbly smooth, and the
Mlnd % q loog that went flying down
me en-. f.mel at great speed. The dark,
1eav.4y wooded shores streamed past
1kA = panorama. did not realize the
IN f0Fce of the gale behind me. for
QAete - = sort of intoxication In rapid
oeson through the open air, and l
nted tester and fasten without the
1nnat thought Of danger or sensation of
1111gue. It was - II I moved BY pure
yoli13on.
I da not notice the passage Of time.
Ge1n Whatseemed marvelousty short
found myself rounding the
- head Of Parry island, and COM
eont upon the open lake itself. There
oubed at ny watch; ~ it was five
soeIock I dectded to take z short run
MQen - Ike and then return.
I - never l,efore SLATED upon the
- aeaches Of tie Georgian bay, and
- not imagiUed that the ice could be
- excellent. knew that usually It
os czacbed and ridgy. because the In
eeant motion Of the water prevented
- Apm freezing smoothly, but now It
- a1nost - g3sssy - the ice on the
rfhne itDeh.
AMay dew, delighted. Once I was
3e1r Of the Island. the gale struck me
W1th increased strength and so greatly
aDoo1esoAed my speed that was quite
- miles from land before took
hDuGAt, and began to fear trouble in
9egaininG shelter in the teeth of tho
wind. So circled about to the right.
4kced tuw1rd the shore-and stopped
1hortl The gale met me like wall.
Il w1s impossible for mo to skate
asalnst Il
I took . few vigorous strokes, but in
iain. When tried to stand still went
hiding away before the wind. Again
md again renewed the struggle, des-
peFately exhausting myself. Every b.
cyckst knows the heart breaking strain
Of riding against head wind, but this
was worse, for was not able to advance
even . yard. Indeed, actually lost
ground l could stop myself only by
A11ting down. and that was what did.
I was not then much alarmed. It
eeened absurd to suppose that an able
Aedied and active young man would be
prevented from crossing two miles of
Ice by Wind power alone. Could not
'tack" to right and left, and thus beat
Ap Through the storm?
got up, and began to skate vigorous
u n > southeasterly direction. bearing
70 the east, 20 that the wind blew upon
ny right side or upon my weather
bow" For some minutes all seemed to
50 well. held my head down and
travelled - fast ~ was possible. But
when made ready to 'go about" upon
tho other tack, and looked to see what
progress had made. I was horrified
10 and I had been blown so far to lee
ward - to be quite half a mile fara
tier from shelter than before.
tried to rectify the error by striking
out strongly northeast to north, but
tAe force Of the storm would not even
allow mo 70 turn ut right angles to its
couzse. / was gradually and imper-
eeptibly driven to veer westward. The
gale seemed to gain strength every mo-
nent In ten minutes another half
1ile seemed lost. and the headland Of
1ArTy island began to grow faint in
distance and gathering twilight.
now felt myself to be at the mercy
= the wind There was no abatement
q IT. violence a. night drew on. It
0ew inexorably with steady, great
reasure. bringing few grains Of dry
now. that slid swiftly like sand along
Ne ice. So long n I remained on
~ leet was borne farther and far
Ter from shore, in qpite Of every effort.
i wae bitter cold. the flying grains of
Low cut when faced them, and sat
{bWn once more, with my back to the
heather, and cried to think Of plan for
4ving my lie.
*The prospect wa terrifying. had
bowed unable to make head against the
oem. The ice Was 90 smooth that
He0uld not walk On It with my skates
/ could not sit still and wait for
- weather 70 moderate. lest ] be
uoen solid In . few hours. The one
Etive thing could do was to run
haight before the wind.
8IhisN1s not % insane . proceeding rs
mieAt oppear. Wharton. Owen sound
! "a Nea1ford III lay opposite me across
- bay, and / might ind ice On which
. dhnto H. Whole distance Of shout 50
2ile4 thW eenseE ting the wind from
<1ee Into a any. That there might be
Goea waeee In the middle was true, but
|Xs1,ene.u.een - 49, a. - Rxn.on rw>r