The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-03-08
BLIZZARD
I'm DULUTH
From the Washington Star.

party with his eye, you may talk about
your billiards. as much as you want to and
point to a measly little drift two still
left in the hollows, but this here blizzard
I'm a-tallking about were blizzard right
Three feet deep on the level here, did you
say? And eight and ten feet high in some
of the drifts? Why, out where this blizzard
I'm attacking about happened the kids
wouldn't count any three feet deep on the
level enough to make snow balls out of
1t was out in Duluth MINI. this one Weres
back in "a, and there wasn't a two-story
shack in the town that wasn't covered over
the roof with snow-not drifted snow, you
mind, but just snow on the lowell The
drifted snow was scandalous. You know
Duluth is great on wheat, and the whole
water front there is lined with grain ele-
vators. Well sirs, two of those elevators
We're piled up to the fifth floors with snow,
and nobody thought there was anything
wonderful about it. Nobody had much
chance to think about anything, anyhow,
except to dig themselves out. 1t took two
solid months for the whole town to get dug
out, but the folks went about 1t systematic
cally, it were, and relieved suffering
where they thought 1t was likely to be the
WOISl. 1NOW, StHtSy nSl0 lAC hAoh
of the committee that dug themselves out
of their homes first after that blizzard had
spent itself, and, while you're talking about
awful Cases of hardship that you all saw
in this here town of Washington during
your little two-by-four blizzard, I'll just
have to go you one or two better, and III
begin at the case of snowed-in newspaper
office, at that.
at was a twice-a-week newspaper that
hadn't been running very long, and the
whole outfit was run and printed In a little
one-room. one-story shack about block
outside the outskirts of the town. 1t took
four people to get the paper out-the pro-
prietor and editor, whose name l won't
mention, because he's now the owner of
whole line of steamers on the lakes, and
respectable; the two fellows that did the
printing and pressing Tor whatever you call
stamping the types on the paper, who
never did amount to anything, and don't
now, so their names don't count; and the
printers devil. Now, this hero printers
devil figures in the story of rescue I'm
a-gong to tell you big lot, but can't tell
you his name, because he, too, has got next
to himself during the interval, so to speak,
anHll be along here to congress one of
these days
when the blizzard began to biz all four
of these poor unfortunates were working
away in their little one-story. one-room
shack a-getting out their paper. After it
had showed four days there was pile of
snow about twelve foot high right on top
of the roof of that shack, and those four
poor unfortunates were the first people
IifrO
mittee got to work on our heroic mission of
mercy, as you folks call 1t.
"This here printers devil that I'm tell
ing you about-a kid then about thirteen
years old-had been a orphan most all Of
his life, and he lived with his aunt. We
knew that she'd be most crazy about that
boy, and that's one of the reasons why we
started first to dig that poor little joint of
a newspaper Office out of the drifts. The
aunt's house, being protected like, wasn't
set in the snow so deep as some of the
other houses, and before our heroic COM
mittee, gents, had more than got together
along comes that printers devil aunt, a.
weeping and awaiting, and a-begging us
to make haste and get her beloved printers
devil boy out of his prison. We tried to
drive her home but she insisted on going
along with us when we started for the
snowed-in newspaper shack. with shovels
and brave hearts, to get these four poor
unfortunates out Of their imminent peril.
well, we got a pathway cleared after
eight hours hard work, and by the big
mountain of snow ahead we knew we were
only about fifty feet away from the build
ing where the Duluth Morning Kazoo was
thunk out, written printed and distributed.
When we got within thirty feet we were
all awfully shocked to hear faint cries
from within the snow like this
"'Auntiei Auntier
well, sirs, that poor printers devil boys
aunt like to have gone crazy, she was so
anxious to have us work faster. We fig
ured it out that all the other three had
died from the cold and exposure, and that
just this poor little kid was left. And the
way we worked certainly was caution.
The cries of 'Auntie Auntie!' were only
repeated couple more times and we were
afraid the kid had died just while we were
working toward the newspaper shanty.
Finally, we got the last shovelfu of snow
away from the door,, burst the door open
with our shoulders, took just one look at
the scene within that room, and then"
whole bunch o. you, including the aunt,
keeled over, eh?' inquired one of the lis
teners.
We'll, not exactly that" was thereby,
mot one O. the four paid the slightest bit
of attention to us. They just went on with
their game
"Oh, the four were still alive, then, and
cavorting around like crazy men, just to
keep from freezing to death?" asked an.
other of the listeners.
mot much were they cavorting around"
replied the big, loose-framed man. "eThey
were a-playing draw poker to beat the
band, and from the size of the stacks O.
coin before each of them, that printers
devil had about seven-eighths of the
money"
How, then, do you account for his ago.
nzfng cry OF 'Aunte!' Auntie!" was the
inquiry of another of the hearers.
well, guess that printers devil was
dealing, and the fellow on his left was a
bit shy in ante-ing. See?"
ONE WAS TAKEN, THE OTHER LEFT
From the Selma Times.
1t seems that Admission got her public
building and Selma got--nothng. Mr.. AL.
drich probably got in his work at the elev-
enth hour. The Times had hoped that Sell
ma would get public building, but it seeing